Approved 06-09-22

ASEC Minutes

2:00 – 4:15 p.m. Thursday, May 26, 2022

260 Bascom Hall

https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/93936751067

Members Present: Donna Cole, Jenny Dahlberg; Stephanie Elkins; Shane Hubbard; Stephanie Jones; Mallory Musolf, vice chair; Bill Tishler

Guests: Jessica Beckendorf, Margaret Bergamini, Rob Cramer, Alissa Ewer, Lesley Fisher, Luisa Gerasimo, Michelle Grimm, Patrick Kass, Brent Lloyd, Gabe Mendez, Scott Wildman

The meeting was called to order at 2:00 p.m.

The minutes of May 19 were approved.

General Reports

Mallory Musolf, ASEC Vice Chair, reported on a meeting that she, Tim, and Jake held with Gavin Luter, managing director of the UniverCity Alliance program. They discussed ideas regarding increased involvement in the program from academic staff, including a presentation at the Academic Staff Assembly and at the Academic Staff Institute. Tim will be meeting with new ASM chair Ndemazea Fonkem and new UC Chair Lauren Papp, along with the current shared governance chairs, at their monthly meeting on Friday.

Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff, reported that School of Education Dean Diana Hess has been appointed to the interim provost role while Provost Karl Scholz serves as interim chancellor. Jake was informed about the opportunity for an academic staff governance appointee to the UW Police Advisory Council. Jake will get more details, and the intent is to send a call for interest in early fall. The CASI spring session was held May 20. TTC, remote work, and staff morale were all topics of discussion, as well as additional resources for CASIs from the Secretary of the Academic Staff Office. The Research Professionals Conference will be held on June 21. The conference is intended for lab managers and lab technicians, and it will be the first time since 2019 that the conference is held in person.

Liaison Reports

Jenny Dahlberg reported on the faculty ad hoc committee on administrative burden. The committee met on May 25 and had a presentation from Joanna Wang, ATP Program Executive. The committee is also looking at issues with ShopUW+ and Lumen. Jenny also reported on the CALS CASI meeting. The membership expressed appreciation to ASEC for the opportunity for involvement in the CALS Dean finalist visits.

Guest: Patrick Kass, Director, Transportation Services

Patrick addressed the parking rate changes for 2022-2023. The cost of base lots has increased by 1%, which has been the standard increase over the last several years to address rising expenses. Transportation Services lost over $13 million as a result of the pandemic but has not needed to make any large increases and has been able to keep costs as low as possible. Flex parking was originally designed for alternative transportation users. The program has had a number of challenges, such as getting signal to pay for parking in underground garages. Transportation Services has been looking at how to make the program less intensive for users. Originally, the cost was set up to be 80% of the cost of daily rates in garages. The program has expanded in the wake of remote work to help mitigate challenges for employees who need to come to campus. Transportation Services brought the rate up to 80%, which is $12 per day, and they eliminated the 4-hour minimum time limit.

There have been conversations about the possibility of basing parking rates on salary. Currently, there are low cost options for individuals that Transportation Services has kept in place through the pandemic. There are administrative challenges to managing the program based on salary, which would increase expenses and subsequently program costs. ASEC raised concerns about equity issues related to parking costs for staff, as well as the availability of service/vendor stalls with the construction that is happening on campus at present. Construction has moved spots around, and the impact of remote work still creates uncertainties for parking. Transportation Services is working on a survey for those who utilize parking, and the Campus Transportation Committee is consulted on these and other issues.

On questions related to the Metro’s route redesign, we are approximately 51% of Metro ridership, and Transportation Services has been working closely with Madison Metro. Staff have been a part of the route reviews and have met with Madison Metro to discuss concerns. Seventeen amendments have been proposed for the routes to service more transit-dependent neighborhoods, with five bus routes (not including Route 80) coming through campus instead of dropping people off on the edges of campus. Those proposals are going to the board next month, and Transportation Services is encouraging people to fill out any surveys that go out on these changes. The number of seats during peak hours will increase to an amount higher than it was pre-pandemic.

Guest: Rob Cramer, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration

Vice Chancellor Cramer reported on the budget process for 2022-23. Part of the commitment in anticipation of TTC is that we would have a better sense of market salaries for staff. Administration is working on setting aside a significant amount of money for units to address the most pressing compensation issues. This will be a multi-year effort to respond to the problems that have been identified by TTC, and as we see issues with equity/parity/retention, we want to address those as well. Additionally, we want to make sure we can continue to meet our share of the pay plan. There is also work going on that is focusing on other aspects of TTC (e.g., professional development and training) to help individuals identify career paths of interest to them. Facilities Planning and Management is looking at apprenticeship programs for trades, and there will be a third cohort of the HR/Finance job rotation program this summer. To address pay plan issues for individuals at the maximum of their salary ranges, we are looking at expanding salary ranges and revisiting the UW-Madison policy related to this area.

Vice Chancellor Cramer offered his thanks to ASEC for their service in shared governance. He stressed the importance of the role of governance and the time it requires, and he continues to emphasize its importance with his leadership team. He also offered comments on the shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, and discussed the importance of recognizing that individuals are processing these events in different ways.

Physical space is an ongoing topic of discussion. There are pending considerations with Chancellor Mnookin’s arrival as well as incoming student enrollment for the coming year. Director of Space Management Brent Lloyd talked about the numerous discussions on remote/hybrid work and encouragement of units to be as thoughtful and flexible as possible. Facilities Planning and Management (FPM) is an example of this with its move to 21 N. Park St. and capturing/repurposing space for the School of Computer, Data, and Information Sciences. Spaces will need to be designed with remote/hybrid work in mind. FPM wants units to have flexibility to grow and contract as needed. Space utilization evaluations are done on an annual basis, with 1/3 of campus covered per year. FPM shares this information with departments and can help units with reconfiguration as needed. There are also challenges ensuring that the appropriate technology is available in all shared areas.

ASEC asked about whether the transition to ShopUW+ has realized the intended cost and efficiency benefits of the project. The focus of Phase 1 was implementation. Phase 2 is where there will be evaluation of cost savings, efficiencies, and increased financial controls, and Vice Chancellor Cramer will return to this topic at a future meeting.

Motion to Convene in Closed Session Pursuant to Wis. Stats. 19.85(1)(c), and (f) to Discuss Appointments to Academic Staff Assembly Districts and Nomination to the Academic Staff Appeals Committee (Dahlberg). Seconded. Approved.

Motion to Reconvene in Open Session (Dahlberg). Seconded. Approved.

Business

·       Appointments and Nomination – for vote

Motion to reappoint continuing representatives and alternates in even-numbered districts to the Academic Staff Assembly (Hubbard). Seconded. Approved.

Motion to nominate Nicholas Oleksy to the Academic Staff Appeals Committee (Jones). Seconded. Approved.

·       Staff Morale Discussion

ASEC began a discussion on various aspects of staff morale, with a potential resolution coming forward in the fall semester. Topics from the recent CASI session came up as part of the conversation, largely revolving intersections between remote work, transparency, and trust, as well as equitable treatment of individuals with the same title across the institution. The discussion will continue throughout the summer.

·       Topics for Guests

Patrick and Lynn: how supervisory training can address trust issues; data on how many academic staff supervise one person

Meeting adjourned at 4:13 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff