Academic Staff Executive Committee Minutes 09-08-22
Approved 9-22-22
ASEC
Minutes
1:55 –
4:30 p.m. Thursday, September 8, 2022
53
Bascom Hall
https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/93936751067
Members Present: Donna Cole, Tim Dalby; Stephanie
Elkins; Alissa Ewer; Julie Hunt Johnson; Stephanie Jones; Albert Muniz; Mallory
Musolf, chair; Lindsey Stoddard Cameron
Guests: Lesley Fisher, Kevin Graeme, Beth
Meyerand, Lori Reesor, Kelly Rupp, Karl Scholz, Scott Wildman
The meeting was called to order at 1:55
p.m.
The minutes of September 1 were
approved.
Guest: Lori Reesor, Vice Chancellor
for Student Affairs
Vice Chancellor Reesor reported on
the return of the students for the fall semester. There has been feedback that
the start of the semester is different and better, with a more “normal” sense
of returning to campus. There were numerous highlights from Wisconsin Welcome,
though there has been some feedback about a long move-in time before classes
started.
Vice Chancellor Reesor’s
office also learned about a series of campus chalkings
on September 7. The messages targeted several Jewish student groups for racism.
Campus will be addressing this, and the goal is to get a statement out as soon
as possible.
The report from the Student Climate
Survey is expected sometime in October. There is a draft of the recommendations
that needs to be finalized. There has also been a great deal of focus on the
exhibition for the Public History Project and related events.
Vice Chancellor Reesor addressed
several student initiatives, including education programs on diversity, equity,
and inclusion. There is an increase in the number of in-person sessions for the
Our Wisconsin program, and the VCSA office is working on creating more cultural
competencies for leaders of student organizations. It is great that a number of
these organizations have dedicated diversity, equity, and inclusion officers,
and there is more intentional education in this space. Vice Chancellor Reesor
is also working closely with Vice Provost John Zumbrunnen and the Center for
Teaching, Learning, and Mentoring to ensure collaboration on classroom
inclusion. ASEC asked about access to the curriculum that students have as part
of Our Wisconsin, and Vice Chancellor Reesor will provide information to Jake
to share with ASEC.
The Wiscard
Office feels strongly that they cannot mail Wiscards
due to security issues. ASEC asked about office hours accommodating more
schedules outside of standard business hours for non-traditional or
professional students.
Regarding COVID protocols, students
are asked to isolate and to notify their instructors if they test positive.
ASEC asked about the messaging that has been conveyed to students around COVID
expectations. Vice Chancellor Reesor will follow up with Jake Baggott in UHS on
this.
Guest: Karl Scholz, Provost
Provost Scholz responded to a
question about an update on impacts from the Dobbs decision. There have been no
further updates since the August 11 ASEC meeting where this topic was
discussed. The decision does not affect any services that University Health
Services provides.
Related to the deans’ working group
on staff diversity, there is not a prescribed work product that is expected,
though improved recruitment and enhancement of diversity for staff are large
parts of the discussion. Associate Deans for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
are meeting and sharing best practices more across campus than was happening
previously. There is also a great deal of work that has gone into a potential
dashboard, and discussions with the Chancellor still need to happen on efforts
that have been made to date. There are some other potential best practices
coming out of the Qualtrics survey that the College of Letters and Science
used, which lends itself more easily to gain a perspective on what is and isn’t
happening in the College. A synthesis of information from this survey will be
shared with the Campus Diversity and Climate Committee when it’s ready.
Provost Scholz asked those who were
present at the Leadership Breakfast to provide their feedback. The opportunity
to hear from the Chancellor about her priorities as well as the substantial
time to break into small groups and brainstorm initiatives were both
appreciated. Feedback that was taken from the breakfast is in the process of
being synthesized.
Provost Scholz and ASEC discussed
observations on the start of the semester, remote work, and the launch of the
Public History Project. Regarding the Public History Project, there are
questions about what next steps might be. There has been a great deal of
discussion on remote work as a retention and morale issue.
Guest: Beth Meyerand, Vice Provost
for Faculty and Staff Affairs
Vice Provost Meyerand invited
Assistant Vice Provost Kelly Rupp to discuss progress on reviewing and
analyzing results from the 2022 Staff Climate Survey. This was a joint project
between Office of the Provost and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Finance
and Administration. The survey was open from April 12 to May 11. There were
approximately 17,000 people eligible to participate, including academic staff,
university staff, postdocs, and limited appointees. The survey received 6,480
responses, and a team has been working over the summer to analyze the data.
Academic Planning and Institutional Research is leading that work, and results
will first be reviewed with project sponsors. University Communications will
create infographics around the results, and the results will eventually be
shared more broadly with the university community. There will be some limits on
what is shared in order to maintain confidentiality of
the responses. Next steps will include recommendations for action based on the
survey results, as well as determining a timeframe for future survey
deployment.
Vice Provost Meyerand provided an
update on use of academic staff professorial titles. Currently, there are 7
professors of practice, 10 research professors (4 assistant, 5 associate, 1
full), and 25 teaching professors (14 assistant, 5 associate, 6 full).
Regarding hostile and intimidating
behavior, Vice Provost Meyerand is in the process of putting together a charge
for a working group on HIB policies and processes. ASEC suggested that having
someone from DDEEA to look at policies from an equity lens would be helpful.
The HIB working group is one of the most important initiatives for Vice Provost
Meyerand’s office over the next year.
The company that was recommended to
provide the DEI curriculum for our institution merged with another company and
will no longer supply the program to anyone. Chief Diversity Officer LaVar Charleston
has been looking at alternative options used by other institutions, and he will
be reporting back to the Provost with proposed next
steps.
In addition to HIB, ASEC also
discussed a number of issues with Vice Provost
Meyerand of importance to academic staff, including paid family leave, as well
as the impacts on morale resulting from lack of clarity on progression
resulting from TTC.
Motion to Convene in Closed Session
Pursuant to Wis. Stats. 19.85(1)(c), and (f) to Discuss Nominations to the Dean
of the International Division Search and Screen Committee and Appointments to
the Retirement Issues Committee, Student Panels, and the Wisconsin Union
Council (Stoddard Cameron). Seconded. Approved.
Motion to Reconvene in Open Session
(Stoddard Cameron). Seconded. Approved.
Business
·
Nominations
and Appointments
Motion to appoint Sherry Holcomb to
the Retirement Issues Committee; Meghan Chua and Kaley Grunwald to the Student
Panels; and Jenny Faust to the Wisconsin Union Council (Stoddard Cameron).
Seconded. Approved.
Motion to nominate Elise Ahn, Richard Barajas, Weijia Li, and Martin Rouse for the
Dean of the International Division Search and Screen Committee (Cole).
Seconded. Approved.
General Reports
Mallory Musolf,
ASEC Chair, reported that there will be an orientation for UW System Reps this
year. The System Reps have also discussed the possibility of having UW System
President Rothman present on a regular basis for the joint sessions.
Jake Smith, Secretary of the
Academic Staff, reviewed a draft of a letter in support of the LGBTQ+
Committee’s request for a full-time position to serve as a liaison for faculty
and staff LGBTQ+ resources. ASEC approved the draft and Jake will provide it to
the University Committee to add their support. The Assembly Skills Workshop has
been rescheduled for Wednesday, September 28.
Liaison Reports
Julie Hunt Johnson reported on the
most recent meeting of the College of Engineering CASI. Topics included
challenges related to progression, as well as a discussion of required DEI
training within the College.
Business
·
October
Assembly Meeting Agenda
ASEC reviewed an initial draft of
the October Assembly agenda. Jake will invite UWPD Chief Kristen Roman and
Public History Project Director Kacie Lucchini Butcher to give presentations to
the Assembly.
·
Topics
for Guests
Provost:
Progress on his priorities that he shared in the summer, follow-up on DEI
discussion from today’s meeting, moving curriculum for DEI for faculty and
staff forward
VCFA:
carryover topics from August, Oshkosh outsourcing proposal, feedback from
public meetings on West Campus District Plan
Meeting adjourned at 4:23 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff