Approved 10-10-22

Provost Karl Scholz called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.

Guest: Rob Cramer, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration
Vice Chancellor Cramer provided an update on activities within Finance and Administration. The Board of Regents approved the 2023-25 Biennial Budget at their August meeting. The Board has requested an increase of $287 million for the operating budget, with $115 million for general operations, $123.1 million for the pay plan, $24.5 million for the Wisconsin Tuition Promise, and $24.5 million for the Wisconsin Grant. UW System would cover funding for the first year of the biennium for the Wisconsin Tuition Promise, with a request that the state fund the second year. It is important to note that funding for the Wisconsin Tuition Promise would not support the Bucky’s Tuition Promise program at UW-Madison. The request for pay plan funding is for 100% funding by the state instead of the typical 70% funding amount. The Board’s capital budget request is $2.5 billion for all UW institutions. UW-Madison building projects include the Engineering Building, Humanities Art relocation, residence hall renovations, and the Camp Randall Sports Center (no state funds in this project).

We are in the second phase of the Title and Total Compensation Project. HR professionals on campus and across UW System worked to get people in new titles. This current fiscal year, we have been able to commit to getting better data on where people are at with respect to their compensation and start closing gaps. Campus has committed $28 million to 101- and 104-funded employees. Other units around campus have brought forward funds for their staff as well. OHR is working on the implementation of this compensation exercise. It will be important to continue to use TTC data to find out where gaps are for individuals according to market, and additionally how we can get more predictive on what compensation needs are, including with non-101 and non-104 units. Another large piece of TTC is a focus using data to support retention of employees within the institution. There is also the benefits element of TTC, and OHR and UW System are in conversation about what benefits packages would be valuable to employees. We will see these roll out hopefully over the next couple of years.

The Administrative Transformation Program will go live in July 2024. Planning around how Workday will be used is continuing, with a number of design sessions occurring in HR and Finance. More than 500 ancillary systems have been identified at UW-Madison, with 1,200+ across UW System overall, and the inventory is ongoing. The goal is to work with each campus to see what systems can be replaced by Workday—either completely or partially—and what systems need to be retained. The architect phase of the project goes through November. There is a lot of work being done on future state design, and then the ATP team will start bringing processes together and sharing them with focus groups to ensure that essential needs will be met (e.g., reporting). The second piece of ATP is Huron’s Research Administration Suite, some portions of which are already active. The financial forecasting tool launched in July, and the employee compensation compliance module launched in August. We have started to see benefits from these already, including reducing the number of required certifications by almost half. One of the key pieces is being intentional in terms of how the process should be done and by whom, which was a lesson learned from the P2P implementation.

Vice Chancellor Cramer discussed the status of revenue innovations for UW-Madison to support our mission and to fill resource gaps compared to our peers. One of these involves pursuing the strategic use of existing real estate assets to advance the mission of the institution. The first of these is the west campus district plan. There will be public sessions on this plan on September 14 and 15. The plan is to look at possibilities for 15-20 years of development of the space from Willow Creek to west of the hospital, in order to grow revenue to support the university’s mission and the communityf the institution and the community. After another four months, a similar process will be launched for east campus.

Guest: Brady Minter, Past President, Madison Academic Staff Network
Brady provided an update on the Madison Academic Staff Network (MASN), which is a professional organization that serves the community of UW-Madison academic staff. The group provides information about issues pertinent to academic staff members and a forum to discuss those issues. MASN also provides regular networking for its members and guests. MASN is in the process of developing its calendar for the 2022-23 year and thinking about the group’s direction going forward. A big part of this will be feedback from past, current, and potential new members via a survey. Brady also highlighted openings on the executive board of the organization, including President, President Elect, and Secretary, which provide leadership opportunities with a minimal time commitment. Brady encouraged those who are interested to contact him directly or to go to https://madisonacademicstaffnetwork.org. 

Automatic Consent Business
The Academic Staff Assembly minutes of Monday, May 9, 2022, were approved.

Reports
ASEC Chair Mallory Musolf presented the ASEC report. Mallory welcomed both new and continuing representatives and alternates. The Academic Staff Professional Development Grant competition will open on September 13, and the deadline for applications will be October 24. The Employee Resource Fair is scheduled for October 3 at Union South. Mallory encouraged representatives to share information about the Sifting and Reckoning Exhibit from the Public History Project at the Chazen Museum, which has just opened. ASEC welcomed three new members in July. ASEC has had continued discussions with administration over the summer on a number of issues, including remote work, strategies to address compensation issues, and other impacts of the TTC implementation. ASEC also reviewed a draft report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Academic and University Staff Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the final report of which will be shared at a future Assembly meeting. ASEC also met with Chancellor Mnookin for the first time in recent weeks and had an initial discussion on issues important to academic staff.

J.J. Andrews presented the annual report for 2021-22 of the Committee on Undergraduate Recruitment, Admissions, and Financial Aid (CURAFA). CURAFA’s stated mission is to build a scholarly and diverse undergraduate student population by initiating, monitoring, and advising on policies related to student recruitment, admissions, and financial aid. During the 2021-22 academic year, CURAFA identified four topics directly impacting these areas: 1) a scholarship program functioning effectively as a tuition waiver for First Nations students, which CURAFA is in favor of; 2) a recommendation for more intentional communication to identify all admission options for students with stated interest in direct admission programs; 3) CURAFA recommends more investigation to better quantify how many highly talented students from underrepresented populations are being lost to competitors due to insufficient financial resources; and 4) a recommendation for more analysis to investigate test-optional admissions as a permanent policy instead of a temporary one made in response to the pandemic.

Nominating Committee Appointment (ASA #792)
The Academic Staff Assembly voted to elect Josh Cutler to the Nominating Committee for a term ending June 30, 2023.

ASPP Chapter 2 Changes (ASA #793)
Tim Dalby, ASEC Member, moved the approval of the changes to Chapter 2 of Academic Staff Policies and Procedures with the amendment of striking the proposed sentence, “Supervisors will conduct a written evaluation during the evaluation period.” This additional language will go back to the Personnel Policies and Procedures Committee for further revision with the intention of bringing it back to the Assembly at a future meeting. Seconded. Approved.

Provost Report
Provost Scholz reported that Chancellor Mnookin began her role on August 4. She has been on tours of campus and the state listening to a variety of constituents. There are several new leaders on campus to recognize: Rob Cramer, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration; Glenda Gillaspy, Dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences; Heather Reese, Director of Wisconsin Public Media; and Jennifer Noyes, Interim Chief of Staff to the Office of the Chancellor. Admissions handled over 60,000 applications for the incoming class, up from 30,000 around a decade ago. We have a large first-year class, with over 8,600 students, and it is our most racially and ethnically diverse class in history. We have had two consecutive years of large first-year classes, and Provost Scholz thanked academic staff for all that they are doing to accommodate the needs of incoming students. With increased financial aid, including Bucky’s Tuition Promise, nearly 60% of our graduates now graduate with no debt. UW-Madison is ranked tenth in public universities and #38 overall according to the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings. We are also one of the top ten public institutions in the country in our six-year graduation rate, and our third year in a row with average time-to-degree being under four years. Provost Scholz talked about the idea of belonging and the need for more work to ensure that the institution is a place where everyone can feel like they belong. On September 15, Bascom Hall will be raising the flag of the Ho-Chunk Nation for a week. It will be raised again on October 10 and will then fly for the month of November. DDEEA is also working on affinity spaces for students, staff, and faculty. We will also start seeing results of the climate surveys for students and staff in the coming months.

Meeting adjourned at 4:29 pm.

Minutes submitted by Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff