Approved 12-01-22

ASEC Minutes

2:00 – 4:30 p.m. Thursday, November 10, 2022

53 Bascom Hall

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

Members Present: Donna Cole; Tim Dalby; Stephanie Elkins; Alissa Ewer; Julie Hunt Johnson; Albert Muniz; Mallory Musolf, chair; Lindsey Stoddard Cameron

Guests: Alisha Arnold, Jessica Karls-Ruplinger, Gavin Luter, Karen Massetti-Moran, Patrick Sheehan

The meeting was called to order at 2:03 p.m.

The minutes of November 3 were approved.

Liaison Reports

Tim Dalby reported on the most recent meeting of the Personnel Policies and Procedures Committee. Jaimee Gilford met with the committee to discuss an anti-human trafficking policy that has been drafted due to compliance requirements for federal contracts.

Donna Cole reported that the UW System Reps drafted a letter to UW System President Rothman regarding progression guidelines for campuses other than UW-Madison.

Guest: Gavin Luter, Managing Director, UniverCity Alliance

Gavin discussed the UniverCity Alliance’s mission, which is to connect existing courses and other university structures to a single local government over an academic year to work on critical projects identified by city staff and do so at a scale that magnifies the value for all. The Advisory Board of the Alliance consists of several departments, units, and schools/colleges/divisions across the institution. The UniverCity Year (UCY) program consists of four steps: 1) local government partners identify issues or questions; 2) UCY matches projects with solution-based courses; 3) UW-Madison students work on the issues and questions; and 4) local government receives research, reports, designs, and implementation support. This program has been in place for 6 years and is working with 9 communities over the coming year. There are requests in a variety of areas that may align with several academic disciplines, including: flood mitigation; marketing and communications; facilities planning; diversity, equity, and inclusion in local government; cost/benefit analysis for providing childcare; and mental health provision and prioritization. Gavin discussed the possibility of more academic staff participating in the program. In addition to a few individual contacts, ASEC recommended Gavin present at an Assembly meeting and a future Academic Staff Institute session to increase awareness of the program.

Guests: Patrick Sheehan, Interim Chief Human Resources Officer; and Karen Massetti-Moran, Director of Total Rewards, Office of Human Resources

Patrick and Karen introduced Alisha Arnold, who was recently hired as a new HR Director and Program Officer reporting to Karen. She will be working to help close out the first phase of TTC and working with Karen and OHR on how to strategically advance the next phase. Monday was the 1-year anniversary of implementation, and Patrick expressed his appreciation to the HR community for the heavy workload in managing implementation and to shared governance for its feedback throughout the process. OHR is beginning to analyze impacts on salary ranges across titles as a result of TTC.

Karen appreciated feedback from ASEC on drafts related to progression within salary range and the Compensation Center of Excellence. These will eventually be placed on the OHR website to clearly communicate expectations to employees. The process involves getting the university community accustomed to the notion of regular market-informed analysis of salaries over time. The vision for the Compensation Center of Excellence is that schools/colleges/divisions would bring compensation issues to the center for collaborative problem-solving. OHR has heard feedback from smaller schools/colleges/divisions that there are good tools but insufficient time to use them. OHR have held compensation labs and trainings for several units, and the approach of working with people across various teams will eventually transition into a Compensation Community of Practice. OHR is also working on how to collaborate on better market data within certain areas and how to make market information more available for people to see. They are also in the beginning stages of determining how equity analyses will be done and how those results will be communicated to campus. There is also work on a long-term strategy with the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration around future compensation funding, including looking at how increases have been funded in the past (patterns with auxiliaries, for example). OHR is talking with RSP about how to build compensation increases into both new and existing grants.

There are issues arising with the use of some titles between schools/colleges/divisions. OHR is hoping to formulate a structure to build out title guidelines as well. This is currently happening with a group of IT directors related to distributed IT titles. OHR has also received questions on the timeline around outstanding title reviews. The pending list is less than 27, and OHR is awaiting confirmation from UW Shared Services for several to be closed. The list should be completed by February, and then a process for regular reviews of the SJD library needs to be put in place as well.

Patrick has had conversations with the HR reps regarding impacts of the Dobbs decision. OHR is receiving very few questions from employees on how it impacts them and their healthcare, and they are providing the Employee Assistance Office and UW System legal guidelines as additional resources. Regarding remote employees and high-risk pregnancies, OHR is looking at benefits specialists who would be able to have these conversations with employees as well.

OHR has been having conversations with Center for Black Excellence and Culture. Chief Diversity Officer LaVar Charleston is on the Center’s board. OHR is meeting with DDEEA to talk about synergies as part of OHR’s talent pipeline program. A talent outreach specialist will focus on ways to partner with similar organizations to find ways to bring community members into UW-Madison through traditional positions as well as internships, apprenticeships, or other mechanisms. OHR also wants to look at partnering with native communities

The Equity, Inclusion, and Employee Well-being (EIEW) unit created a strategic plan which is now being shared more broadly via its annual report, and it was recommended that Susan Tran Degrand be invited to a future meeting for more details. Susan has been building the team, with 5 hires this year to support the work of that unit. Partnership with DDEEA will be key to success. EIEW has been providing consultation to campus units and divisions on areas like climate and culture issues, as well employee well-being and supporting various learning events. Other activities include ensuring inclusive language in job postings, creating a sense of community in hybrid work structures, and a learning series on decolonization. This unit allows OHR to be forward-thinking in a way it hasn’t been in the past. OHR has also posted for a LGBTQ+ Coordinator position, which will provide resources to LGBTQ+ employees in a way we haven’t previously. OHR is meeting with DDEEA to discuss collaboration on DEI training.

Convene in Closed Session Pursuant to Wis. Stats. 19.85(1)(c), and (f) to Discuss Nominations to the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs/Chief Data Officer Search and Screen Committee and an Appointment to the Campus Transportation Committee (Cole). Seconded. Approved.

Motion to Reconvene in Open Session (Stoddard Cameron). Seconded. Approved.

Business

• Nominations and Appointment – for vote

Motion to appoint Shane Burgess to the Campus Transportation Committee (Johnson). Seconded. Approved.

Motion to nominate Jennifer Sheridan, Mary Fitzpatrick, Peter Kinsley, and Kim Arnold to the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs/Chief Data Officer Search and Screen Committee (Johnson). Seconded. Approved.

General Reports

Mallory Musolf, ASEC Chair, reported that she, Donna, and Jake met with the Assembly Standing Committee Chairs to discuss initiatives and priorities over the coming year. Mallory and Donna shared what ASEC’s subcommittees are working on as well. TTC remains a top concern across several committees. Mallory and Jake will also be meeting with two individuals in the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Mentoring about the Teaching Academy and the possibility of establishing more formal ties with academic staff governance.

Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff, reported that the finalists for the Chief Human Resources Officer position will be doing campus visits and public presentations next week. Mallory and Jake will attend the shared governance sessions with the finalists. Jake will soon be scheduling ASEC listening sessions for the spring semester. Jake will also be inviting Charlie Hoslet and Crystal Potts to provide ASEC with an update on state relations and strategy around budget advocacy post-election. Jake confirmed with ASEC that they would not hold meetings on December 22 or December 29.

Business

• December Assembly Meeting Agenda

OHR have accepted an invitation to present at the December meeting. The Ombuds Office and the Committee for Women in the University will present their annual reports as well. The agenda will be voted on at the next meeting.

• Topics for Guests

Provost: career services task force, endorsement of ad hoc DEI recommendations and thoughts about next steps

VCFA: long-term strategic planning for funding of staff salaries, question of budget model change; grad student salaries and impacts of that on campus and how to strategize about this; update on audit of building structures

Meeting adjourned at 4:23 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff