Minutes for July 10, 2023

UC members present: Bernard-Donals, Jones, Tejedo-Herrero, Thibeault (chair), Zweibel

Others present: Greg Bump, Michelle Felber, Lesley Fisher, John Horn, Jennifer Noyes,

Julie Scharm, Jake Smith

Chair Thibeault called the meeting to order at 1:00pm.

Rob Cramer, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, reported that the governor vetoed the elimination of DEI positions in the budget bill. There is a base reduction of $32 million over the biennium. The bill also includes a pay plan of 4% effective this July 1 and another 2% next July 1. JCOER will need to pass the pay plan before it can take effect. He is expecting the Board of Regents to hold a special meeting to pass the operating budget for 2023-24.

He gathered some information about UHS fees for graduate students. Initial data shows that graduate students utilize UHS about twice as often as undergraduates. He will look into whether graduate students using the services have student assistant appointments.

RAMP (new research admin routing system) went live Jun 26. It has gone well and offered Zoom office hours for assistance, which were popular.

ATP reported to the Board of Regents last week that they do not have a clear plan or path forward for all of the ancillary systems including Student Information Systems. They plan to work on this issue and report back to the Board of Regents. This may lead to sequencing go live dates rather than consolidating them.

He also reported that the final paper from the Lab Lifecycle Management Symposium is available at https://www.vc.wisc.edu/symposium-on-laboratory-lifecycle-management/. The themes covered by the symposium included readiness, operations and renewal and long-term planning, finance and budget.

The minutes from June 19, 2023, were approved with one correction.

Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin provided information on the SCOTUS decision regarding race and admissions. It is unclear at this time what other things the ruling may apply to. The opinion made clear that individuals may share how their identities have influenced their experiences. She stated that diversity is still an important value for the institution regardless of the decision.

The state budget outcome was disappointing. UW System has not yet determined how the cut will be allocated. UW-Madison will not eliminate DEI positions in order to receive the workforce related money set aside for UW System. The engineering building was not included in the budget.

There is a bill that is likely to be introduced in the legislature this fall that would require all UW System schools to admit the top 5% of each Wisconsin High School class. Many high schools do not provide rankings (only about 1/3 do). For those that do, UW-Madison currently admits 94-95% of those students.

The Chancellor is creating a Black Inclusive Study Group co-chaired by Alex Gee and Professor Angela Byars-Winston. The group will review data regarding the black community and provide advice and ideas on what to do better, what to do more of and what to do that’s new. 

The 175^th anniversary kick-off is fast approaching on Wed, July 26. The hub of activities is Memorial Union. More information is available at http://175.wisc.edu.

Eric Wilcots, Interim Provost, visited the UC for the last time. Two major issues he’s been thinking about is the role of the Provost and structure of the office. The Provost currently has 33 reports. He plans to present the incoming provost with a set of observations of how things could work better.

In regards to considering the change of the reporting line for the Dean of the Graduate School, the issues in graduate education and the graduate student experience are far reaching beyond research and more consistent with issues other deans are dealing with. The VCRGE has an expanded portfolio that includes innovation, connections with industry and funding the research enterprise, and does not have the time (and may not have the expertise) to devote to the academic enterprise of the graduate school.

Bernard-Donals motioned, and it was seconded and approved, to convene in closed session pursuant to Wis. Stats. 19.85(1)(c) and (f) to discuss waivers at 2:45 pm. Two dual-role waivers were approved.

Zweibel motioned to reconvene in open session at 2:58pm. It was seconded and approved.

Thibeault adjourned the meeting at 3:11 pm.

Minutes submitted by Heather Daniels, Secretary of the Faculty.