Approved 01-23-25

ASEC Minutes

1:00 – 3:30 p.m. Thursday, January 16, 2025

https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/94062364316

Members Present: Richard Barajas, Aaron Crandall, Alissa Ewer (vice chair), Andrew Lokuta, Terry Paape, Nicole Senter, Diane Stojanovich, Nola Walker

Members Absent: Albert Muniz

Guests: Megan Dzyuba, Jaimee Gilford, Lauren Hasselbacher, Jennifer Haese, Eden Inoway-Ronnie, Kent Weigel, Scott Wildman

The meeting was called to order at 1:00 p.m.

The minutes of December 19 were approved.

General Reports

Alissa Ewer, ASEC Vice Chair, reported on the recent meeting between ASEC leadership and Chief Human Resources Officer, Patrick Sheehan. They discussed phase II of the Work with Bucky campaign, an initiative intended to recruit new employees to the university. The Job Rotation Program continues to see increased applications. The next cohort is set to start this July. The program has three career tracks: finance, HR, and IT. There is interest in adding research administration as another career track.

Mallory Musolf, Secretary of the Academic Staff, reported that registration is open for the Academic Staff Institute (ASI), an annual professional development conference for academic staff. ASI will be held on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, at Union South. Aaron Crandall and Nicole Senter will represent ASEC at the shared governance meetings with finalist candidates for the associate vice chancellor and chief of police position.

Liaison Reports

Aaron Crandall reported that the Districting and Representation Committee discussed potential Workday go-live impacts to districts when UDDS logic is no longer used. Note, UDDS is a UW System-wide, seven-character organizational code used to identify a Unit, Division, Department, and Sub-department. With Workday, UDDS will transition to supervisory organization and cost center. The School of Education Committee on Academic Staff Issues (CASI) will have their first meeting with their dean. They plan to discuss the role of CASI and shared governance on campus.

Diane Stojanovich reported that the Wisconsin Public Media CASI discussed subcommittees for the CASI. They are also interested in understanding what campus resources are available to support employees, including professional development. The University Academic Planning Council (UAPC) is considering discontinuation of three programs in Geography due to misalignment with the campus tuition fee structure. They are also reviewing a proposal to discontinue the Applied Biotechnology, MS, and its associated certificate programs in SMPH. This program collaborates with other UW campuses.

Nicole Senter reported that the Engineering CASI had Haley Rogers from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration present on the Administrative Quality Satisfaction Survey results. They also discussed improvements for communications within the college and are exploring options on campus for headshots.

Guest: Kent Weigel, Vice Provost for Faculty and Staff Affairs (VPFSA)

VPFSA, Kent Weigel, had his first meeting with ASEC. ASEC Vice Chair, Alissa Ewer, provided an overview of the role of ASEC. VPFSA Weigel is interested in supporting campus’ efforts to recruit and retain faculty and staff. He looks forward to partnership with ASEC on these issues and on policy matters impacting staff.

Guest: Megan Dzyuba, Office of Workforce Relations, Eden Inoway-Ronnie, Office of the Provost, Jaimee Gilford and Lauren Hasselbacher, Office of Compliance

ASEC received an update and overview on the approved unified Hostile and Intimidating Behavior (HIB) policy. The new policy goes into effect on February 3, 2025. The policy will apply to all employees and the Office of Compliance will assume responsibility for investigating formal HIB complaints. To support this work, the Office of Compliance received approval for an assistant director of investigations position. Jennifer Haese was recently hired to serve in this role. The Office of Human Resources will continue in its leading role to prevent and address HIB behaviors, including support for employees and oversight of the HIB website and HIB training. HIB liaisons will continue to serve in the same capacity. A campus-wide communication to inform employees of the policy will go out in advance of February 3. 

Recessed at 2:30 p.m.

Reconvened at 2:40 p.m.

Business

• ASEC subcommittee reports

The morale and climate subcommittee will meet with the Compensation and Economic Benefits Committee to discuss opportunities around remote work. The professional development subcommittee met with Charles Meyer, Interim Associate Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives & Director of the Office of Strategic Consulting to learn about training opportunities on change management for staff. The subcommittee plans to contact Lynn Freeman, Director of Learning & Talent Development in the Office of Human Resources (OHR), to discuss this topic as well. The outreach and engagement subcommittee is reviewing feedback on the draft academic staff governance survey they received from members in Data, Academic Planning & Institutional Research (DAPIR) and OHR.

• Bereavement leave Resolution

ASEC asked the Office of the Secretary of the Academic Staff to follow up with the Personnel Policies and Procedures Committee regarding updates to the bereavement leave resolution following feedback shared at the December Assembly meeting.

• February Assembly Agenda

ASEC reviewed the Assembly agenda and will vote to approve it at the ASEC meeting on January 30.

• Topics for Guests

Provost: RISE; visioning committee update

OHR: DEI Titling; Workday

Meeting adjourned at 3:29 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Mallory Musolf, Secretary of the Academic Staff