Approved 04-24-25

ASEC Minutes

1:00 – 3:15 p.m. Thursday, April 10, 2025

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

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

Guests: John Zumbrunnen and Megan McGarry Bouapha

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

The minutes of April 3 were approved.

General Reports

Albert Muniz, ASEC Chair, reported that he followed up with Angela Gifford from the School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) Committee on Academic Staff Issues (CASI) and offered to facilitate a meeting between CASIs, the chief human resources officer, vice provost for faculty and staff affairs, and ASEC regarding topics outlined in the CASI coalition letter. The next shared governance group meeting to discuss a draft letter to campus leadership is scheduled for April 29.

Mallory Musolf, Secretary of the Academic Staff, reported on the process for selecting ASEC leadership for fiscal year 2026.  

Liaison Reports

Andrew Lokuta reported that the Librarians’ Assembly/CASI discussed a resolution passed by the faculty senate at Rutgers calling for a BTAA mutual defense compact. 

Alissa Ewer reported that UW System shared governance representatives received an email about a survey that will go out to faculty and instructional academic staff within the Universities of Wisconsin regarding free expression, academic freedom, viewpoint diversity, and civil discourse. The survey is led by the Wisconsin Institute for Citizenship and Civil Dialogue (WICCD), a subunit of the Universities of Wisconsin System Administration and will be launched in fall 2025. The survey authors are planning to engage with shared governance groups in April and May 2025.

Aaron Crandall reported that the Districting and Representation Committee discussed Workday go-live impacts to the districting logic. They also discussed district changes for individuals in Letters and Sciences who have been moved to another operational area due to the transition to Administrative Regional Teams (ART).

Business

• ASEC subcommittee update

The professional development subcommittee reported on the resilience in the face of change event. They met with co-organizers from the Office of Human Resources (OHR) and Office of Strategic Consulting to debrief the event. Co-organizers, including members of the professional development subcommittee, discussed the possibility of hosting future trainings for administrative managers.

The morale and climate subcommittee is focused on remote work. They recently met with a group of staff who are interested in creating a community for remote employees and plan to have a follow-up discussion on how to move this idea forward with action steps.

The outreach and engagement subcommittee continues to refine the survey based on feedback received from OHR and Data, Academic Planning & Institutional Research.

• Institutional ethics committee draft charter

ASEC reviewed feedback received from members of the Personnel Policies and Procedures Committee. All feedback will be shared with the Office of Human Resources by April 11.

• May Assembly Agenda

Kent Weigel, Vice Provost for Faculty and Staff Affairs, will chair the May Assembly meeting. A Workday presentation is planned.

• Topics for guests

Provost: visioning committee; budget scenario planning; TA appointments; campus support for individuals impacted by recent immigration enforcement activities

VCR: update on the federal landscape; RSP director update; sustainability research hub; reflections since taking the role

VCFA: recent JFC session; administrative support for RISE; budget approach update

Recessed at 1:57 p.m.

Reconvened at 2:30 p.m.

Guest: John Zumbrunnen, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning

John reported that in February 2025, Wren Singer assumed the role of Executive Associate Vice Provost in the Division for Teaching and Learning to lead day-to-day operations for the division. This change will provide greater support to a division that has evolved and become more complex in recent years.

The Undergraduate Symposium will take place on April 25. An additional 100 undergraduates will present in comparison to last year’s symposium. The Teaching and Learning Symposium is scheduled for May 15.

Campus monitors the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) database and is tracking terminated SEVIS records.

The chancellor and provost asked John to serve as acting administrative liaison to the Division of Diversity, Equity & Educational Achievement. In the liaison role, his priority is to listen, learn, and support.

RISE was announced as an effort to add 150 faculty positions funded by campus, above and beyond normal faculty hiring. 115 faculty positions have been allocated.

Business

• ASEC debrief

ASEC discussed the guest visit and follow-up items for future meetings.

Meeting adjourned at 3:17 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Mallory Musolf, Secretary of the Academic Staff