Graduate School Committee on Academic Staff Issues (GS-CASI)

Annual Report October 2009

 

GS-CASI Overview

The Graduate School Committee on Academic Staff Issues (GS-CASI) advises the Dean of the Graduate School on academic staff issues.  It reviews policies and procedures and serves as a source of information and representation for academic staff in the Graduate School.

The GS-CASI has now completed its seventh year, with the full committee meeting every other month to conduct business.  The committee met six times during the period covered by this report, July 2008 through June 2009.  In addition, an October 2008 retreat was held to review the past year’s accomplishments and define GS-CASI goals and milestones for the coming year.  During this reporting cycle, extensive effort by the committee as a whole was devoted to a five-year self study of GS-CASI.  The report was well on its way to being completed by October 2009. 

The following subcommittees held additional meetings to work on issues in-depth: 

Communications Subcommittee

Nominations and Districting Subcommittee

Professional Development and Recognition Subcommittee

The Personnel Policies and Procedures Subcommittee was not active in 2008-09.

Subcommittee composition, current issues, minutes/agendas of meetings, etc. can be viewed on the GS-CASI web site (www.grad.wisc.edu/admin/committees/casi/index.html.)

 

Communications Subcommittee

The Communications Subcommittee establishes and monitors communication with Graduate School academic staff and with campus academic staff committees external to the Graduate School.

2008-2009 Activities/Accomplishments
The Communications Subcommittee continued to coordinate meetings and activities with members of the Professional Development Subcommittee due to shared goals and interests.  A major joint activity in this period was the finalization of an academic staff Frequently Asked Questions document (FAQ).  This is further described under Professional Development Subcommittee accomplishments.

The GS-CASI web site, administered by the Communications Subcommittee and hosted by the Graduate School, is now a well established vehicle for posting committee meetings, agendas, reports, and academic staff professional development grant recipients.  The subcommittee continues to update the GS-CASI web site with relevant information as it becomes available. 

The Subcommittee prepared the 2008 annual report which was distributed to all Graduate School academic staff members, other campus CASIs and the Academic Staff Executive Committee.

Ongoing Activities

In the upcoming year, the Subcommittee plans to:

·         Review the GS-CASI web site structure and organization and make recommendations for revisions/changes as appropriate.

·         Continue to create and maintain content for the GS-CASI web site.  Post agendas, minutes and reports, etc. on the web site in a timely fashion.

·          Use the web site to publish election materials and announcements, such as recipients of academic staff professional development grants or other awards. Additionally, the CASI web site will be used to link to other pertinent academic staff information and organizations.

 

Nominations and Districting Subcommittee

The Nominations and Districting Subcommittee oversees GS-CASI elections and provides oversight for balanced district membership.

2008-2009 Activities/Accomplishments

The annual election for Vice-Chair was held at the July 2009 GS-CASI meeting with Wayne Feltz elected as Vice-Chair.

The Nominations and Districting Subcommittee organized and identified new candidates for District 2, 4, 6, and 10. GS-CASI district elections were held during the 5 March – 31 March 2009 timeframe, filling district positions above for the 2008-2011. Election results for term beginning July 2009:  District #2 – election of Julie Shears to replace Linda Tuchman - Ginsberg, District #4 – reelection of Wayne Feltz, District #6 – election of Kristin T. Nagle to replace Matthew Hoffman, and District #10 – reelection of Miriam Simmons.  In addition Reina Maruyama replaced Kael Hanson by appoint of Dean Cadwallader.  Sub-committee worked with communications committee to update web page representative information for districts and committees.  District #1 from Waisman Center is still vacant.

The subcommittee also provided input to more frequent web page updates and proposed a one-day GS-CASI retreat to be conducted in October 2009 to plan new directions for the committee.

Ongoing Activities

In the upcoming year, the Subcommittee plans to:

·         Analyze district membership balance and provide guidance to adjust total number of members per representative

·         Balance committee membership to provide best GS-CASI representative skills to specific committee

·         Prepare and coordinate GS-CASI elections and provide recommendations to fill district vacancies when warranted

·         Provide guidance and proposals for amendment of GS-CASI by-laws to provide fully functional GS-CASI body

  

Personnel Policies and Procedures Subcommittee

The role of the Personnel Policies and Procedures Subcommittee (PPP) is to respond to questions and concerns regarding personnel policies and procedures by working closely with Graduate School Human Resources. The committee may gather advice and ideas regarding a particular policy and recommend solutions to the general GS-CASI and the Dean.  When such issues arise, the committee will be convened.  The committee did not meet in 2008-09.

Professional Development and Recognition Subcommittee

The Professional Development and Recognition Subcommittee (PDRC) is responsible for recommending strategies for the professional development and recognition for academic staff within the Graduate School. Developing and managing a mentoring program for new academic staff in the Graduate School is included within the scope of this subcommittee.

2008-2009 Activities/Accomplishments

The Professional Development and Recognition Subcommittee (PDRC) meets with the Communications Subcommittee due to overlapping goals and interests.  In summer 2008, The joint subcommittees made available to all campus academic staff their recently completed Frequently Asked Questions for UW-Madison Academic Staff (FAQ).  Responsibility for maintenance of the document (http://acstaff.wisc.edu/FAQJune08.pdf) will be assumed by the UW-Madison Compensation and Economic Benefits Committee.

The PDRC began the preparation of a one-page fact sheet about Graduate School academic staff for the new Chancellor as well as other audiences by beginning to draft a survey to present to Graduate School academic staff asking questions about what they do and who they are (positions, funding, etc).  However, with the deepening of the Wisconsin’s budget crisis, this initiative was deferred until the implications of proposed state budget cuts on all state agencies, including the university, were better known.  Work on recognition at the Graduate School level for center academic staff accomplishments and service was also deferred until a campus-level proposal to restructure the Graduate School, and possibly its centers, was resolved. 

The PDRC reviewed and ranked two rounds of professional development grants for academic staff in the graduate school.  Award recipients included: 

2008-2009 Academic Staff Professional Development Grant (Part II - Fall 2008)

• Carolyn Rumery Betz, University Relations Specialist, Aquatic Sciences Center
• Sarah Castello, Senior Administrative Program Specialist, Research Administration
• Karen Kedrowski, Outreach Specialist, Waisman Center
• Sheila Moermond, Editor, UW Press
• Barbara Myers Temkin, Outreach Specialist, Waisman Center
• Barbara Roeber, Research Specialist, Waisman Center  

2009-2010 Academic Staff Professional Development Grant (Part 1-Spring 2009)

• Heather Daniels, Sr. Administrative Program Specialist, Research Administration
• James Hedrick,  Sr. Instrumentation Specialist, Space Science and Engineering Center
• Mrill Ingram, Editor, Arboretum
• Kristin T. Nagle, Grants Manager, Primate Research Center 

Ongoing Activities

In the upcoming year, the Subcommittee plans to:

·         Continue to review Graduate School Professional Development Grant applications

·         Pursue opportunities to encourage and celebrate academic staff contributions to the Graduate School and the University of Wisconsin-Madison

·         Provide information and resources with concerns of furloughs and collective bargaining on the horizon

·         Establish better communication among other academic staff campus governance bodies such as ASA, ASEC, and MASA.

APPENDIX A – GS-CASI Membership 2008-09:

The GS-CASI consists of 12 members, 10 elected by the school's annual staff and two appointed by the Dean.  In addition, the Dean and a human resources specialist serve as ex officio members.  At the time of the initial GS-CASI elections in 2003, the districting plan placed each of the approximately 766 staff in one of 10 districts for the purpose of electing voting members to the GS-CASI.  The plan favors Graduate School Center and location over job title in contrast to the Academic Staff Assembly plan, which favors job title. The larger Centers are somewhat underrepresented relative to the smaller Centers.  The districting and current representatives are apportioned as follows:

 

District	Description	Member
1	Waisman Center – Researchers	Vacant
2	Waisman Center – Clinical and Managerial	Tuchman-Ginsberg, Linda Outreach Program Manager III Waisman Center
3	Waisman Center – Other	Cole, Donna Research Program Manager II Waisman Center
4	Space Science and Engineering Center – Researchers	Feltz, Wayne Assistant Scientist Space Science and Engineering Note:   Vice-Chair of GS-CASI CASI Representative on GS Academic Planning Council
5	Space Science and Engineering Center – Other	Dan Bull Librarian Space Science and Engineering
6	Primate Research Center	Hoffman, Matthew Senior Special Librarian Primate Center
7	Biotechnology Center and Institute on Aging	Redman, Cheryl Outreach Specialist Biotechnology Center
8	Bock Laboratories, RARC and Aquatic Sciences Center	Reeb, Mary Lou Assistant Director Aquatic Sciences Center
9	Kegonsa Research Campus and Arboretum	Neumann, Bruce Laboratory Manager I Synchrotron Radiation Center Note:   CASI Liason with Academic Staff Executive Committee
10	Administration and UW Press	Simmons, Miriam Assistant Dean Administration