ASA Document 437. 2009-2010 Graduate School CASI Annual Report
Graduate
School Committee on Academic Staff Issues (GS-CASI)
Annual
Report
October
2010
GS-CASI Overview
The Graduate School Committee on Academic Staff Issues (GS-CASI) advises the Dean on matters of concern to academic staff. 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 eighth year. The full committee met eight times during the period covered by this report, July 2009 through June 2010. In addition, a September 2009 retreat was held to review the past year’s accomplishments and define goals and milestones for the coming year. During this reporting cycle the committee completed a five-year self-study. The report was finished by October 2009.
Due to extensive focus on possible restructuring of the Graduate School research enterprise, the breadth of the accomplishments are much narrower in scope than in past GS-CASI annual reports.
During this year, the GS-CASI developed stronger communication with the Academic Staff Executive Committee (ASEC) than in the past. The new Chair, Heather Daniels, promoted strong ties to all CASIs on campus. On October 29, 2009, ASEC organized a CASI chair and vice-chair meeting to assist campus-wide governance and discuss any CASI/ASEC related issues. This prompted the Provost to encourage CASI participation throughout all schools on campus.
Communication regarding campus wide furloughs, collective bargaining, and restructuring of the University of Wisconsin-Madison research enterprise and the Graduate School were topics at meetings in the July 2009 – June 2010 timeframe. Several GS-CASI members attended Graduate School Restructuring Townhall meetings that the Provost conducted at several locations on campus. A letter was written and submitted to the University Committee that voiced concern over losing academic staff representation on Graduate School Academic Planning Committee (GS APC) after the Faculty report on Restructuring of Research Enterprise indicated a possible all-faculty committee for GS APC.
GS-CASI had two meetings with invited guests. On March 8, 2010, Bruno Browning and Mo Noonan Bischof discussed UW-Madison job security policies and rolling horizons. On June 14, 2010, Steve Stern discussed “Leadership By and For Academic Staff: Toward an Excellence Award Initiative.”
The following subcommittees held additional meetings to work on
issues in-depth:
Communications
Subcommittee
Nominations and
Districting Subcommittee
Professional Development and Recognition Subcommittee
The GS-CASI Personnel Policies and Procedures Subcommittee was not active in 2008-10.
Communications Subcommittee
The Communications Subcommittee establishes and
monitors communication both with Graduate School academic staff as well as other
academic staff committees across campus.
2009-2010 Activities/Accomplishments
The 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 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 assisted in preparation of the 2009-2010 annual report and five-year self-study that was distributed to all Graduate School academic staff members, other campus CASIs and the ASEC.
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 Web site Post agendas, minutes and reports,
etc. to 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 site will be used to link to other pertinent academic staff information and organizations.
Nominations and Districting Subcommittee
The Nominations and Districting Subcommittee oversees elections and provides oversight for balanced district membership.
2009-2010 Activities/Accomplishments
The annual election for Vice-Chair was held at the July 2009 GS-CASI meeting with Wayne Feltz elected to the post.
The subcommittee organized and identified new candidates for Districts 8 and 9. District elections were held during the March 22 –March 30, 2010 timeframe, filling the positions above for the 2010-2012 period. Election results for the term beginning July 2010 are: District 8 – election of Moira Harrington to replace Mary Lou Reeb and District 9 – reelection of Bruce Neumann. In addition, Dean Cadwallader granted Reina Maruyama renewal of appointment. The subcommittee worked with the Communications Subcommittee to update Web page representative information for districts and committees. The position for District 1 from the Waisman Center was vacant for this period. The subcommittee continues to seek a representative.
The subcommittee also provided input to achieve more frequent Web page updates and proposed a one-day retreat that was conducted in September 2009 to plan new directions for the committee.
Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison DoIT mainframe job run for Academic Staff Assembly—active academic staff employees at October 1, 2009
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 representative skills to a specific
committee.
·
Prepare and
coordinate elections and provide recommendations to fill district vacancies
when warranted.
·
Provide
guidance and proposals for amendment of bylaws to provide fully functional
GS-CASI body.
Professional Development and Recognition Subcommittee
The Professional Development and Recognition Subcommittee 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.
2009-2010 Activities/Accomplishments
The subcommittee met 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). (http://acstaff.wisc.edu/FAQJune08.pdf). The UW-Madison Compensation and Economic Benefits Committee assumed responsibility for maintenance of the document.
The subcommittee began preparing 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 subcommittee reviewed and ranked two rounds of professional development grants for academic staff in the Graduate School. The award recipients included:
2009-2010 Academic Staff Professional Development Grant (Part II-
Fall 2009)
·
John
Ollinger, Associate Scientist, Waisman Center
· Ralf Wehlitz, Associate Scientist, Synchrotron Radiation Center
2010-2011
Academic Staff Professional Development Grant (Part 1-Spring 2010)
·
Cheryl
Bauer-Armstrong, Outreach Program Manager, Arboretum
·
Joan Ershler,
Senior Administrative Program Specialist, Waisman Center
·
Erin McMillan,
Assistant Researcher, Waisman Center
·
Jayne
Squirrell, Assistant Scientist, Molecular Biology
· Pamela Westmark, Assistant Researcher, Waisman 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.
· Maintain new efforts for strong communication among other academic staff campus governance bodies such as Academic Staff Assembly, ASEC and Madison Academic Staff Association.
Personnel Policies and Procedures Subcommittee
The role of the Personnel Policies and Procedures Subcommittee 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 reconvened. The subcommittee did not meet in 2008-2010.
For further information on GS-CASI subcommittees, including composition, current issues, minutes/agendas of meetings, etc., please visit the GS-CASI Web site (www.grad.wisc.edu/admin/committees/casi/index.html).
APPENDIX A – GS-CASI Membership 2009-10:
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
|
Julie Schears Outreach Specialist Waisman Center
|
3 |
Waisman Center –
Other
|
Donna Cole Research Program
Manager II Waisman Center
|
4 |
Space Science and
Engineering Center – Researchers
|
Wayne Feltz Assistant Scientist Space Science and
Engineering Center Note: Vice-Chair
of GS-CASI, CASI Representative on GS Academic Planning Council, ASEC member
|
5 |
Space Science and
Engineering Center – Other
|
Dan Bull Librarian Space Science and
Engineering Center
|
6 |
Primate Research
Center
|
Kristin Nagle Administrative
Program Specialist Primate Center
|
7 |
Biotechnology Center
and Institute on Aging
|
Cheryl Redman Senior Outreach
Specialist Biotechnology Center
|
8 |
Bock Laboratories,
Research Animal Resources Center and Aquatic Sciences Center
|
Mary Lou Reeb Assistant Director Aquatic Sciences
Center
|
9 |
Kegonsa Research
Campus and Arboretum
|
Bruce Neumann Assistant Researcher Synchrotron Radiation
Center Note: CASI
Liaison with Academic Staff Assembly
|
10 |
Administration and UW
Press
|
Miriam Simmons Assistant Dean Administration
|
Appointed – Voting
District Member
11 Reina
Maruyama, Assistant Scientist, IceCube Research Center
12 Tanya Cobb, Administrative Program Manager III, Molecular Biology
Ex Officio – Nonvoting
Martin Cadwallader,
Dean, Administration
Julie Karpelenia, Assistant Dean, Administration
Past Representatives
Wilton Sanders, Senior
Scientist, ex-vice chair, 7/02 - 7/04
Mina Johnson-Glenberg
Scientist, Waisman Center—Researchers, 7/02 - 7/04
John Stott, Kegonsa
Research Campus and Arboretum, 7/02 - 7/04,
Marcia Douglas, ex
officio, 7/02 - 7/04
Mark Mulligan, Space Science
and Engineering Center, 7/02 - 7/05
Deborah Faupel, Biotechnology
Center, 7/02 - 7/05
Sheila Leary, UW Press,
7/02 - 7/05
Linda Haskins, Waisman
Center, 7/02 -7/06
Judy Kingsbury,
Arboretum, 7/04 - 3/06
Gary Case, Biotechnology
Center, 3/05 - 11/05
Jody Helgeland, Primate
Center, 7/02 – 10/06
Michael Anderle,
Waisman Center, 03/06 - 5/07
Dave Egan, Arboretum, 1/06
– 3/07
Linda Tuchman-Ginsberg, Waisman Center, 7/02 – 7/09
Kael Hanson, IceCube
Research Center, 11/07 – 1/09
Jean Phillips, Space Science
and Engineering Center, 7/05 – 7/08
Barbara Myers Temkin,
Waisman Center, 3/09 - 6/09
Matthew Hoffman, Primate Research Center, 10/06 – 7/10
The GS-CASI relies heavily on subcommittees to accomplish its work. Each member serves on one or more of them.