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