Academic Staff Assembly Minutes 10-12-15

Approved 11-09-15

ACADEMIC STAFF ASSEMBLY MEETING MINUTES
272 Bascom Hall
Monday, October 12, 2015
3:30 to 5:00 p.m.



Provost Sarah Mangelsdorf called the meeting to order at 3:34 p.m.

Memorial Resolutions: Amy Wong read memorial resolutions for Don DasGupta and Ron Weiss.

Automatic Consent: The Academic Staff Assembly minutes of Monday, September 14, 2015, were approved. 

Guest: Sherry Boeger, Employee Assistance Office
The Employee Assistance Office (EAO) provides counseling and workplace consultation with licensed clinical social workers.  EAO also offers presentations across campus.  65% of cases are for work-related reasons.  They would like people to come in sooner for personal or work-related concerns.  They also offer crisis services. 

Guest: Jo Ann Carr and Rosa Garner, Ombuds Office
Academic staff tend to be the employee category that seeks Ombuds services most often.  The office works with more women than men, and they have identified university staff and those from minority populations as not using the Ombuds services as often as other groups given their numbers on campus. 

There are three areas of concerns that they see people for most often: evaluative and supervisory relationships, conflict with peers/colleagues, and career progression.  20% of visitors last year came to Ombuds office for information only.  The Ombuds office encouraged academic staff to work with the Office of Human Resources to develop more plain language documents on human resources related issues.

The Ombuds currently serving have more than 125 years of experience on campus.  The first goal of the office is to provide services to office visitors.  The second goal is to examine hostile and intimidating behaviors on campus and provide some data on this if possible.  The third goal is to continue their current collaborations.

Health Insurance Changes, Jason Jankoski, Co-Chair Compensation and Economic Benefits Committee
There is new dental insurance for everyone that is covered by state health insurance.  The dental insurance is part of your health plan, and you are able to opt out of it.  There are four new levels for prescription drugs and a $2,000 payment if you opt out of health insurance.

Jason covered some definitions.  A co-pay is the standard payment for every visit.  Co-Insurance is when you have to pay percentage of service.  This is what we currently have.  A deductible is new this year.  You have to pay this amount before the insurance starts covering costs. 

Standing Committee and Other Reports
Academic Staff Executive Committee (ASEC) – Heather McFadden announced that the Academic Staff Institute will be held on April 19, 2016.  There will be a CASI retreat held on Friday, November 6, from 10:00-2:00.  If you need more information, contact the Secretary of the Academic Staff Office.  Over 200 academic staff applied for free professional development two Division of Continuing Studies courses.  Heather McFadden thanked Vice Provost Jeff Russell and Julie Klein for all of their work and their willingness to extend this opportunity to academic staff.  The Letter to the Editor regarding legislation on fetal tissue research restrictions is available for you to indicate your support until October 14, 2015.  If you are interested in adding your support, you may do so by logging in with your NetID to https://apps.research.wisc.edu/petition/academic/ or by emailing the Secretary of the Academic Staff with your name and indicating you would like to add your support.  Heather M. recognized the following individuals for their service as chairs of Assembly standing committees:
•    Jeff Armstrong, Professional Development and Recognition Committee (PDRC)
•    Deb Brauer, Personnel Policies, and Procedures Committee (PPPC)
•    Laura Gallagher, Communications Committee
•    Gene Masters, Districting and Representation Committee (DRC)
•    Katy Tomlinson, Mentoring Committee
Compensation and Economic Benefits Committee (CEBC) – Jenny Dahlberg provided a follow up on the resolution passed by the Assembly in May regarding the Category A Maximum.  A proposal was distributed at the door that would allow academic staff employees with senior or distinguished titles and those in all program manager titles to exceed the maximum salary. 

Business
Academic Staff Governance Priorities

Heather McFadden (ASEC) moved to approve the Academic Staff Governance Priorities for 2014-15.  Seconded.  Approved. 

Resolution on Vendor Choice for Job Titling and Compensation Study
Carol Van Hulle (District #140) moved to approve the Resolution on Vendor Choice for Job Titling and Compensation Study.  Seconded.  Approved.

Provost Report
Provost Mangelsdorf reported that the Board of Regents voted to remove the out of state cap while fixing the minimum number of WI residents for the next four years at 3600 for UW-Madison.  For years, UW-Madison took 3500 WI residents.  After the out of state cap was raised to 27.5%, UW-Madison started taking 3600 WI residents.  Provost Mangelsdorf doesn’t expect to see dramatic changes to the student population due to this change.  The administration should have talked with the Associated Students of Madison about the proposal.  They weren’t included in the conversation as much as they should have been.

Provost Mangelsdorf expressed that shared governance has been invaluable to helping her understand the university.  There is nothing like the way shared governance is practiced here.

The launch of the UW Foundation fundraising campaign will be held on Thursday of this week.  The Provost explained that the campaign is important to academic staff because anything that helps expand campus resources helps everyone.  Indirectly gifts to the Foundation will help academic staff.  Occasionally gifts will go to directly support academic staff.  Part of the recent Chazen gift goes to pay staff salaries to maintain the museum and art collection.

The Provost reported that there were power outages on campus for three Saturdays in a row.  There have been many discussions regarding these events, but there is still no answer about why this is happening. 

Adjourned at 5:03 pm.

Minutes submitted by Heather Daniels, Secretary of the Academic Staff


KeywordsASA Minutes   Doc ID58088
OwnerLesley F.GroupThe Office of the Secretary/ Academic Staff
Created2015-11-10 11:50:05Updated2020-07-13 15:06:48
SitesThe Office of the Secretary/ Academic Staff
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