UC members present: Broman, Edwards, Litovsky, Meyerand (chair), Wanner, Wendt

Others present: S. Smith, Felber, J. Smith, Daniels, Radomski, Stoddard Cameron, Richard, McFadden, Vaughan

Chair Meyerand called the meeting to order at 1:01 PM. Secretary Smith called the UC’s attention to Black History Month activities and reminded them to comment on faculty survey.

The minutes of the meeting of December 21, 2015, were approved with two corrections.

Felber provided legislative update on behalf of PROFS, including status of concealed carry and fetal tissue bills and possible action on self-insurance models.

GLBT Issues Committee co-chairs Claire Wendland and Aaron Hoskins and Assistant Dean Gabe Javier presented draft language for incorporation of the committee into FPP along with a name change. Following some discussion, the UC approved the presentation of the changes to the Faculty Senate in February. The bulk of the discussion focused on a letter drafted by the committee expressing concerns about insurance exclusions and predatory pricing. The committee urges the creation of a task force to look into these issues. UC wholeheartedly endorses and will work with the committee to charge an ad hoc shared governance committee on this topic.

The UC asked Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Darrell Bazzell for his opinion on possible self-insurance plan to finance parental leave, an idea he thought worth looking into. Specifics of this idea branched into discussion of overall structure and organization of budget committees. Consensus that a shared governance committee with deep expertise on budget matters is desirable. Shorter-term, issue-focused groups could feed into broader body (on parental leave self-insurance, GLBT insurance concerns, budget model, etc.) Overlap also with campus/System class and comp study. That group could (and will) also look at other budget issues, but has a longer timeframe than may be desirable for some topics. UC, ASEC, and USEC will discuss composition of possible budget committee, potential charge(s), interactions with other committees and units, etc. Committee members must make serious time commitment to learning about budget processes. Previous examples discussed as source of ideas included budget model committee, tuition remission process, among others. Bazzell informed the UC that he plans to reconvene all or part of the budget model committee to discuss next steps and incorporation into annual budget process.

The UC discussed UWS tenure task force developments with Provost Mangelsdorf at length. Draft expected any day; comments will be needed quickly. UWS plan is for tenure proposals to go to education committee in February and full board in March. Edwards and Mangelsdorf reported that the task force appears to have heard points about academic staff involvement and program closure; less clear on second review and appeal points. Campus would benefit from having our policies approved soon, potentially at same meeting as system policies. Whenever draft comes out, unanimity that single campus response is preferable. Now we wait. Separate discussion with provost and Vaughan about foregoing budget ideas. Not clear if (or how far) Madison’s HR authority extends to benefits.

Meyerand nominated Wendt as UC chair for 2016-17. Seconded. Unanimously approved. Happy discussion followed. Congratulations, Amy! Noting that she is now halfway done with her chairship, Meyerand adjourned the meeting at 2:57 p.m.