UC members present: Amasino (chair), Campagnola, Ventura, Wolf

UC members absent: Bowers, Warfield

Others present: S. Smith, H. Daniels, J. Smith, J. Richard, E. Sandgren, as well as those indicated below

Chair Rick Amasino called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. Paul Campagnola reported on the previous week’s UWS shared governance reps meeting. Primary focus of that meeting was the new productivity policy, which the reps have written a statement about [link]. Main complaints are use of absolute numbers as measure and timeline for implementation that is not long enough to allow for change, among other concerns. The minutes of the meeting of November 05, 2018, were approved. (The agenda for this meeting erroneously noted that the minutes for October 29 were to be approved.)

PROFS lobbyist Jack O’Meara reported on impacts of the previous week’s election on UW and higher education generally. He also discussed the upcoming Innovation Forum and the Board of Regents. The UC discussed how to proceed with the postponed Senate resolution on graduate assistant fees. Framing will be important; the resolution can only be modified on the floor, not before the meeting as with a first reading. Among the many intertwined issues are legal considerations, budgetary considerations, grant limitations, etc. The UC also discussed the “professor” resolutions that had their first reading at the November Senate meeting. Interim VCRGE Norman Drinkwater indicated that from the point of view of the research enterprise, not having an “assistant research professor” title would be problematic since that is the level where the greatest impact is likely to be had in terms of shoring up our research capacity. Other aspects of these resolutions were discussed, including possible need for a strong reaffirmation of the prohibition on dual roles, implications on rankings, and more. The UC consensus is to remand this to the “omnibus titling” committee for further elaboration prior to a Senate vote. Drinkwater also updated the UC on planning for a Data Science Institute and an ongoing series of articles in the Isthmus about UW research. On the latter, he indicated that it is fair to say our success has been less than it should have been but that we have made definite progress in recent years and continue to work on this.

Dean of the Graduate School Bill Karpus expressed support for the new titles, especially the research professor series, which he sees as a good transition for post-docs to faculty. Karpus and the UC also discussed the Senate’s graduate support resolution and he provided substantial detail and numbers, which could be incorporated into the resolution. Karpus and the UC much more in favor of increasing base stipend rather than adding on payment of seg fees, a solution that would be more advantageous to the grad assistants. Much discussion ensued. Options for increasing support include across the board, targeting departments below the median, etc. Karpus also reported that the new Graduate Student Tracking System (GSTS) has been launched and full roll out should all be in place by end of the month.

Vice Chancellor for University Relations Charlie Hoslet briefly briefed the UC on preparations for the upcoming legislative session and campus connections to the new governor’s transition team, along with some other updates. Director of Community Relations Leslie Orrantia then introduced herself and provided a primer to her office. Orrantia described the multitude of activities in her office that advance the UW brand. Part of her role is a parallel to the state and federal relations office, but she has a community-building and -maintaining role that is quite different. The South Madison Partnership is a highlight of the latter. 

Kirsten Wolf moved to convene in closed session pursuant to Wis. Stats. 19.85(1)(c) and (f) to discuss personnel matters. The motion was seconded and passed at 2:52 p.m. The UC considered additional faculty to serve on a de novo review committee. Steve Ventura moved to reconvene in open session. The motion was seconded and passed at 3:18 p.m., at which point Amasino adjourned the meeting.