Approved 12-14-20

 

ACADEMIC STAFF ASSEMBLY MEETING MINUTES

https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/ff12dd1c2c494cdda815791d52b06f3d

Monday, November 9, 2020

3:30 to 5:00 p.m.

 

Provost Karl Scholz called the meeting to order at 3:31 p.m.

 

Memorial Resolution for Sandeepa Lama Palmer (ASA #741)

Amy Rognsvoog read the memorial resolution for Sandeepa Lama Palmer.

 

Guest: Kristen Roman, Chief, UW-Madison Police Department

The issue most prominently confronting the UW Police Department is COVID. UWPD has been involved in coordinating the emergency operations and response for campus, starting with the scale down to online instruction and over the summer with the Smart Restart initiative. Field personnel are working 12-hour shifts instead of the normal 10, so as to increase the number of individuals that can be available across campus. UWPD staff are also telecommuting where possible. UWPD has been working with the City of Madison Police Department and the Department of Public Health to do what they can to address off campus concerns with public health compliance. UWPD is also working on a racial equity initiative, and information about the initiative can be found at https://equity.uwpd.wisc.edu/. So far, this has consisted of a number of listening sessions with stakeholders across campus, and UWPD is working to engage with shared governance groups as well as students. The next phase will be to work with the Police Advisory Council to dive deeper into the operations of the department and review policies and procedures with community input. One of the goals is to create a dashboard of metrics—that the campus community will help to define—that will capture indicators of what a racially just and fair police force looks like. These metrics would be regularly reported to the community. Turning to the recent vote of no confidence from the Associated Students of Madison, UWPD is working to respond to the issues and questions that have come out of that vote. There were questions about how UWPD responded to protests that occurred over the summer. Prior to the vote, there had been regular meetings with ASM. Meetings were put on pause at the request of the students, and the meetings will be resuming on November 10.

Guests: Gery Essenmacher and Lezli Redmond, Ombuds Office

The Ombuds Office is a confidential resource for all UW-Madison employees, including graduate students. It is made up of 5 retired UW faculty and staff with a collective 150+ years of UW-Madison experience. They listen and explore concerns, and they offer resources, options, and strategies to address workplace concerns. The guiding principles of the Ombuds Office include confidentiality, independence, informality, and impartiality. The office has seen an increasing number of visitors over the last 5 years. In the 2019-20 academic year, 49% of the visitors to the Ombuds Office were academic staff. The most prominent issues brought to the office were issues related to evaluative relationships. Approximately 35% of visitors reported some form of hostile and intimidating behavior. Recommendations for administration include improving tracking of statistics across campus for HIB, continuing to increase supervisor training, and improving employee understanding of policies and benefits. The Ombuds Office encourages contacts via email (uwombuds@mailplus.wisc.edu) or phone (608-265-9992).

 

Automatic Consent Business

The Academic Staff Assembly minutes of Monday, October 12, 2020, were approved.

 

Reports

Jenny Dahlberg, ASEC chair, announced that the Committee Interest Survey had been distributed to all academic staff and encouraged those who were interested to provide their interest in the committees on which they would like to serve. This survey is used to fill vacancies on shared governance committees. There is a proposal from UW System to move all employees to a single payroll system as of January 1. This would consist of a biweekly payroll structure with 26 pay periods across 12 months, which would be a very big shift for academic staff. ASEC and administration are working hard to try to delay the implementation, and OHR is tentatively scheduled to discuss this at the December Assembly meeting. Jenny encouraged attendees to reach out to ASEC with any concerns about this initiative or any other issues.

 

Jenny Dahlberg delivered the ASPRO report. ASPRO will be taking up the payroll process implementation issue as well and working to advocate for delay with UW System. Jenny also encouraged those interested to join ASPRO and reminded attendees that there is currently a promotion  for a one-time limited reduction in membership cost for any new members, with an annual fee of $135 or a 3-month suspension of payments through payroll deduction. ASPRO advocates for academic staff across UW System, and membership is important for continuing that advocacy both with UW System and with the state.

 

ASPP Chapter 13 Changes (ASA #742)

Debra Shapiro (ASEC) moved approval of changes to Chapter 13 of Academic Staff Policies and Procedures. Seconded.

 

Tim Dalby (ASEC) moved to amend ASPP 13.02.D.2.b to conclude with, “Elections will be conducted by June 30.” Seconded. Approved.

 

Vote on changes as amended. Motion approved.

 

Resolution in Support of Instruction and Training on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice (ASA #743)

Lindsey Stoddard Cameron (ASEC) moved approval of the resolution. Seconded.

 

Veronica Scott, District 448 Representative, moved to amend the second resolved clause by changing the word “expand” to “develop.” Seconded. Motion failed.

 

Discussion resumed on the motion as presented.

 

Meeting adjourned due to technical difficulties at 5:05 pm.

 

Minutes submitted by Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff