Topics Map > Academic Staff Executive Committee (ASEC) > 2021-2022 > 03. September
Academic Staff Executive Committee Minutes 09-02-21
Approved 09-09-21
ASEC
Minutes
2:00 –
4:30 p.m. Thursday, September 2, 2021
https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/93936751067
Members Present: Donna Cole; Tim Dalby, chair; Stephanie
Jones; Mallory Musolf; Leslie Petty; Lindsey Stoddard
Cameron; Bill Tishler
Guests: Elizabeth Covington, Heather
Daniels, Lesley Fisher, Beth Meyerand, Karl Scholz
The meeting was called to order at 2:02
p.m.
The minutes of August 19 were
approved.
General Reports
Tim Dalby, ASEC Chair, reported
that the orientation for new members of the Academic Staff Assembly was held on
August 20. Tim, Lesley, and Jake met with Mark Walters for their regular
meeting with OHR. Issues around the testing process were discussed. Tim and
Jake attended the Fall Leadership Summit on August 25. About 50% of the
attendees were in-person, and Tim shared the materials with ASEC. Topics at
recent ASEC listening sessions include questions around schools and colleges
imposing their own criteria for TTC titles and concerns around return to onsite
work. Tim met with other shared governance chairs for their monthly meeting.
Issues around masking and vaccination, the caste resolution from ASM, concerns
about quarantine at Eagle Heights, and goal-setting
were discussed. At the recent meeting with the chiefs of staff, it was
discussed that there will be 5 testing sites open for the fall. As of this
report, there is a 91% employee vaccination rate, with a 93% rate for students
in dorms, and 86% for students not in dorms. Lectures in the Chemistry Building
have been relocated, and they are working on what to do with labs as well.
Jake Smith, Secretary of the
Academic Staff, reported on the Chancellor’s response to a report from the UW
System Caregiving Task Force. There has also been a set of recommendations sent
to the Chancellor and other members of administration from the UW-Madison Ad
Hoc Committee on Caregiving. Announcements about University Roundtable and the
Assembly Skills Workshop will be going out soon. The SOAS Office has found some
issues with the new website, and those should be resolved soon. Deputy
Secretary Lesley Fisher reported on the meeting of the Special Regent Committee
on Governance Issues. Jake also reminded ASEC members of the Mentor Match
Program, which is currently asking for mentors and mentees for this year’s
program.
Guest: Karl Scholz, Provost
Provost Scholz reported that there
will be additional funds beyond the state pay plan for faculty and staff. There
will be an allocation of $4 million for staff, with an additional $1 million+
to be used to bring staff up above minimum pay ranges for TTC. Details are
coming on how these funds will be administered. There will also be an
allocation of $5 million in bonus funds.
According to the latest data as of
August 31, there have been 34 total requests related to remote teaching. There
are 13 requests that are still in progress, and accommodations have been made
in roughly half of the cases. Approximately 2/3 of the requests are from
faculty, with a smaller number from academic staff and graduate assistants. Administration
wants to be responsive to these situations and is making sure that
communication is clearer around these processes.
Campus has seen approximately 5000
remote work agreements. There are still a large amount
of these that are in progress, with a vast range of outcomes in this area.
Provost Scholz surveyed the deans, and the sense is that a majority
of the agreements that have been finalized are those with 1 or 2 days
onsite. When thinking about these agreements, supervisors need to think about
the individuals but also equity and issues among teams. In the next stage of
the Title and Total Compensation Project, there will be continued careful
thought about overall compensation, including flexibilities to work remotely.
Due to issues with the new Chemistry
Building as well as an issue with ductwork in the old building,
Administration has worked to
relocate classes and is exploring options for lab sections. Research spaces are
also being looked at.
Provost Scholz discussed his goals
for the coming year. The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Mentoring is off to
a great start, and Vice Provost John Zumbrunnen continues to move that
initiative forward. There is also the professional development initiative for
diversity, equity, and inclusion that will create a baseline training in these
areas for employees, with more localized training to follow. Provost Scholz
would like to make more progress on climate and belonging. He also wants to see
schools/colleges/divisions continuing to work successfully to create the
life-changing opportunities available through this institution. He highlighted
Washington Monthly’s recent ranking of UW-Madison as the top public university
in the country (and in the top 5 overall).
Guest: Beth Meyerand, Vice Provost
for Faculty and Staff Affairs
Vice Provost Meyerand has recently
had discussions with John Zumbrunnen and Mark Walters earlier this week
regarding enactment of accommodations for instructors. She has heard feedback
from PROFS in this space as well. There is work happening on maximizing greater
uniformity on flexibilities.
Vice Provost Meyerand updated ASEC
on the diversity, equity, and inclusion curriculum initiative. Deputy Vice
Chancellor Charleston’s office wanted to sample the baseline training that
campus will be using, with an eye toward adding videos at the beginning and end
to make it more specific to UW-Madison. She will meet with him on September 9
to talk about the results of those discussions, as well as populating the
curriculum committee. There was discussion of the notion of including end users
as well as curriculum design experts on the committee. ASEC recommended including
end users and consulting CTLM for instructional designers.
Motion to Convene in Closed Session
Pursuant to Wis. Stats. 19.85(1)(c), and (f) to Discuss Appointments to the
University Academic Planning Council and the Working Group on Policy and Process
Regarding Access to Electronic Files (Stoddard Cameron). Seconded. Approved.
Motion to Reconvene in Open Session
(Stoddard Cameron). Seconded. Approved.
Business
· Appointments
Motion
to appoint Nathan Jung and Stephanie Jones to the Working Group on Policy and
Process Regarding Access to Electronic Files (Stoddard Cameron). Seconded.
Approved.
Leslie Petty was elected as the
ASEC appointee to the University Academic Planning Council.
Recessed at 3:49 p.m.
Reconvened at 3:54 p.m.
Business
· September
Assembly Agenda
Motion to approve the September
Academic Staff Assembly Agenda (Petty). Seconded. Approved.
· Shared
Governance Letter
ASEC reviewed and approved a
revised draft of the letter. Jake will send the letter to the University
Committee for its review as well.
· Topics
for Guests
Provost: first week update,
enrollment counts, class composition
Dean of Extension: overview of and
reflection on the transition to UW-Madison, top-3-5 issues
OHR: TTC, data on remote work
agreements, compensation plan, vacation balance issue
Meeting adjourned at 4:24 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Jake Smith,
Secretary of the Academic Staff