Approved 10-07-21

ASEC Minutes

2:00 – 4:30 p.m. Thursday, September 30, 2021

53 Bascom Hall

https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/93936751067

Members Present: Donna Cole; Jenny Dahlberg; Tim Dalby, chair; Stephanie Elkins; Stephanie Jones; Mallory Musolf; Leslie Petty; Lindsey Stoddard Cameron; Bill Tishler

Guests: Heather Daniels, John Zumbrunnen

The meeting was called to order at 2:01 p.m.

The minutes of September 23 were approved.

General Reports

Tim Dalby, ASEC Chair, met with ASM Chair Adrian Lampron for the monthly governance chairs meeting. They discussed the co-responder pilot program for students who are having a mental health crisis, which involves staff from UHS being onsite with UWPD to help comfort the individual. Tim updated Adrian on ASEC’s discussion about the resolution on caste. Tim reported on the recent ASEC listening hour, at which continued concerns on TTC were heard. Tim, Mallory, Jake, and Lesley met with the standing committee chairs on September 28 to discuss the various initiatives each of the committees have planned for the 2021-22 academic year. At the recent meeting of the chiefs of staff, chairs, and secretaries, it was reported that the COVID situation on campus continues to improve. Booster shots will be available through University Health Services for those who have received the Pfizer vaccine, and further communication will be out soon.

Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff, reported on the Assembly Skills Workshop that he and Lesley hosted on Monday. There may be an additional workshop sometime in the spring. The Academic Staff Executive Education Grants program has been announced for this year. Applications are due by October 29.

Liaison Reports

Mallory Musolf reported on the recent meeting of the UW System Representatives. The academic staff reps elected Mallory as co-chair of the reps for this year, along with Tyler Tollefson from UW-Platteville. The group discussed a number of shared concerns around TTC, including the employee-supervisor conversation process not being followed, appeals, and the 2.0 FTE requirement for director titles. They also discussed the UW System Presidential search with Regent Vice President Karen Walsh. The discussion at the joint session revolved around federal and state relations, as well as the transfer portal and TTC concerns on promotion and progression.

Guest: John Zumbrunnen, Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning

Vice Provost Zumbrunnen offered some initial thoughts on the fall semester so far. Concerns regarding fall instruction have slowed down, and Vice Provost Zumbrunnen expressed his gratitude to everyone’s work to help make the semester go as smoothly as it has so far. There have been continued conversations in his office regarding ethnic studies in general educational requirements. He also recently testified at the State Senate hearing on Critical Race Theory and is planning to speak to the Assembly about the higher education version of the bill on race and sex stereotypes.

The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Mentoring will have been in existence for 3 months as of October 1, and they continue to solidify processes and procedures within the Center. They continue to support instructors through the transition, with some programs in the process of being rebranded. Vice Provost Zumbrunnen currently works with a school/college/division strategic partners group (comprised of associate deans) and a school/college/division operational partners group (lead instructor support). He is also working on an instructor advisory group that will be an even split between instructional academic staff and faculty. The Center and Vice Provost Zumbrunnen’s office are being very intentional about how to move forward in the mentoring space, and looking at the work that already occurs in mentor training within research on campus. Regarding resources to support online, in-person, and hybrid instruction, there are obvious differences between the consultations that take place, but often these conversations have a substantial overlap as well. CTLM is expecting more capacity in this space over time. CTLM is also looking for strategic partnerships with WISCIENCE, the Delta Program, and existing research mentoring programs before evaluating other unmet needs for which CTLM can provide some capacity.

This year’s freshman enrollment has been the largest in UW-Madison history. There were early anxieties about access to courses, as well as distinguishing between access and preference. However, there is not a lot of evidence to suggest that this class is lacking in either area. Vice Provost Zumbrunnen’s office, in conjunction with Academic Planning and Institutional Research, will be attentive to how this class progresses and whether or not there are any barriers to degree progress. Retention is about as high as it typically is, and Student Affairs is working on a survey of second year students as well.

Business

·       October Assembly Meeting Agenda – for vote

ASEC held an extensive discussion on whether to hold the meeting in-person or virtually. The consensus was to hold the October meeting in person to consider the electronic meetings language. Motion to approve the October Assembly agenda (Stoddard Cameron). Seconded. Approved.

·       ASEC Meeting Format Discussion

ASEC debriefed on how the hybrid format worked for the meeting and decided that meetings through December would be held in 53 Bascom with a continued hybrid format.

·       ASEC Goal Planning Discussion

ASEC held an initial brainstorming session on goals for the 2021-22 year. ASEC will return to this discussion at the next meeting.

·       Topics for Guests

VPFSA: diversity education and training committee progress, representation for emeritus faculty and staff, research program manager titles, role in compensation plan, research professor status at SMPH, stats for professorial titles

OHR: catastrophic leave, TTC appeals, timeframes for compensation, TTC folks who are above max (stats and job categories), processes for correctly mapped titles with high salary disparities, question on definition of legacy benefits

Meeting adjourned at 4:54 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff