Approved 10-19-23

ASEC Minutes

2:00 – 4:30 p.m. Thursday, October 5, 2023

53 Bascom Hall

https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/93223941305

Members Present: Donna Cole; Stephanie Elkins; Alissa Ewer; Julie Hunt Johnson; Stephanie Jones; Albert Muniz, chair; Terry Paape; Lindsey Stoddard Cameron; Nola Walker

Guests: Lesley Fisher, Lucien Gerondeau, Glenda Gillaspy, Karen Massetti-Moran, Julie Scharm, Patrick Sheehan, Scott Wildman

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

The minutes of September 28 were approved.

General Reports

Albert Muniz, ASEC Chair, offered his thanks to those who volunteered at the academic staff governance table for this year’s Employee Resource and Benefits Fair, which had good turnout. The Chancellor, Provost, and Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration sent the annual letter to supervisors about encouraging participation in shared governance. Albert mentioned the recent message from the Office of Legal Affairs on public record retention policies and the message from UW System President Rothman on working with the Joint Committee on Employment Relations regarding pay raises for university employees. The Enrollment Management Fall Forum will be held on October 17.

Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff, reported that Dean Diana Hess will be stepping down from her position as Dean of the School of Education at the end of the academic year. There will likely be a call soon for nominees for a search and screen committee. At their October 5 meeting, the Board of Regents approved a delay to the implementation of the Administrative Transformation Program (ATP). The new implementation date is July 1, 2025.

Liaison Reports

Nola Walker reported that the College of Engineering CASI is in the process of providing more structure to the group and looking at engagement with administration. They are also looking at updating their mission and values statement related to their function as a CASI.

Donna Cole reported on the UW System Representatives meeting. President Rothman is advocating at the capitol with legislators regarding the value of UW System to the state and to the world. UW System Human Resources Director Dan Chanen reported on the delay to ATP. They are looking at changing the requirement of advance payment of two months’ worth of insurance premiums in the first paycheck. They are also looking at the required life insurance program. There were discussions of other UW System campuses and strategies for addressing structural deficits.

Albert Muniz reported that the Nominating Committee held their introductory meeting and reviewed their process as well as openings for the coming year. They noted that participation in the Committee Interest Survey has increased substantially.

Guests: Patrick Sheehan, Chief Human Resources Officer; Karen Massetti-Moran, Deputy Chief Human Resources Officer, Office of Human Resources

Patrick and Karen discussed the delay in approval of the state pay plan and the morale impacts of that delay. We continue to work with UW System to help the Legislature understand how these increases help keep pace with the impacts of inflation. A statement was released in Working@UW to update employees on where we are in this process.

Through the Title and Total Compensation Project and now through the Compensation Center of Excellence, OHR has worked to develop a framework for title guidance through analysis of the current salary structure to ensure that employees are using the right titles within the various job groups. They are identifying solutions to identify reviews for parity, equity, compression, and market. UW-Madison provides salary ranges for our titles, and unique skills or qualifications can also impact salaries. OHR continues to add resources for both employees and managers in these areas. Career Counseling can also provide assistance in terms of career progression, including working with supervisors to advocate on behalf of staff for salary increases. It is important to continue building out these areas that should have been in place upon TTC implementation. OHR continues to discuss working with departmental HR to highlight areas of success and concern in salaries, and OHR has provided guidance to the HR community around how supervisors should be thinking about salary data. ATP should help in this respect, since performance and salary will be in the same system. ASEC encouraged specific mechanisms that can be put in place for staff to draw attention to individual salary issues as needed.

Guest: Glenda Gillaspy, Dean, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences

Dean Gillaspy started her position 14 months ago. She came from Virginia Tech, where she was the department head of biochemistry in a college similar to CALS. She discussed the differences in shared governance between UW-Madison and Virginia Tech, which is a more centralized institution. Within CALS, the CASI is looking at including university staff on the committee, which is a goal that she shares. CALS also has a very active academic planning council, and Dean Gillaspy has consulted the APC on issues such as graduate student support. She also meets monthly with department chairs. She met with the CASI twice last year. CALS is currently looking at how departmental voting rights work for staff. She also discussed how different departments had different structures and processes for electing chairs. These issues also connect to faculty and staff climate. Dean Gillaspy and ASEC discussed how issues and considerations differ between tenure-track faculty and instructional or research academic staff.

Motion to Convene in Closed Session Pursuant to Wis. Stats. 19.85(1)(c), and (f) to Discuss Nominations to the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education Search and Screen Committee Business (Cole). Seconded. Approved.

Motion to Reconvene in Open Session (Stoddard Cameron). Seconded. Approved.

Motion to Reconvene in Closed Session (Stoddard Cameron). Seconded. Approved.

Motion to Reconvene in Open Session (Cole). Seconded. Approved.

Business

• Nominations – for vote

Motion to nominate Chris Bartley, Megan Chua, Amita Kapoor, and Tina Nielsen to serve on the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education Search and Screen Committee, with advice to consider appointing someone from the Graduate School (Elkins). Seconded. Approved.

• ASEC Priorities Discussion

ASEC continued to narrow down its priorities for the year and discussed ways progress had already been made. Additionally, ASEC will talk to Vice Chancellor Rob Cramer about dining and wellness on campus, including how they intersect with morale as well as continued resumption of in-person instruction. ASEC will also look to have further conversations with OHR’s Equity, Inclusion, and Employee Wellbeing Office about these areas as well.

• November Assembly Agenda

Chancellor Mnookin is scheduled to present at the November Assembly meeting. ASEC discussed inviting OHR’s Career Counseling team to give a short presentation as well, given ASEC’s advocacy for additional staff in that office. Jake will invite them to join the November meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 4:26 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff