Academic Staff Assembly Minutes 11-10-2025

Approved 12-08-25

ACADEMIC STAFF ASSEMBLY MEETING MINUTES

272 Bascom Hall

Monday, November 10, 2025

3:30 to 4:40 p.m.

Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Rob Cramer called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.

Guest: Craig Thompson, Vice Chancellor for University Relations

The Office of University Relations comprises the following units: Federal Relations; State Relations and Statewide Outreach; Community Relations; Tribal Relations; Office of Business Engagement; and Campus and Visitor Relations.

University Relations continues to monitor ongoing and emerging federal issues impacting UW–Madison. Over the past ten months, the federal government has terminated about 150 grants on campus. About 35 of the awards were subsequently reinstated. University Relations’ Federal Relations team has two full-time staff in Washington, D.C., Director of Congressional Affairs Laura Phillips and Director of Federal Relations for Research Elizabeth Hill. UW–Madison has contracts with Lewis-Burke Associates LLC and the BGR Group to help navigate challenges and opportunities at the federal level.

The 2025-27 state biennial budget provided the Universities of Wisconsin, including UW–Madison, funding in key areas such as compensation and support for capital projects. Act 15, the budget bill, also included several provisions. For example, the position cap, set to expire in December 2026, was extended indefinitely. In addition, the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents must submit a plan to the Joint Committee on Employment Relations addressing certain provisions, including proposals for: using allocated funding to attract faculty in high-demand fields of study, ensuring the transferability of general education credits among Universities of Wisconsin institutions, and meeting requirements for instructional workload. The Board of Regents will meet on November 19 to discuss these provisions.

Automatic Consent Business

The Academic Staff Assembly minutes of Monday, October 13, 2025, were approved.

Reports

ASEC Chair Alissa Ewer presented the ASEC report. ASEC seeks input on the draft Resolution on Wisconsin Act 15: General Education, Instructional Workload, and Commitment to Shared Governance. The resolution was drafted by Assembly District 733 Representative Jeff Armstrong and ASEC members. The Assembly will vote on the resolution at the next meeting on December 8. Feedback on the draft resolution must be sent to soas@soas.wisc.edu by November 17.

Academic Staff Professionals Representation Organization (ASPRO) Board President Jenny Dahlberg presented the ASPRO report. Governor Tony Evers vetoed Assembly Bill 39, which would have required state employees to work in the office at least 80% of their regularly scheduled work hours each month. ASPRO is tracking the following proposed bills: Assembly Bill 663/Senate Bill 653, regarding imposing certain prohibitions on foreign influence at institutions across the Universities of Wisconsin and Assembly Bill 669/Senate Bill 652, relating to race-based higher education programs and requirements.  

ASPP Chapter 1 Change (ASA #856)

Jason Jankoski, Personnel Policies and Procedures Committee co-chair and Assembly District #718 Representative, moved approval of ASA Document 856. Motion seconded. Approved.

Vice Chancellor Report

LinkUW’s mission is to deliver timely, consistent, customer-centered support to enable participating units to focus on advancing the university’s mission. LinkUW launched last week and as part of phase one, is providing services to over 20 units on campus. Services that are being provided focus on high volume and time sensitive operational administrative services in the areas of HR and finance. The LinkUW Project Team hosted town hall meetings for phase one participating units. The town hall presentations are available on the LinkUW website at linkuw.wisc.edu/.

Nominations for the 2026 Administrative Improvement Award are open. The awards recognize outstanding work at UW–Madison in process redesign and development or customer service that resulted in improved efficiency, cost savings, or improved service delivery. The deadline to submit nominations is February 15, 2026. For more information, please visit finadmin.wisc.edu/aia/.

Regarding Workday expense audits, colleagues at the Universities of Wisconsin Administration and UW–Madison Business Services have been leading efforts to address the expense reimbursements backlog. Good progress is being made to reduce the backlog. As of last week, the estimated average processing time for expense reports is 13 calendar days. Campus is getting closer to meeting its target goal of 8-10 calendar days for approvals. Campus continues to address the issue of Workday reporting. Since Workday go-live, several hundred reports have been launched and hundreds more have been requested. This will remain an ongoing effort as the tool is built out and refined.

This past spring and summer, Deloitte conducted a strategic financial assessment for UW–Madison. Deloitte’s report is complete and available at finadmin.wisc.edu/2025/10/24/uw-madisons-strategic-financial-assessment/. The report identifies ten opportunities in the areas of financial management, transactional activities, process improvement, training, and capital projects. Campus leadership is reviewing the recommendations and determining next steps.  

Meeting adjourned at 4:43 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Mallory Musolf, secretary of the academic staff