Academic Staff Executive Committee Minutes 12-04-2025

Approved 12-18-25

ASEC Agenda

1:00 – 3:30 p.m., Thursday, December 4, 2025

https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/97722653207

Members present: Aaron Crandall, Hanna Blazel, Alissa Ewer (chair), Albert Muniz, Terry Paape, Nicole Senter, Diane Stojanovich, Nola Walker

Members absent: Richard Barajas

Guests: Jenny Dahlberg, Gillian Drummond, Ashley Hagen, Cameren Livermore, Clara Sainz Pratz, Landis Varughese, Kent Weigel

The meeting was called to order at 1:01 p.m.

The minutes of November 20 were approved.

General Reports

ASEC Chair Alissa Ewer reported on the Committee on Academic Staff Issues (CASI) fall session. CASIs discussed the benefit of having an ongoing budget to support committee activities and ways to engage their deans/directors/vice chancellors. To enhance collaboration among CASI leadership, there is interest in creating a Teams channel. The Office of the Secretary of the Academic Staff will poll CASI leadership to gauge support for setting one up.

Liaison Reports

Nicole Senter reported that the dean of the College of Engineering met with the Engineering CASI.

Guest: Kent Weigel, Vice Provost for Faculty and Staff Affairs (VPFSA)

VPFSA Weigel meets with faculty and staff on a range of topics, including promotion and tenure, campus climate, dual career, and retention. Regarding potential new initiatives, his office is exploring priorities and opportunities related to the employee lifecycle. They are also considering ways to reward staff and faculty, noting that the distributed nature of our campus presents challenges. Future climate surveys may shift towards pulse surveys, with greater frequency enabling the campus to better identify trends and take timely action. VPFSA Weigel also expressed interest in partnership with ASEC to support the Ad Hoc Committee on Age in the Workplace Report recommendation that UW–Madison join the Age Friendly University Global Network.

Guests: Landis Varughese, Chair and Ashley Hagen, Vice Chair, Associated Students of Madison (ASM)

ASM representatives discussed student governance priorities. Food insecurity is a pressing concern, and ASM recently passed a resolution urging institutional support to fund Open Seat, a student-run food pantry on campus. Increased demand has placed a greater burden on students who manage this resource. ASM’s Justice, Equity, and Belonging Committee has been meeting with Associate Vice Chancellor Fernie Rodriguez to discuss changes to the cultural centers.  

Jenny Dahlberg, Board President, Academic Staff Professionals Representation Organization (ASPRO)

ASPRO membership remains stable overall, but there is a decline in members from other Universities of Wisconsin campuses. ASPRO is exploring strategies to increase membership on these campuses. ASPRO leadership met with the Universities of Wisconsin Shared Governance Representatives to raise awareness and recruit members. UW–Milwaukee expressed interest in a virtual presentation to their academic staff governance group. ASPRO aims to increase engagement with the UW–Madison state relations office.

Business

• February Assembly Agenda

ASEC reviewed the draft Assembly agenda.

• Topics for guests:

Interim Provost: DTL; next steps for CDIS

VCFA: budget model; Workday and Enterprise Solutions Team 

OHR: job applications; flexible work arrangements; LinkUW

Meeting adjourned at 3:32 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Mallory Musolf, secretary of the academic staff