Academic Staff Executive Committee Minutes 06-25-2026

Approved 07-09-26

ASEC Agenda

1:00 – 3:30 p.m., Thursday, June 25, 2026

260 Bascom Hall; https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/97722653207

Members present: Richard Barajas, Hanna Blazel, Alissa Ewer (chair), Eunsook Jung, Nancy Kujak-Ford, Terry Paape, Diane Stojanovich, Nola Walker

Members absent: Aaron Crandall

Guests: Lucien Gerondeau, Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska, Joshua Hyman, Karen Massetti-Moran, Emily Reynolds, Patrick Sheehan, Scott Wildman, Michael Zenz

The meeting was called to order at 1:00 p.m.

Automatic Consent Business

The minutes of June 11 were approved.

General Reports

ASEC Chair Alissa Ewer reported that the Ad Hoc Committee on Age in the Workplace Report recommended UW–Madison join the Age-Friendly University Global Network. Chair Ewer met with Vice Provost for Faculty and Staff Affairs Kent Weigel, Deputy Chief Human Resources Officer Karen Massetti-Moran, Talent Management Executive Director Sue Fritts, and Secretary of the Academic Staff Mallory Musolf, to discuss the possibility of joining the Network. The Office of Human Resources (OHR) is in the process of hiring for the executive director for employee experience and culture position. If leadership supports campus joining the Network, this position will play a central role in the application process. This group plans to meet next month to further discuss this opportunity.

Secretary Musolf reported that shared governance groups were invited to attend finalist interviews for the director of enterprise risk management (ERM) position. Finalist interviews were held in June. This position will support the Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs, Compliance, and Enterprise Risk Management in leading, implementing, and advancing UW–Madison’s ERM program.

Liaison Reports

Hanna Blazel reported that the Librarians’ Assembly/Committee on Academic Staff Issues (CASI) is engaged in efforts associated with title and total compensation review, with a particular focus on improving career progression pathways for librarians.

Diane Stojanovich reported that at the University of Wisconsin (UW) Shared Governance meeting in May, UW System asked each shared governance group to provide their list of priorities for the 2026-27 academic year for consideration. Academic staff representatives submitted their list of priorities; however, in a subsequent follow-up communication from UW System, none of the academic staff priorities were advanced.

Business

• School, College, and Division Committees on Academic Staff Issues (UW-730)

ASEC will form a subcommittee to review the CASI policy. Eunsook Jung and Nancy Kujak-Ford will serve on the subcommittee. ASEC will confirm a third member at a later date.

• Community Conversations

The community conversations (formerly town hall) subcommittee (Chair Ewer, Hanna Blazel, and Nola Walker) reported on their first meeting. The subcommittee will focus on organizing one event for all academic staff in Fall 2026 semester. The event will serve as a pilot, with the long-term goal of providing additional events in the future. An evaluation of the fall event will help inform future programming. For the fall session, ASEC will facilitate the event and invite the Provost to participate. ASEC will discuss this opportunity with the Provst at their next meeting. ASEC is interested in integrating academic staff perspectives and feedback collected from Academic Staff Assembly members this spring.

Guest: Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska, Vice Chancellor for Research

Vice Chancellor Grejner-Brzezinska reported on the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR) strategic planning process and reorganization. The goal is to modernize the OVCR to better support the campus research enterprise. The new structure will have a team of full-time associate vice chancellors focused on portions of the OVCR portfolio. The structure proposes four part-time faculty fellow positions. Conversations are underway. These positions are intended to provide strategic divisional representation. The OVCR will also launch a new research development office. As part of its work, the office will provide bootcamps and trainings for faculty to lead large scale research collaboration projects.

The OVCR continues to track current federal activities and works closely with the Office of Legal Affairs and the Office of University Relations. Since January 2025, cross-campus work groups have conducted analyses and risk assessments on 49 executive orders. Campus has also submitted over 15 responses to Requests For Information and Notices of Proposed Rulemaking. University leadership is preparing a response to proposed revisions to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Uniform Guidance and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) proposed cap on the number of awards held by a single principal investigator (PI).

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

Central Compensation Funds (CCF) for fiscal year (FY) 2026 have been processed to ensure payments are distributed by the end of the fiscal year. OHR will review the data once processing is complete. OHR is preparing recommendations, including allocation distribution guidance, for FY 2027 CCF. While the timeline has not been finalized, OHR is hoping to move forward in late October or early November. 

Campus implemented a 3 percent salary structure update effective June 28, 2026. It is a market-informed update, with increases to the minimums, midpoints, and maximums of established salary ranges across employee categories. The adjustment does not mean automatic increases; however, those that fall beneath the minimum will receive an automatic increase to meet the minimum. This update is designed to support current and future compensation increases.

OHR is partnering with the Office of Compliance (OC), Office of Legal Affairs, and the Vice Provost for Faculty and Staff Affairs to continue to understand the Hostile and Intimidating Behavior policy process and what the gaps are. The OC is compiling a de-identified summary of themes from recent cases to support future discussions.

Meeting adjourned at 3:32 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Mallory Musolf, secretary of the academic staff