Members Present: Tim Dalby; Stephanie Elkins; Mallory Musolf, vice chair; Deb Shapiro; Lindsey Stoddard Cameron; Bill Tishler

Guests: Laura Downer, Morgan Grunow, Laurent Heller, Casey Nagy, Karl Scholz

The meeting was called to order at 2:04 p.m.

The minutes of October 24, 2019 were approved.

Mallory Musolf, ASEC vice chair, reported that the UW System Reps meeting is taking place on November 1, and she expects there to be updates on TTC from UW System. Mallory, Tim, and Heather met with Mark Walters and Diane Blaskowski to discuss TTC in general and, more specifically, the forums, the upcoming Assembly presentation, and the distinguished prefix.

Heather Daniels, Secretary of the Academic Staff, reported that the Board of Regents will be holding a public hearing regarding changes to UWS Chapter 18. The changes would be to codify that harassment can also occur through electronic means. Heather sent an announcement about a new email list for remote employees. She has received positive feedback on the list, and about 100 people have signed up so far. The Big 10 Staff Advocacy Group had a call this week, where Indiana and Northwestern talked about shared governance on their campuses. They also discussed exercises similar to TTC going on in the Big 10. 

Tim Dalby attended ASM’s meeting on Wednesday night, where the main topic of discussion was the student budget.

Bill Tishler reported on the University Committee meeting, which included visits from Pete Miller, Interim Vice Chancellor Steve Ackerman, Provost Scholz, and Chancellor Blank.

Lindsey Stoddard Cameron reported on the Campus Planning Committee, which included Dean Linda Scott and Vice Provost Lisa Carter discussing the School of Nursing and libraries respectively.

Stephanie Elkins reported on the upcoming election for Wisconsin Public Media CASI members.

Business

• Appointment

Motion to appoint Kyle Martinez to the Memorial Library Committee (Stoddard Cameron). Seconded. Approved.

• Nomination

Motion to nominate Eric White to the Distinguished Prefix Review Committee (Dalby). Seconded. Approved.

• November Assembly Agenda-for approval

Motion to approve the November Assembly Agenda (Dalby). Seconded. Approved.

• December Assembly Agenda

The December agenda will need to be approved on November 21. ASEC discussed potential topics and guests.

ASEC and Provost Scholz discussed the Ad Hoc Committee on Implementation of the Youth Protection Policy. ASEC recently approved a charge for this committee and has sent out a call for members. Provost Scholz and ASEC also discussed the status of the distinguished prefix in the TTC Project. ASEC mentioned that the Assembly passed a resolution in December 2017 calling for the retention of the distinguished prefix in the new titling system with its current definition and procedures. The Provost shared that both the teaching professor and the research professor draft campus guidelines had recently gone before the Deans Council for review and comment. The Deans will be proposing some revisions to the guidelines, and Provost Scholz will bring these before ASEC once they’re completed. ASEC also shared some of its goals for the coming year with the Provost. 

Casey reported on the status of the search for the Dean of Extension. The PVL has been posted and publicized in several areas. The application closes in mid-January. There is a working group that is looking at how to foster communication and understanding for campus about what Extension does, as well as access to campus for Extension. Casey will come back to ASEC once this group develops its plan. There have been targeted workshops on specific topics to bring together UW-Madison and Extension, with topics including opioids, water quality, and educational disparities. Future workshops will be on agriculture, community development, and First Nations issues. Casey discussed a forthcoming framework for synergistic opportunities for UW-Madison and Extension, and he will bring the draft of this for ASEC’s feedback once it is completed. The youth protection policy that is being worked on for and by Extension is being done in a way that parallels campus policy while acknowledging necessary differences for Extension. Work around professional development in Extension is being done as well. Casey is working with Michael Bernard-Donals on this issue, and an early priority was the performance management process. There will be a survey on what employees want to see in the way of professional development opportunities. 

ASEC had questions regarding DoIT’s structural changes and the issue of emeritus faculty and staff not being able to use helpdesk services any longer. Vice Chancellor Heller will find out about the emeritus issue. He also talked about the initiative with Lois Brooks and Sarah Hart McGuinnis looking at the DoIT billing model. Billing internally within DoIT has been eliminated. Next steps for the DoIT billing model may be discussed as part of a future iteration of the campus budget model. ASEC also raised the issue of units having trouble with slow turnaround in purchasing, sometimes taking between 4 and 6 weeks to get computers. Laurent will get a report from MDS on how this is going. ASEC also discussed the distinguished prefix with Laurent, and he said that leadership would keep a close eye on this issue and continue to discuss with ASEC. 

The Administrative Transformation Project will be a topic of discussion for the Board of Regents again in December. Kayla Driscoll is on the project as the head of the ATP Ambassadors Program, which has had its first meeting. Procurement is starting, and the final approval for a RFP has been received. UW System is evaluating whether and when to make a change for all employee payroll to a biweekly schedule. This would also benefit university staff from a benefits withdrawal standpoint. The notion of having pay dates on the 1st and 15th of every month has also been raised.   

Laura and Morgan provided information on ASM’s current initiatives in areas including legislative affairs, sustainability, equity and inclusion, and internal areas. Topics include emergency numbers on Wiscards, medical amnesty, and bills in the State Legislature related to the UW. ASM will be hosting a forum for students to talk with Representatives Murphy and Shankland in the near future. There was a discussion on outreach by ASM to graduate students, and there have been more of these conversations this year than in years past. There is now a graduate student advisory council, and ASM has been trying to get better information on uses for segregated fees to better educate graduate students on the use of those fees. ASEC suggested reaching out to graduate coordinators as well. 

Meeting adjourned at 4:34 p.m.