Approved 03-18-21

 

ASEC Minutes

2:00 – 4:30 p.m. Thursday, March 4, 2021

https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/93936751067

Members Present: Donna Cole; Jenny Dahlberg; Tim Dalby, chair; Stephanie Elkins; Mallory Musolf; Leslie Petty; Deb Shapiro; Lindsey Stoddard Cameron; Bill Tishler

Guests: Benjamin Biltz, Kristin Cooper, Lesley Fisher, Ron Harris, Jess Jones, Haley Kerkhoff, Angela Kita, Tim Markle, Karen Massetti-Moran, Ruben Mota, Sara Tate-Pederson, Mary Thompson

The meeting was called to order at 2:03 p.m.

The minutes of February 25 were approved.

General Reports

Tim Dalby, ASEC Chair, reported on the joint governance chairs meeting held last Friday. They discussed issues with TTC, including availability of forums and concerns around the implementation date. From the meeting with the chiefs of staff, chairs, and secretaries, the COVID-19 positivity rate is between 0.3-0.4%. Vaccinations for those individuals in Tier 1B opened up on March 1. Campus has the capacity to vaccinate eligible individuals but not the supply. There are ongoing discussions about whether individuals who have been vaccinated need to continue being tested. There was a campus announcement with new guidance on larger events. On-campus restrictions have been relaxed, but are still stricter than the new guidance coming from the county.

Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff, reported that he had a meeting with Tim Markle in Tim’s capacity as a member of the Committee on Disability Access and Inclusion. In addition to the digital accessibility updates that will be discussed later in the meeting, there are also some areas that the committee is working on that may come before the Assembly later this spring or early fall. Jake reported on the UW System town hall that was held on the single payroll project as well as the town hall on UW-Madison vaccinations. Jake will send out the recordings for these at a later date. Jake and Jenny will also be attending a stakeholder meeting on the single payroll project on Monday.

Liaison Reports

Mallory Musolf reported that there was no update from UW System at this time regarding vacation carryover past June 30.

Guests: Jess Jones, Interim Director of the Center for User Experience, DoIT; Ruben Mota, ADA Coordinator, Office of Compliance; and Sara Tate-Pederson, Customer Engagement and Learning Services Supervisor, DoIT (Digital Accessibility Policy)

Jess, Ruben, and Sara provided ASEC with an overview on the refresh to the Digital Accessibility Policy. There has been work on this effort for the last couple of years, and there are a number of different individuals and units that have been involved that serve accessibility needs on campus, including the Office of Compliance, the Center for the User Experience, the McBurney Center, Divisional Disability Representatives (DDRs), and other shared governance committees. A limited knowledge of issues around digital accessibility and the increased complexity of the digital landscape—with programs like Duo multi-factor identification, Safer Badgers, and building access—have driven these updates. The charge is to improve accessibility at scale across the university. When considering approaches of accommodation and accessibility, accessibility is the more inclusive approach. Our current policy is out of date, narrowly scoped to the “web”, with insufficient scaffolding for complexity, and lacks oversight and implementation guidance. The revised policy will  reduce needs for last-minute accommodation, improve usability, establish accessibility as a shared responsibility, align with UW System policies, and minimize legal risk. The policy consists of three parts: the policy language itself, a set of Minimum Digital Accessibility Standards (MDAS), and an implementation plan that will delineate all of the activities that need to happen around the policy and the standards. Many of those activities will go through the Center for User Experience, and there will be a gradual rollout of the policy. The draft is currently undergoing review by a number of different stakeholder groups on campus.

Motion to Convene in Closed Session Pursuant to Wis. Stats. 19.85(1)(c) and (f) to Discuss Appointments to the Retirement Issues Committee, University Research Council, and ASM Ginsburg Award Selection Committee (Stoddard Cameron). Seconded. Approved.

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

Business

·       Appointments – for vote

Motion to approve Amanda Siebert-Evenstone to the ASM Ginsburg Award Selection Committee, Fabu Phillis Carter and Mario Pennella to the Retirement Issues Committee, and Brett Hoover to the University Research Council (Elkins). Seconded. Approved.

·       March Assembly Agenda Prep

Tim will move approval of the resolution on climate divestment and procurement.

·       April Assembly Agenda

ASEC discussed a first draft of the Assembly agenda for April.

Guest: Karen Massetti-Moran, Director of Total Rewards, Office of Human Resources

The implementation timeline for TTC has still not been finalized. Conversations are occurring with UW System as to the official date, but at this point, we do know that it will likely not be July. It will likely occur sometime in the fall, but not during the start of the academic year. There still needs to be careful thought about the timeline with respect to the manager-employee conversations, especially for C-basis employees. Managers and employees should still plan for virtual conversations, due to possible anxieties about returning to onsite work. OHR is in the process of getting refreshed market data. On the subject of promotion and progression, these will work differently in the new system. Currently, time in seat is a factor in moving from one prefix to another. With TTC, promotion will occur through a title change. There will be an evaluation of years of experience, as well as an evaluation of internal parity, to place employees at an appropriate place within the salary range. HR representatives will have the tools to help make those evaluations. Progression will provide opportunities for employees within their existing title to help keep pace with the market and not run into compression issues. There will be periodic evaluations to look at where people are within the range and where they should be. HR reps should be looking at market, parity, and merit as types of increases. OHR has opened up compensation training for HR reps in these areas. Regarding comparables for units on campus that may be unionized in peer institutions or private entities, OHR is pulling data on both unionized and non-unionized workforces and taking both into account when designing salary ranges. With respect to benefits, this will be a conversation with UW System. There has also been an ongoing conversation about use of vacation carryover, and there will hopefully be a firm answer on this in the next few days.

Business

·       Post-COVID Workplace Discussion

ASEC discussed three questions that were posed at the recent Leadership Breakfast around the post-COVID campus environment. The questions revolved around what we have learned as a campus from this past year, what the new normal will look like, and what campus needs to do—once everyone who wants to get a vaccination has—to facilitate a smooth transition back to campus. ASEC provided initial thoughts and will return to this topic in future meetings.

·       Topics for Guests

Provost – scenario planning, mental health week, plans for creating a greater sense of belonging updates?

VPTL – instructor survey

OHR – progress on single pay, administrative burden on grants, how are we working with our colleagues in the community to handle this transition

Meeting adjourned at 4:40 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff