Approved 11-10-22

ASEC Minutes

1:55 – 4:30 p.m. Thursday, November 3, 2022

53 Bascom Hall

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

Members Present: Donna Cole; Tim Dalby; Stephanie Elkins; Alissa Ewer; Julie Hunt Johnson; Stephanie Jones; Albert Muniz; Mallory Musolf, chair; Lindsey Stoddard Cameron

Guests: Steve Ackerman, Alex Frank, Beth Meyerand, Missy Nergard, Kelly Rupp

The meeting was called to order at 1:57 p.m.

The minutes of October 27 were approved.

Guests: Missy Nergard, Director, Office of Sustainability; and Alex Frank, Senior Sustainability Analyst, Office of Sustainability

Regarding composting at UW-Madison, there is a zero-waste team that works closely with PLAN (Post-Landfill Action Network). There has been no change to our landscape composting program. Composting food waste started in 2009 and was collected and sent to the West Ag Research Station. The program expanded slowly over time, and the station started to see contamination. We were able to switch to a different vendor that had the facilities to deal with contamination, but that vendor stopped accepting food waste in 2021. The Office of Sustainability conducted a survey and had over 1,000 responses supportive of finding solutions on campus to this issue. Campus has been able to restart a food waste composting program with the West Ag Research Station this year. So far, the program is focused on “back of house” food waste from Dejope Hall, Gordon Dining and Events Center, Memorial Union, and Union South, which is all hauled by Physical Plant to the research station. This is program is in a pilot phase for one year, with the hope to expand afterward. The Office of Sustainability is looking at the impact of meal plans on this program as well.

There were also questions regarding the recycling program on campus. Our recycling contract recently went to a single stream for Housing, and the institution is moving more recycling back to loading docks and similar areas for institutional use. Part of the zero-waste team’s mission is to communicate around these efforts. There are also pilot programs for some areas with bins containing sensors to inform Physical Plant when pickups are necessary.

The Office of Sustainability has been able to operationalize research well across campus. One example involves looking at climate standards and resilience for new architecture on campus. Physical Plant staff are also providing expertise on 170 years’ worth of different building material. In addition to supporting the Sustainability Community of Practice, the Office does outreach to building managers across campus.

General Reports

Mallory Musolf, ASEC Chair, reported ASEC leadership’s monthly meeting with Patrick Sheehan. A position that will serve as a dedicated resource for LGBTQ+ faculty and staff was approved and will be located within the Equity, Inclusion, and Employee Well-being unit within OHR. OHR is in the process of developing an executive leadership program as part of broader supervisor training, with a focus on academic staff and limited appointees.

Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff, reported on a request from the Provost Office for nominations to the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs/Chief Data Officer Search and Screen Committee. ASEC will review nominations at the November 10 meeting. Jake attended the UW System Reps Joint Meeting. The UW System Strategic Plan will go before the Board of Regents at the December meeting for approval. There was also significant discussion on progression guidelines for UW System campuses. Mallory, Donna, and Jake will meet with the standing committee chairs on November 9 to discuss initiatives for the year and possibilities for collaboration. Jake reported on the Mentor Match Program Kickoff event, which was held in a hybrid format and set the stage for mentor/mentee relationships throughout the academic year.

Liaison Reports

Julie Hunt Johnson reported on the recent meeting of the College of Engineering CASI. Dean Ian Robertson and Associate Dean David Noyce presented information on the College’s budget and strategic plan. There was also discussion around how the Student Services Coordinator and Student Services Program Manager titles were in use within the College.

Tim Dalby reported on the October 12 meeting of the Personnel Policies and Procedures Committee. They completed their review of Chapter 4 and are in the process of reviewing Chapter 5.

Stephanie Elkins reported an ongoing conflict with the meeting time of the International Division CASI. Tim will take over as liaison to the International Division.

Albert Muniz reported that the Nominating Committee has received double the number of responses to the Committee Interest Survey so far as compared to last year.

Stephanie Jones met with the School of Education CASI. They discussed having university staff join their group. They also discussed the School’s Innovation Awards competition.

Guest: Beth Meyerand, Vice Provost for Faculty and Staff Affairs

The hostile and intimidating behavior (HIB) working group met for the first time on Tuesday. The group is first tackling the informal resolution process first, looking at how it is laid out on the website and making the process clearer. There was also discussion around giving people tools to deal with bad behavior that might not rise to the level of HIB. Group members are doing research on other sites, and there will also be outreach to second and third shift workers regarding access to the policy and addressing behavioral issues. The group will meet again next month with recommendations on changes to the website. Vice Provost Meyerand is also reaching out to the Employee Assistance Office for additional resources that they provide in this space. ASEC raised the question of harassment that comes from outside the institution through email or other electronic means that doesn’t fall neatly into the spamming or phishing categories. CIO Lois Brooks and her team are looking at this issue as well.

There are now 22 HIB liaisons at this point. All have received the necessary training and are ready to be contacted by employees. Liaisons serve for three years in that capacity and can then rotate off. Vice Provost Meyerand’s office intends to put out a call for new liaisons on an annual basis.

Regarding early findings from the staff climate survey, the review team has a report that is almost complete. There is a summary which is finished, as well as an infographic of the overall results, which is almost complete. A Tableau dashboard is in progress. The infographic should be released by the time of the Diversity Forum, and there will be a web link to the summary document. Vice Provost Meyerand’s office will also be checking in with schools/colleges/divisions to see how they are using the information gathered from the survey, as well as how that information might fit in with their strategic plans.

Vice Provost Meyerand has had conversations with Interim Chief Human Resources Officer Patrick Sheehan regarding the question of employee impacts as a result of the Dobbs ruling. There are conversations about this from a policy standpoint that would need to be worked on with UW System Legal as well.

Guest: Steve Ackerman, Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education

Vice Chancellor Ackerman reported on recruitment and retention for faculty and staff. Dual career positions have picked up, and Vice Chancellor Ackerman plans to discuss this with the Provost and the Deans. Other initiatives are going well. Abstracts for this year’s Research Forward initiative are due on November 11, with full proposals due in January. Figuring out the impact of these projects is complex. There are some useful comparisons with initiatives from the UW2020 program, which generated $222 million. In general, it takes around 3 years to see a substantial impact. OVCRGE is also talking with the Office of Business Engagement about designing different types of industry collaboration, including incentivizing faculty to take some smaller grants on in addition to others in their portfolios. The Associate Vice Chancellors for Research will be meeting with Assistant Vice Chancellor for Business Engagement Chris Kozina about how to move these issues forward.

The Institutional Review Boards Office (IRB) is almost caught up in terms of filling open positions, though the office is still hiring for a new director. Research and Sponsored Programs (RSP) is working on catching up on its backlog. RSP has hired another three consultants to assist. Vice Chancellor Ackerman has met with the Chancellor about this and about putting together a plan for tackling the backlog of work. ASEC asked about the process that RSP has to go through before getting staff hires approved. Vice Chancellor Ackerman said that the main emphasis is catching up with the existing work, but they are looking at longer-term staffing planning as well.

Due to 5% of salary support for grant-writing that comes from OVCRGE for scientists, there has been feedback regarding the question of value of the research professor title within OVCRGE centers. Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Policy and Compliance Nadine Connor continues to review data and guidelines related to the research professor titles. The OCVRGE CASI continues to look at the use of the title as well. ASEC suggested that OVCRGE could potentially model increased use of the research professor title in ways that have touchpoints from the centers to schools/colleges/divisions. Vice Chancellor Ackerman, Vice Provost Meyerand, and Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning John Zumbrunnen will also be meeting in the spring to discuss additional efforts around use of the title.

Vice Chancellor Ackerman discussed the Delta Program. The program focuses on training graduate students to become better future faculty members overall. This differs from services that the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Mentoring provides, which is focused more on teaching and learning on our campus specifically. The Graduate School remains the best place for this program with some clarification in communication as to who the target audience is for the program. There are ongoing discussions about continued funding for the program as well.

There was a question about the possibility of the Global Health Institute moving under the OVCRGE. The Provost Office has funded the Institute for three years. When OVCRGE looks at taking a center on, one of the main criteria for doing so is how interdisciplinary the center in question is.

Business

• November Assembly Meeting Agenda – for vote

Motion to approve the agenda (Stoddard Cameron). Seconded. Approved.

• December Assembly Meeting Agenda

ASEC reviewed an initial draft of the December agenda. Possible speakers include OHR and DDEEA. An additional change to ASPP Chapter 2 will be up for a vote, following up from other changes made at the September meeting. ASEC will vote to approve the agenda at the December 1 meeting.

• Topics for Guests

VCRGE: discrepancy between use of Student Affairs Coordinator and Student Affairs Program Manager titles in some schools/colleges/divisions; follow-up on Dobbs impacts; feedback on drafts for progression; does OHR have relationship with Center for Black Excellence and Culture; update on Equity, Inclusion, and Employee Well-being unit

Meeting adjourned at 4:27 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Jake Smith, Secretary of the Academic Staff