Approved 02-02-23

ASEC Minutes

2:00 – 4:30 p.m. Thursday, January 26, 2023

53 Bascom Hall

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

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

Guests: Rob Cramer; Jenny Dahlberg; Lindsey Honeyager; John Horn; Allison Lynch; Patrick Sheehan

The meeting was called to order at 2:00 p.m.

The minutes of January 19 were approved.

General Reports

Lesley Fisher, Deputy Secretary of the Academic Staff, reported on the continuation of the Public History Project in the form of a permanent center on campus, to be named the Rebecca M. Blank Center for Campus History in honor of Chancellor Emerita Blank. Jake and Mallory have been asked to attend the governance sessions with the finalists for the Provost position, which are expected to be held the first week in April. The CASI session has been scheduled for Friday, February 10 and a Google form soliciting feedback for the best practices document was sent to CASI representatives earlier this week. The governance secretaries are scheduled to meet with Nick Tincher and Kelly Gauthier on February 3 to discuss governance engagement with the Administrative Transformation Program. Lesley and Alissa hosted an ASEC listening session this week, and use of the teaching professor title was discussed.

Liaison Reports

Donna Cole reported that the recent SMPH CASI meeting was geared toward welcoming newly elected committee members and included introductions and teambuilding exercises.

Tim Dalby reported on the recent meeting of the International Division CASI. Topics included awards processes, onboarding processes for new staff, and the PMDP process. The CASI is hosting three upcoming events to promote engagement with the dean and new staff in the division.

Stephanie Jones reported that the CALS CASI hosted a welcome event for the new dean. The CASI is also working on establishing a mentoring committee within the college.

Albert Muniz reported that the Nominating Committee will meet on January 27 to vote on several midterm appointments and the ASEC slate.

Lindsey Stoddard Cameron reported that the Districting and Representation Committee has almost completed its first run at revising districting logic based on new TTC titles. The Secretary of the Academic Staff Office will assist the committee with finalizing the logic, and there was also discussion about district size.

Guest: Lindsey Honeyager, Chief of Staff, Facilities Planning and Management

Lindsey listened to ASEC’s concerns about campus parking and transportation. The main concerns are cost and access, with ASEC noting that the current pricing structure is inequitable. Typically, the lowest paid employees are required to be on campus daily and the parking costs pose a significant challenge for these employees. Lindsey mentioned the reduced parking program as an option for lower-paid employees, however ASEC noted that it’s not a permanent program and permits are limited. Facilities Planning and Management (FPM) is aware of the limitations and is exploring the feasibility of making changes to the program. ASEC suggested that FPM should consider a tiered pricing structure for parking. ASEC also expressed concerns about the flex parking program, and a general lack of understanding among staff about how the program works.

Additionally, ASEC raised concerns about changes to the van program, the upcoming changes to the Metro bus service, and traffic congestion due to campus construction projects.

Guest: Rob Cramer, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration

Vice Chancellor Cramer discussed budget priorities for the 2023-2025 state budget. UW-Madison has three priorities: a 4% increase in the operating budget, fully state-funded 4% increases for employees in each year of the biennium, and a change to current law that would allow UW System to approve construction projects funded entirely by revenue generated by UW-Madison. As far as the capital budget, our top priorities include a new College of Engineering building, the Camp Randall Sports Center replacement—which is entirely funded by Athletics—and moving the Arts department out of the Humanities building and into a new location. UW System is requesting money from the state to fund the Wisconsin Tuition Promise program, which is modeled after Bucky’s Tuition Promise. UW System will fund the program for the first year and is asking the state to fund it in subsequent years. The Wisconsin Tuition Promise program does not apply to UW-Madison, but if the state chooses not to fund the program, this will create additional financial pressures for UW System.

Patrick Sheehan, Chief Human Resources Officer, discussed the long-term compensation strategy. OHR is looking at total compensation, including the benefits structure, and considering how we can maintain competitiveness with our peers. There are opportunities to improve staff salaries through enhanced data from TTC, particularly when making hiring decisions and ensuring staff are placed at the appropriate salary level.

The last round of compensation exercises was successful, reducing academic staff in the first salary quartile by 8% and university staff in the first salary quartile by 23%. There is now better distribution among the salary quartiles, and Patrick is optimistic about the ability to continue funding these compensation programs so continued progress can be made. Progress has also been made on student salaries, but this has created some compression issues for the lowest-paid university employees. OHR is completing after action reviews of the compensation exercises and has hired data analysts to help ensure strategic allocation of dollars for future compensation programs.

Regarding the Administrative Transformation Program (ATP), with the departure of Joanna Wang, Steven Hopper is taking on a leadership role and currently meeting with the strategy leads. There are some risks to on-time implementation that we’re keeping an eye on, including critical staffing vacancies and UW-Madison’s large number of ancillary systems.

 

Business

• Nominations – for vote

Motion to nominate Ariel Andrea, Alison Caffrey, Jay Ray, and Debra Shapiro to the Vice Provost for Libraries Search and Screen Committee (Stoddard Cameron). Seconded. Approved.

• February Assembly Agenda

ASEC reviewed a draft resolution on staff morale. The draft will be finalized at the next meeting, with a plan to present it as a first reading at the February Assembly meeting. The agenda will be voted on at the next meeting.

• Topics for Guests

VCSA: how is the semester going, update on belonging, update on DEI staff training in Student Affairs, update on diversity curriculum for students, update on ASM, feedback about the student free speech survey, communication plan for engaging with students about the location of the new humanities building

OHR: what’s the vision for DEIB director in OHR, update on analysis of pay equity and compression, update on the permanent process for title appeals, what is the process for suggesting new SJDs, how are new SJDs communicated to campus, update on the Compensation Center of Excellence and Progression Within Range Review documents

Meeting adjourned at 4:20 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Lesley Fisher, Deputy Secretary of the Academic Staff