College of Letters & Science Administrative Gateway College of Letters & Science Administrative Gateway Glossary

Academic Staff: a professional and administrative employee other than faculty with duties and types of appointments that are primarily associated with higher education institutions or their administration.  Each academic staff has a principal role related to research, teaching, outreach, student services, information technology, libraries, communications, clinical/health services, or other responsibilities. 

[Department of] Employee Trust Funds: http://etf.wi.gov/

The UW-Madison faculty consists of all persons with instructional, research and service responsibilities who hold the rank of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, or instructor with at least a one-half time appointment with UW-Madison, or a full-time appointment held jointly between UW-Madison and UW-Extension.

Full-time equivalent.  A way of counting the number of staff or positions. 

There are two basic ways that we count the number of employees. When we use headcount, each individual person counts as one employee whether their appointment is full time or part time. When we use "FTE," we are using the "Full Time Equivalent."

The Full Time Equivalent is the total of all positions using the percentage of the appointment rather than the number of individual employees. This is what the headcount looks like for the same employees using each measure:

Employee A - .5 appointment
Employee B - 1.0 appointment
Employee C - .6 appointment
Employee D - .4 appointment

Using Headcount, there are 4 employees
Using FTE, there are 2.5 employees (.5 + 1 + .6 + .4 = 2.5)

Federal form that proves employment eligibility that must be completed by all new employees.  UW-Madison completes their I-9s electronically using HireRight.  

The official lists of majors, certificates, and degrees offered in Letters & Science are available on-line:

• The Guide provides a comprehensive list of undergraduate majors, special degree programs, certificates, and concentrations organized by the respective school or college that offers the academic program.
• The Guide also provides a comprehensive list of graduate degrees, minors, and certificates. The information is organized alphabetically for all university programs.

The phrase "sifting and winnowing" refers to UW-Madison's historic tradition of defense of intellectual and academic freedom. The words are taken from an 1894 report of the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents and were originally used to explain the board's refusal to censure a professor accused of socialist and pro-union activity. The words are mounted on a plaque on the front of Bascom Hall:

University staff positions focus primarily on supporting education, research, and the campus infrastructure. If a position involves functions that are similar in nature to other positions in Wisconsin state government, the position is university staff. These positions include accountants, administrative support associates, nurses, microbiologists, and custodians.