University Committee Meeting Minutes 2021-11-22

Minutes for November 22, 2021

UC members present: Halverson, Papp, Sandgren (chair), Tejedo-Herrero, Thibeault

Others present besides those listed below: Michelle Felber, Lesley Fisher, Jane Richard, Jake Smith

Chair Sandgren called the meeting to order at 1:32.

Sandgren moved to convene in closed session; it was seconded and approved at 1:32. One tenure clock extension and two dual role waivers were approved.

Sandgren moved to reconvene in open session; it was seconded and approved at 1:51.

The minutes of the meeting of November 15, 2021, were approved by consent.

Karl Scholz, Provost, discussed the current mask mandate on campus and solicited the thoughts of the University Committee about continuing masking in classrooms in the spring semester. The current campus mask mandate is through January 15, 2022.

Steve Ackerman, Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education, updated the University Committee on the status of the various internal research funding programs. A review of WIPAC, the home of IceCube, has been completed and the University Research Council has provided input on how to make the review process more useful. The Office for Postdoctoral Studies has put forward a suggested policy on paid leave for postdocs. They are working with the Office of Human Resources on the policy and implementation. Lastly, several grants and contracts for the federal government are now requiring an institutional policy on combatting human trafficking, which is currently being developed.

Patrick Nehring, Kathleen Haas and Victoria Solomon, Department of Extension, requested that the faculty senate be held entirely virtually for all attendees to make it more equitable. They laid out several reasons: some extension faculty live up to 8 hours away, and, besides the travel time, attending in person takes time away from their work; virtual attendees often feel left out (the time lag of the live stream has contributed to this) and they may have trouble with technology, such as viewing displayed documents/amendments. Secretary Daniels outlined the improvements coming to meeting room in the spring semester. Chair Sandgren agreed that everything possible should be done to make the virtual experience have the same benefits as being in person. The University Committee will respond to these concerns.

Kristen Malecki, Tetyana Schneider and Lindsey Stoddard Cameron presented the annual report of the Campus Diversity and Climate Committee. They are working to build relationships with the new chief diversity officer and his staff. The committee is divided into several subgroups including academic success, diversity forum, policy recommendations, and professional development. The academic success subgroup has been working on how to maximize the impact of Starfish, an advising system. The professional development subgroup observed the need for a Diversity 101 training. The policy subgroup reviewed the annual school/college diversity and inclusion reports and provided a list of recommendations.

Chair Sandgren adjourned the meeting at 3:59.