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

Others: Michael Bernard-Donals, Michelle Felber, Lesley Fisher, David Giroux, John Horn, Jane Richard, Jake Smith

 

Sandgren call the meeting to order at 1:00.

 

The minutes of the meeting of April 11, 2022 were approved by consent with corrections.

 

Rob Cramer, Interim Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, invited Jeff Novak to give an update on housing. This year they had 600 more students than they expected in housing, which were accommodated through various options including using Lowell Center, creating triples and using study rooms. The preliminary feedback from students in housing is positive. They are working to get some new housing for students as demand remains high. All housing dining facilities are moving from ala carte to all you can eat to reduce staff need, lessen waste and provide better planning. Jeff also discussed the Zoe Bayliss co-op, which was established in 1955. With the building set to be demolished, they are looking for other options. Existing space in Phillips Hall is being renovated and was offered as a possibility.

 

Nick Tincher introduced the ATOM project (Administrative Transformation Operating Model) project, which is a companion UW-Madison only piece to ATP. Right now, they are working to give shape to the UW-Madison project as it moves alongside ATP. ATP is ending the planning stage at the end of April and beginning the architect phase.

 

Beth Meyerand, Vice Provost for Faculty and Staff, reported on the TOP program. This year they have 13 accepted contracts, 10 pending and 8 declines. They hope to have 16-20 accepted offers. The partner hiring program is going well. She will be looking at ways to improve transparency of the HIB policy this fall.

 

Eric Sandgren shared a resolution passed by UW-Whitewater about political interference on campus.

 

Bill Karpus Dean of the Graduate School, discussed the decline of extramural support awards for graduate student training (NIH training grants, NIH fellowships, NSF fellowships, etc.). He discussed with the UC how to incentivize faculty to assist their graduate students in submitting applications for these.

 

Karl Scholz, Provost, discussed the possibility of a new policy for hiring tenured faculty positions. Applicants would sign a waiver allowing UW-Madison to contact their former institutions and inquire about formal findings of Title IX, research integrity or violations of other institutional policies. UC Davis and UC San Diego have both enacted similar policies and have seen no change in quality in applications, although application pools have been a bit smaller. The UC had questions about the details of the policy, but had no objections to a policy being fully developed.

 

Rebecca Blank, Chancellor, provided an update on the vice chancellor for finance and administration, dean of college of agricultural and life sciences and Chancellor searches. She expects that the student survey results will be available prior to the end of school. The Public History Project data gathering phase ends this year. Next fall will be an exhibition at the Chazen as well as other materials like curriculum. It will be up to the next chancellor to determine if and how the project continues.

She also discussed the California court case where a judge ruled against pay for play, but said you could pay students up to just under $5,000 in additional funding for academic performance. She expects many schools will do this and institutions are having discussions about when to pay and using what measures. This discussion is also happening at UW-Madison although no final decisions have been made.

 

Sandgren moved to convene in closed session; it was seconded and approved at 3:07. One tenure clock extension and one leave of absence were approved.

Sandgren moved to reconvene in open session; it was seconded and approved at 3:21.

Sandgren adjourned the meeting at 3:27.