Professional Development and Recognition Committee Minutes 5-13-14
PDRC Meeting Minutes
May 13, 2014
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Memorial Union
Attendance: Jeff Armstrong, Colleen Barrett, Ralph Grunewald, Amy Hawley, John Klatt, Stephanie Kutz, Alison Rice, Curtis Ryals.
1. Announcements – None
2. Automatic Consent Business – Minutes for April 2014 approved without dissent.
3. Guest: Heather Daniels, Secretary of the Academic Staff
o Although listed on the posted agenda for this meeting, Secretary Daniels did not attend.
4. Standing Subcommittees reports
o PD grants – Danielle and Amy
- Amy reported that PD grant applications for this round have been reviewed. The subcommittee meets this Friday to decide the final list of awardees.
- About 27 awardees are expected, roughly half of the applicants.
- About $28K is available to award; approximately $60K was requested.
- A change is pending to the submission site to fix a problem with PDFs getting cut off.
- How to handle deadlines was briefly revisited. The issue concerns the fact that the system currently allows applicants to complete applications after the deadline if the submission was initiated before the deadline. Following the discussion that took place at the April meeting, consensus today favored a hard deadline for applicants and a softer deadline for Chairs/Deans, i.e., if Chair or Dean approval is given past the posted Chair or School deadline but before the committee’s review process has begun, a packet that was submitted on time by the applicant would be considered on time.
o Awards – Elisabeth and Jeff
- The work of the Awards Subcommittee is completed for the year. Jeff reported that approximately half of PDRC members attended the formal awards ceremony. Curtis noted that the Chancellor seemed especially engaged, which was greatly appreciated.
o Executive Education Grants – Ralph and Jay
- Ralph reported that award letters have been sent out to recipients.
- Curtis requested that Ralph send him final metrics (# of applications, awards, etc.)
5. Ac Staff Recognition
o Curtis is meeting with ASEC in two weeks to discuss additional ways that the PDRC, especially via award nominations of exemplary staff who do not win awards, could work with ASEC and/or other AS Standing Committees to help recognize the work of individual AS members, e.g., via online profiles or news stories. Such efforts would be in keeping with the ASEC goals for the year, one of which was to address morale. In advance of that meeting, Curtis hoped to have PDRC volunteers draft profile summaries of a number of meritorious award nominees who were not selected as winners. A wide-ranging discussion ensued.
o John asked whether summaries were necessary, given that in many cases the nomination letter already served this purpose.
o Colleen suggested we might step back and, rather than focus on individual nominees, broadly highlight the range of applicants, the number of schools/colleges/departments represented, etc. This could help raise general awareness of the awards themselves.
o Ralph questioned what impact such profiles might have if a featured AS member was nominated for an award again in the future.
o John stated that, from their experience with wanting to profile individual students in CALS, it seems to work best if (CALS) Communications comes to them looking for a specific type of student for a particular story, rather than them approaching Communications with individuals to be profiled that may or may not fit the current priorities of the Communications office. It was similarly noted that getting the attention of UW Communications can be difficult, all the more so during certain times of the year (e.g., prior to graduation).
o The role of the AS Communications Committee was raised as an issue. Curtis reported that after some initial contacts, he has not had luck getting responses from the AS Communications Committee and therefore was trying ASEC. Amy suggested we press ASEC to get the Communications Committee to work with us on this. Colleen suggested we offer some ideas for what activities might be undertaken; following earlier discussion, these might include a sample press release that Departments could put out on their own about exemplary AS members; profiles of individual AS members; or a broader news story about the range and number of nominees.
o For the purposes of meeting with ASEC, Curtis will select individuals from several award categories (Teaching, Research, Leadership, Martha Casey, Heideman), avoiding those that focus on retired/retiring individuals.
6. Committee business
o Curtis reported that he has submitted paperwork to increase the PDRC’s membership to 16. This will be a fairly lengthy process with many stages of review.
7. ASEC updates
o Three new members have been elected to the PDRC. Curtis extended an invitation to them to join this meeting as guests, but none were able to attend.
8. Other business
o It was agreed to meet informally in June for lunch at Steenbock's on Orchard in the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. Alison will create a Doodle poll to determine the date and time.
o Amy asked whether we knew what is happening with the PDRC MyWebspace, given the impending campus transition to Box. Curtis will contact the Secretary’s office.
o Curtis announced that Jake Smith has been hired as Mary Johansen’s replacement in the Secretary’s Office.
9. Adjournment
o The meeting was adjourned at 11:43 a.m.
May 13, 2014
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Memorial Union
Attendance: Jeff Armstrong, Colleen Barrett, Ralph Grunewald, Amy Hawley, John Klatt, Stephanie Kutz, Alison Rice, Curtis Ryals.
1. Announcements – None
2. Automatic Consent Business – Minutes for April 2014 approved without dissent.
3. Guest: Heather Daniels, Secretary of the Academic Staff
o Although listed on the posted agenda for this meeting, Secretary Daniels did not attend.
4. Standing Subcommittees reports
o PD grants – Danielle and Amy
- Amy reported that PD grant applications for this round have been reviewed. The subcommittee meets this Friday to decide the final list of awardees.
- About 27 awardees are expected, roughly half of the applicants.
- About $28K is available to award; approximately $60K was requested.
- A change is pending to the submission site to fix a problem with PDFs getting cut off.
- How to handle deadlines was briefly revisited. The issue concerns the fact that the system currently allows applicants to complete applications after the deadline if the submission was initiated before the deadline. Following the discussion that took place at the April meeting, consensus today favored a hard deadline for applicants and a softer deadline for Chairs/Deans, i.e., if Chair or Dean approval is given past the posted Chair or School deadline but before the committee’s review process has begun, a packet that was submitted on time by the applicant would be considered on time.
o Awards – Elisabeth and Jeff
- The work of the Awards Subcommittee is completed for the year. Jeff reported that approximately half of PDRC members attended the formal awards ceremony. Curtis noted that the Chancellor seemed especially engaged, which was greatly appreciated.
o Executive Education Grants – Ralph and Jay
- Ralph reported that award letters have been sent out to recipients.
- Curtis requested that Ralph send him final metrics (# of applications, awards, etc.)
5. Ac Staff Recognition
o Curtis is meeting with ASEC in two weeks to discuss additional ways that the PDRC, especially via award nominations of exemplary staff who do not win awards, could work with ASEC and/or other AS Standing Committees to help recognize the work of individual AS members, e.g., via online profiles or news stories. Such efforts would be in keeping with the ASEC goals for the year, one of which was to address morale. In advance of that meeting, Curtis hoped to have PDRC volunteers draft profile summaries of a number of meritorious award nominees who were not selected as winners. A wide-ranging discussion ensued.
o John asked whether summaries were necessary, given that in many cases the nomination letter already served this purpose.
o Colleen suggested we might step back and, rather than focus on individual nominees, broadly highlight the range of applicants, the number of schools/colleges/departments represented, etc. This could help raise general awareness of the awards themselves.
o Ralph questioned what impact such profiles might have if a featured AS member was nominated for an award again in the future.
o John stated that, from their experience with wanting to profile individual students in CALS, it seems to work best if (CALS) Communications comes to them looking for a specific type of student for a particular story, rather than them approaching Communications with individuals to be profiled that may or may not fit the current priorities of the Communications office. It was similarly noted that getting the attention of UW Communications can be difficult, all the more so during certain times of the year (e.g., prior to graduation).
o The role of the AS Communications Committee was raised as an issue. Curtis reported that after some initial contacts, he has not had luck getting responses from the AS Communications Committee and therefore was trying ASEC. Amy suggested we press ASEC to get the Communications Committee to work with us on this. Colleen suggested we offer some ideas for what activities might be undertaken; following earlier discussion, these might include a sample press release that Departments could put out on their own about exemplary AS members; profiles of individual AS members; or a broader news story about the range and number of nominees.
o For the purposes of meeting with ASEC, Curtis will select individuals from several award categories (Teaching, Research, Leadership, Martha Casey, Heideman), avoiding those that focus on retired/retiring individuals.
6. Committee business
o Curtis reported that he has submitted paperwork to increase the PDRC’s membership to 16. This will be a fairly lengthy process with many stages of review.
7. ASEC updates
o Three new members have been elected to the PDRC. Curtis extended an invitation to them to join this meeting as guests, but none were able to attend.
8. Other business
o It was agreed to meet informally in June for lunch at Steenbock's on Orchard in the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. Alison will create a Doodle poll to determine the date and time.
o Amy asked whether we knew what is happening with the PDRC MyWebspace, given the impending campus transition to Box. Curtis will contact the Secretary’s office.
o Curtis announced that Jake Smith has been hired as Mary Johansen’s replacement in the Secretary’s Office.
9. Adjournment
o The meeting was adjourned at 11:43 a.m.