Faculty Senate Minutes 2014-11-03

University of Wisconsin--Madison

shared governance document
3 November 2014
Audio Recording


Chancellor Rebecca Blank called the meeting to order at 3:34 p.m. with 173 voting members present (110 needed for quorum).

1. Memorial Resolutions were offered for:

    Professor Emeritus Alan Gurman. faculty document 2515
    Professor Emerita Susan B. Horwitz. faculty document 2516
    Professor Emeritus Eldo C. Koenig. faculty document 2517
    Professor Emeritus Joseph T. Lawton. faculty document 2518

    2. Announcements/Informational Items.

    Chancellor Blank called attention to the Budget in Brief document distributed at the door.
    Chancellor Blank announced upcoming public sessions on the budget and the creation of search and screen committees for the Dean of the Graduate School and the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education.

    3. Question Period.

    There were no questions.

    Automatic Consent Business

    4. The Faculty Senate Minutes 2014-10-06 were approved as distributed.

    REPORTS

    5. Professor Parmesh Ramanathan submitted for information purposes the Annual Report of the Advisory Committee for the Office of Equity and Diversity. faculty document 2519

    There were no questions or comments.

    OLD BUSINESS

    6. Professor Jo Ellen Fair moved to add Section II-332 to faculty legislation Defining Language Describing Hostile and/or Intimidating Behavior. faculty document 2511a

    The motion was seconded.

    Professor Chad Goldberg (Sociology) moved to amend the legislation by inserting “Nor is it intended to constrain the freedom of faculty to speak out about troubling matters, criticize the administration or university policies, take part in political protest, or promote and participate in labor unions.” before the last sentence of the last paragraph of Part I; add “union representative” to the list of intermediaries in Part II, Section A, first paragraph; and insert “The written complaint filed with the Provost must also be shared with the faculty member or members against whom the disciplinary or dismissal process is initiated.” before the last sentence of the first paragraph in Part II, Section B. The motion was seconded.

    The senate discussed the amendment.

    The motion to amend passed by a hand vote of 106 yes, 63 no.

    Ample discussion followed.

    Professor Noah Feinstein (Curriculum and Instruction) moved the previous question. The motion was seconded.

    The motion to call the question passed by voice vote.

    The motion as amended passed by voice vote.

       7. Professor Tim Yu (English) moved to rescind the amendment adopted on 5 May 2014 to faculty document 2501 “Forward Together: UW-Madison’s Framework for Diversity and Inclusive Excellence.” The motion was seconded.
    There were several comments and ample discussion.
    The motion passed by voice vote.

    NEW BUSINESS

    8. The chancellor asked unanimous consent for a non-faculty speaker. There were no objections.

    Students Calla Born and Kate Wiedel (Associated Students of Madison) presented information on the benefits of early textbook adoption.
    There was one comment.

    9. Professor Jo Ellen Fair moved to amend Faculty Policies and Procedures to standardize and clarify language in Chapter 6. (faculty document 2520

    The motion passed without objection or comment.

    The meeting adjourned at 4:46 p.m.

    Respectfully submitted,
    Steven K. Smith
    Secretary of the Faculty