Faculty Senate Minutes 2012-12-03

Professor Emeritus Paul S. Boyer. faculty document 2377

Professor Emeritus Owen R. Fennema. faculty document 2379

There were no announcements.

There were no questions.

WHEREAS the faculty recognize that the principal goal of the UW-Madison is to provide a learning environment in which faculty, staff, and students can discover, examine critically, preserve and transmit knowledge, and that this goal – to provide the highest quality of education to its students – must continue to guide the Human Resource (HR) Design framework; and

WHEREAS the university has staffing needs that are unique to institutions of higher education and distinct from those of other state agencies; and

WHEREAS the UW-Madison has been directed by legislative action to design a new human resources management system; and

WHEREAS the university has solicited, and must continue to solicit, input from a range of stakeholders, including faculty, at multiple stages in the evolution of the HR Design framework; and

WHEREAS the University Committee and the faculty will continue to be actively engaged in the continued development and evaluation of specific components of the plan; and

WHEREAS the University Committee and the faculty will ensure that the HR Design framework will maintain the university’s commitment to the fundamental protections of employee rights, to due process with respect to decisions adversely affecting employment, to the principles of a living wage, and to equity in the workplace; and

WHEREAS the University Committee and the faculty will ensure that the HR Design framework will maintain the university’s commitment to preserving current shared governance rights and granting governance rights to classified employees (“university staff”), and note that shared governance implies direct participation in relevant decision-making;

WHEREAS according to the laws of the state of Wisconsin, the faculty “shall be vested with responsibility for the immediate governance of [the] institution and shall actively participate in institutional policy development.  As such, the faculty shall have the primary responsibility for academic and educational activities and faculty personnel matters” (Wis. Stats. Chapter 36.09 (4)) including policies that are developed in the HR Design process;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the UW-Madison Faculty Senate accepts the HR Design framework, with the expectation that the following principles will be implemented in that framework conditional upon the explicit agreement of the HR Design team and the executive sponsors of the HR Design process that the following commitments will be respected without exception as that process continues to unfold:

(1) An unwavering commitment to the discovery and transmission of knowledge, wisdom and values, and to help students develop an understanding and appreciation for the complex cultural and physical worlds in which they live and to realize their highest potential of intellectual, physical and human development, as enshrined in the UW-Madison’s “Mission Statement.”  With respect to faculty and staff with instructional roles, this includes an emphasis on the quality of teaching (including instruction, advising, mentoring and supervision);

(2) Acknowledgment that the faculty “shall be vested with responsibility for the immediate governance of [the] institution and shall actively participate in institutional policy development.  As such, the faculty shall have the primary responsibility for academic and educational activities and faculty personnel matters” (Wis. Stats. Chapter 36.09 (4)) with respect to policies that are developed in the HR Design process; and

(2) A commitment to shared governance that extends to direct participation of governance groups in relevant decision-making.  In this case, such a commitment must include guarantees that any future results and recommendations of the ongoing HR Design process, including but not limited to the title and total compensation study, will be subject to approval by all affected shared governance bodies, without which approval they will not proceed.

(3) A commitment to balance merit/market considerations with considerations of equity, in a way that gives substantive and material weight to both.

The motion passed without negative vote.

The motion passed without negative vote.

The motion passed without negative vote.

There were no questions.

There were no questions.

There were no questions.

Professor David McDonald, chair of the Committee on Honorary Degrees, presented background information on the nominees for honorary degrees.

Senators voted by paper ballot whether to award the honorary degrees.