University Committee Meeting Minutes 2015-08-31

August 31, 2015

UC members present: Broman, Edwards, Litovsky, Meyerand (chair), Wanner, Wendt

Others present (in addition to guests listed below): S. Smith, Richard, O’Meara, Felber, Daniels, MacFadden, J. Smith

1. Meeting called to order: 1:01 PM.

2. Smith called UC’s attention to academic calendar documents and FPP changes for senate.

3. Consent items: 

a. Minutes of the meeting of July 6, 2015, approved. 

b. Minutes of the meeting of July 16, 2015, approved.

c. Minutes of the meeting of July 20, 2015, approved.

4. Legislative update (PROFS)

a. O’Meara provided an update on AB305 (fetal tissue) bill, predicted to pass Assembly but Senate unknown. Letter from ~700 faculty well received and getting substantial press. Suggestion to pursue letters from professional associations (Heart, Kidney, ALS, etc.). Ample discussion.

b. O’Meara indicated discussions about mergers/realignment of state higher education are ongoing. Unclear whether this will make it to a bill. Ample discussion. 

c. O’Meara called UC’s attention to legislative task forces on Alzheimer’s and dementia, urban education, and youth work force readiness. Edwards expanded on connections to Madison campus and financial/budgetary implications. 

d. Felber informed the UC that a new PROFS brochure is forthcoming. 

5. Faculty Compensation and Economic Benefits committee report (Bob Hamers)

a. Hamers summarized the process of fulfilling the committee’s charge to look into parental leave and provided a general outline of the report. 

b. Three major issues identified: (1) Using sick leave for birth/adoption leave is problematic. (2) Campus does not have a clear policy for teaching coverage in these situations, forcing individuals to negotiate with departments/schools/colleges. (3) Departments get no support for coverage, creating a significant economic impact. 

c. UW-Madison is well behind its peers both in terms of leave support to the individual(s) and coverage support to the department. One semester salary support and teaching relief would cost approximately $1.4M annually across campus.

d. Ample discussion.

e. Report will be presented to Senate in October, with recommendations as motions to be voted on.

6. General Safety Committee proposal (Bruce Thomadsen)

a. Thomadsen answered UC questions about original request and follow-up message. Clarified that this would be a high-level commission, but would also deal with individual issues that come up needing coordination. Main goal of the committee would be to increase communications between safety resources/offices – a one-stop shop where everything could be combined and easily accessed.

b. Consensus that greater communication and ease of access to information and resources is needed, but some concern about whether creation of a committee is the right solution. Ample discussion, including where such a committee should/might be housed and to whom it should support. Plan is to make proposal to chancellor for her to decide. UC will discuss with chancellor at future meeting. 

7. Proposed changes to 2016-2021 academic calendar (Sarah Mangelsdorf with Steve Cramer, Scott Owczarek, Jocelyn Milner, McKinney Austin)

a. Mangelsdorf summarized discussion around academic calendar over past year. Immediate issues to be addressed include: removing commencement/exam conflict, accommodating an additional 4-week summer session, eliminating Friday start to semester. Ample discussion, including above and longer-term issues such as exams, grading period, semester length, and so on. 

b. UC fully supports two changes to existing (2016-2021) calendar: eliminating Friday start to semester and setting spring term start slightly earlier. These will be presented to Faculty Senate in October for approval. Longer-term issues will be addressed by a UC-charged ad hoc committee. 

8. Ad hoc committee on tenure and termination update

a. Edwards updated the UC on ad hoc committee’s charge, process, and progress. 

b. Very ample discussion, especially on importance of framing the draft for senate and faculty presentation/discussion, as well as connections to post-tenure review and strong statement of tenure and governance. 

9. Wendt moved and Edwards 2nd to convene in closed session pursuant to Wis. Stats. 19.85(1)(c) and (f) to discuss personnel matters. Motion approved: 3:13 PM.  

10. The University Committee considered and unanimously approved two dual role waiver requests as submitted, one dual role waiver for a shorter time frame than requested for funding reasons, and one dual role waiver conditional on receipt of additional information.

11. The UC considered and unanimously approved one leave of absence, one tenure clock extension, and one leave of absence with tenure clock extension.

12. The University Committee considered a request for an academic staff appointment of a former probationary faculty member. Not enough information was received in order to make a decision or substantiate assertions in the request. 

13. The UC considered faculty members for the search and screen committee for the Vice Chancellor for University Relations, the Labor Licensing Advisory Committee, and the Lakeshore Preservation Committee.

14. The UC discussed and unanimously approved recommending to the chancellor the appointment of a trained and certified, non-faculty parliamentarian for the Faculty Senate.

15. Broman moved to reconvene in open session and everyone else seconded the motion. Motion passed: 4:03 PM.

16. Meeting adjourned: 4:03 PM.