Academic Staff Assembly Minutes 12-12-16

Approved 2-13-17

ACADEMIC STAFF ASSEMBLY MEETING MINUTES
272 Bascom Hall
Monday, December 12, 2016
3:30 to 5:00 p.m.

Provost Sarah Mangelsdorf called the meeting to order at 3:34 p.m.  

Memorial Resolution: Nick Tincher read a memorial resolution for Shelton Berel.

Automatic Consent: The Academic Staff Assembly minutes of Monday, November 14, 2016, were approved.  

Guest: Cameron Scarlett, Campus Transportation Committee
Cameron Scarlett presented the Campus Transportation Committee annual report for 2015-16.  The committee met 8 times during 2015-16.  The biggest point of discussion was the campus master plan including the redesign of the Charter St./Linden Dr. intersection to move pedestrian crossing to a bridge.  The committee also discussed parking rates and the continuation of moving to a two-rate system for parking. Bonding for new parking ramps is driving parking rates on campus.  The committee discussed the budget.  Last year Transportation Services brought in $24 million.  85% of the revenue was from different types of parking permits.  5% of the revenue was from athletic and special events parking.  6% was from the bus pass programs, and 4% was from citations.  45% of expenditures went to debt service.  22% went for supplies, and another 22% was salary support.  15% went to bus services.  Moped permits increased in the past year.  There was an increase in bike parking on campus and Transportation Services also moved one of the park and ride lot locations.

Guest: Mary Luther, Director of Titling and Compensation, Office of Human Resources
The UW-Madison campus was poised to implement the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) changes on December 1.  The week of Thanksgiving the FLSA law was stopped due to a preliminary injunction.  UW-Madison paused implementation of the FLSA changes.  There were 1276 academic staff who would have switched from salaried status to hourly status.  In addition, there were 242 academic staff who were going to receive raises to bring them over the minimum salary threshold.  These raises were not implemented due to a lack of legal authority to change the salaries.  The campus made a decision to continue to change the postdoc salary rate based on market due to changes in stipend levels at NIH and other peer universities.  The campus has delayed the deadline for the Discretionary Compensation Fund exercise to allow schools/colleges/divisions to look at equity issues.  

Standing Committee and Other Reports
Academic Staff Executive Committee (ASEC) – Kevin Niemi reminded the Assembly to complete the performance evaluation survey sent to academic staff by the Communications Committee. The survey deadline is Wednesday, December 14.  All academic staff should have received an individual link to the survey.  Anyone having problems with the survey link should contact the Secretary of the Academic Staff Office.  In addition, the ballot on changing the Assembly district size boundaries in ASPP Chapter 13 was distributed via e-mail to all academic staff. The ballot closes on Friday, December 23.  All academic staff should have received an individual link to the survey.  Anyone having problems with the survey link should contact the Secretary of the Academic Staff Office.  In order to pass, a majority of those voting must indicate they approve of the changes.

Kevin announced that there will be a repeat of the Assembly Skills Workshop that was held in late September.  The workshop will be held on January 30 at 3:00 pm in Union South.  An announcement will be sent via email in the new year.

He also reminded academic staff that the UW System Academic Staff Award Nominations are due on Friday, January 6.  The UW-Madison Academic Staff Excellence Award Nominations are due on Monday, January 13.  More information is available on the academic staff website (acstaff.wisc.edu).

A report of ASEC’s activities during the last month was distributed at the door.  He mentioned that a campus carry bill would likely be introduced in the legislature again this spring.

Reports
Annual Reports from Assembly Standing Committees 2015-16
The reports were distributed to all academic staff.

Matthew Call provided the annual report for the Communications Committee.  The committee’s activities were based on the annual priority setting document.  They concentrated on three activities including an e-newsletter sent to academic staff each semester, a poster that was presented at Showcase on academic staff governance, and a survey on performance evaluations that was launched this fall.

Business
Resolution on Solidary with Students, Staff and Faculty Experiencing Discrimination
Aaron Crandall (ASEC) moved the Academic Staff Assembly approve the Resolution on Solidarity with Students, Staff and Faculty Experiencing Discrimination.  Seconded.  

Motion by Edi Chan (District #408) to add in the second paragraph the words “and all religions” after “we value Islam” and thus change “it” to a “them” at the end of that clause.  Seconded.  Approved on hand vote (23-20).

Motion by Russell Dimond (District #465) to change the word in the second paragraph from “confirming” to “affirming”.  Seconded. Approved.

Motion by Tom Zinnen (District #401) to add in the second paragraph “and those who profess no religion beliefs” after statement of valuing Islam and all religions.  Seconded. Approved.

Motion by Christopher Harrison (District #421) to strike in first Whereas “belief without fear” and add language which states “and is understanding and sympathetic to others in a non-hostile environment.”  Seconded.  Not approved.

Amended motion approved.

Resolution to Support UW-Madison Undocumented Students

Deb Shapiro (ASEC) moved the Academic Staff Assembly approve the Resolution to Support UW-Madison Undocumented Students.  Seconded.  Approved.

January Assembly Meeting
Kevin Niemi (ASEC) moved to cancel the January 2017 Assembly meeting.  Seconded. Approved.

Discussion on Video Streaming Assembly Meetings
Michael Moscicke from ASEC introduced the subject.  The Ad Hoc Committee on Assembly Engagement directed the Assembly to discuss this topic in their report.  The video streaming would not include the ability of Assembly Representatives to participate in the meeting remotely.  The stream would allow anyone both inside and outside the university to watch the proceedings.  There were arguments made both in favor and not in favor of streaming.  The Assembly asked that a policy statement be put together if this idea moves forward.

Provost Report
Sarah Mangelsdorf provided a brief update from the Board of Regents meeting.  The Board supported asking the state for a 2%/2% pay plan for the next biennium.  In addition, they passed a revised consensual relationships policy and sexual harassment policy that includes mandatory training for everyone on campus.  UW-Madison will need to implement this training for everyone.  

The Provost apologized to those who were due to receive raises through changes to the FLSA and did not.

Adjourned at 5:00 pm.

Minutes submitted by Heather Daniels, Secretary of the Academic Staff