Faculty Senate Minutes 2018-12-03

FACULTY SENATE MINUTES

03 December 2018

    

Chancellor Rebecca Blank called the meeting to order at 3:31 p.m. with 139 voting members present (111 needed for quorum). Memorial resolutions were offered for Professor Emeritus Peter Dorner (Faculty Document 2778), Professor Emeritus Donald Field (Faculty Document 2779), Professor Emeritus James Nordman (Faculty Document 2780), Professor Emeritus Melvin Seidband (Faculty Document 2781), and Professor Jeffrey Steele (Faculty Document 2782). (Professor Steele died while in service to the university, not as an emeritus professor as originally indicated in the December meeting materials. Faculty Document 2782 has been corrected to reflect his continued service.)

Chancellor Blank recapped the recent elections, noting the high turnout at on-campus polling places. She also reported that UW-Madison maintained its 6th-place Higher Education Research and Development ranking from the National Science Foundation. Blank provided details on the first year of Bucky’s Tuition Promise, which benefited one in five incoming in-state students. The students covered come from 65 Wisconsin counties, more than half are first-generation college students, and nearly a quarter are transfer students. The chancellor recounted the honoring of the late Mercile Lee as the driving force behind the Chancellor’s and Powers-Knapp scholarship programs with additional gifts and a rebranding of the program. Finally, she reported that campus has two new AAAS fellow, Chang-Beom Eom (Materials Science Engineering) and Donata Oertel (Neuroscience). 

University Committee chair Rick Amasino updated the Senate on the status of the two resolutions relating to the use of the word “professor” in academic staff titles. Several significant questions were raised about these resolutions at and after their first Senate reading in November. Thus, the University Committee remanded them back to the originating committee for further consideration. Once the issues and questions raised have been addressed, these will return to the Senate for another first reading and discussion. Interim Chief Human Resources Officer Mark Walters presented an update on the Title and Total Compensation process. Director of Talent Acquisition and Retention Patrick Sheehan presented information on new policies for personnel files and for reference checks. There was a question about the Dream Act and a comment honoring UW-Madison’s two recipients of the President’s National Medal of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science: Stephen C. Kleene (1990) and Carl R. de Boor (2003). The date of this Senate meeting coincides with the latter’s 81st birthday. The minutes of the meeting of November 5, 2018, were approved. 

Dean of the Graduate School Bill Karpus (Pathology & Laboratory Medicine) presented the annual report for the Graduate Faculty Executive Committee (Faculty Document 2784). Professor Irwin Goldman (Horticulture, District 13) presented the annual report for the Committee on Faculty Rights and Responsibilities (Faculty Document 2785). There were no comments or questions on either of these reports. 

Chancellor Blank reopened the floor for debate on the postponed Faculty Document 2775 in support of graduate students. Professor Rick Amasino (University Committee, District 120) moved to postpone this item to the March 2019 Senate meeting. The motion was seconded and several people spoke to the motion, primarily against. The motion failed by voice vote. Associate Professor Kurt Paulsen (Planning & Landscape Architecture, District 22) moved to amend the resolution by removing the third and final “RESOLVED” clause and adding the following: 

Be it further RESOLVED that the UW-Madison Faculty Senate joins the Teaching Assistants’ Association in their call for the administration of UW–Madison to fully cover segregated fees for all graduate assistants at this university;

 

And be it further RESOLVED that the Faculty Senate calls on the administration of UW-Madison to explore options for generating revenue such that this coverage does not adversely affect student services or place the burden on other students.

Consent was requested to allow a graduate student representative to speak. There was an objection so a vote was called to allow the speaker. The vote passed. In addition to the graduate student, others spoke to the amendment, both for and against. The amendment passed by voice vote. The resolution as amended passed by voice vote.

Professor Amasino moved adoption of Faculty Document 2787, which simply clarifies that UW-Extension faculty who will be eligible to serve on committees after July 1, 2019, may be named to or run for such committees during this semester. There was no discussion and the motion passed by voice vote without dissent.

Professor Amasino moved adoption of Faculty Document 2788, a statement intended to serve as the UW-Madison faculty response to a new policy under discussion at the Board of Regents about productivity of degree programs. Following one strongly supportive statement from the floor, the motion passed by voice vote without dissent.

Chancellor Blank adjourned the meeting at 4:49 p.m. 

 

Steven K. Smith

Secretary of the Faculty