University Committee Meeting Minutes 2026-04-27

Minutes for April 27, 2026

UC members present: Bernard-Donals, Chui, de Leon, Kendall

Others present: Greg Bump, Genevieve Lambert, Julie Scharm

Chair Pro Tem Nancy Kendall called the meeting to order at 1:00 pm.

The University Committee reviewed and approved the Faculty Senate agenda.

The minutes for April 20, 2026, were approved by consent.

Chui motioned, and it was seconded and approved, to convene in closed session pursuant to Wis. Stats. 19.85(1)(a)(c) and (f) to discuss waivers and a grievance at 1:14 pm. Three tenure clock extensions were approved.

Chui motioned, and it was seconded and approved, to reconvene in open session at 1:36 pm.

Michelle Felber and Jack O”Meara from PROFS provided a summary on the governor’s decisions on bills. He vetoed the shared governance legislation, the free speech bill, anti-trans sports bill and one on race-based higher education programs. He signed the antisemitism bill and the NIL bill.

Provost John Zumbrunnen reported that Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau has been appointed as the founding dean of the College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence. There will be a national search in 2028. There was discussion about an advisory group to bring broad perspectives from across campus to the college.

The Provost’s summer priorities include Vice Provost for Enrollment Management finalists in June, rebooting the Dean of the School of Nursing search, working on reorganization of his office, and thinking about next steps in the strategic framework.

Lori Reesor, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, indicated that the basic needs survey results will be released this week. The organization structure between enrollment management and student affairs needs to be determined before any next steps are taken. They are working to partner with financial aid to figure out the best strategy and approach to help students. There is not a lot of data to assist them in figuring out what programs students are using and which students are using them.

Kent Weigel, Vice Provost for Faculty and Staff Affairs, presented an idea to give faculty a base building lump sum for successful post-tenure reviews. Right now, schools/colleges are given a set amount to distribute the funds, which creates inconsistencies. He also talked about forming a working group to explore whether a faculty information system could be useful for the campus. He is concerned about making sure the system would focus on impact rather than amount.

Janet Branchaw and Sara McKinnon, co-chairs of the Ad Hoc Undergraduate Education Committee, discussed the idea of adding a student member to the committee this fall. There was also discussion about the division of academic staff and faculty members and making sure that campus would be represented once a permanent committee was formed.

They also discussed what has happened in regard to the distribution of courses amongst the new general education categories. 

Kendall adjourned the meeting at 4:16 pm.

Minutes submitted by Heather Daniels, secretary of the faculty.