Minutes for June 22, 2020

Approved on July 13, 2020

UC members present: Halverson, Masters, Papp, Sandgren, Wolf (chair)

Also present, besides those mentioned below: Michaela Aust, Greg Bump, Michelle Felder, Chad Goldberg, Yvonne Kim, Kelly Meyerhofer, Jennifer Noyes, Jack O’Meara, Jane Richard, Jake Smith, Bill Tishler, Scott Wildman

Chair Wolf called the meeting to order at 1:01 pm.

As it was Paul Campagnola’s last University Committee meeting before resigning to focus on being his department chair, the UC thanked him for his service.

Sandgren moved to approve the University Committee minutes for June 1, 2020. Seconded. Approved.

Sandgren moved to approve the University Committee minutes for June 8, 2020. Seconded. Approved.

Jocelyn Milner and Allison La Tarte shared information about the “discovery suite” product recently launched from Academic Analytics to track faculty scholarly activity. UW-Madison first subscribed to Academic Analytics when Paul DeLuca was Provost (2009-2014). The discovery suite complements the original benchmarking tool that has been used here to identify faculty for honorific awards (for instance). Out-of-the-box, it collects data only from publicly available sources, but additional data can be loaded at an institutional level and users can augment their profiles. So far, 600 faculty have explored their profiles and about 100 have made edits. UC members expressed concern that the tool is being used to make decisions about salary increases.

Steve Ackerman, Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies, provided information on Phase 2 of the Smart Restart, affecting about 2,000 people in the research space. A committee composed of Ackerman, the associate deans for research from the schools/colleges, and the associate vice chancellors, has been developing a plan to slowly increase research on campus to minimize risk. They are also working with Environmental Health and Safety, Facilities Planning and Management, and the Smart Restart group.

The University Committee finalized committee assignments for the year.

Sandgren moved to approve the amended UC operating procedures. Seconded. Approved.

Heather Daniels, Secretary of the Faculty, presented a resolution tracking/cover page for documents presented to the Faculty Senate that require a vote. Successfully used by the Academic Staff Assembly representatives, the University Committee was in favor of adapting it for the coming senate session.

Recessed at 2:07 pm.

Meeting resumed at 2:27 pm.

Chancellor Rebecca Blank said that the fall reopening guidelines announced last week has been well received by students and parents. The campus will use polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, which gives fewer false negatives and false positives. These plans are being led by Norman Drinkwater, working with a group of a dozen medical professionals.

The administration is working on diversity and equity plans, including professional development for employees, both formal and informal. The UW Police Department website was changed recently to highlight information regarding equity concerns.

Tommy Thompson has been appointed as the interim UW System President. A search for a permanent president is expected to start spring 2021.

Karl Scholz, Provost, and Steve Cramer, Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning, provided an update on instructional continuity. Expanding from one committee in the beginning of March, to four working teams by the end of March, there are now 11, covering high priority courses, field and clinical courses, lab courses, the Wisconsin experience, a de-densify instruction team, arts instruction, assessment, and the student experience. There are 100-150 individuals participating at any given time.

The next step is to de-densify classrooms: course sections over 50 will be remote, and in-person teaching hours will be extended to evenings and Saturdays. Departments are driving the changes on how specific courses will be offered.

Sandgren moved to convene in closed session pursuant to Wis. Stats. 19.85(1)(c) and (f) to discuss committee appointments, track transfer and tenure clock extension. Seconded. Passed at 3:30 pm.

Sandgren moved to convene in open session which was seconded at 4:00 when Chair Wolf adjourned the meeting.

Submitted by Heather Daniels, Secretary of the Faculty