Minutes for October 31, 2022

UC members present: Babcock, Bernard-Donals, Li, Papp (chair), Tejedo-Herrero, Thibeault

Others: Michelle Felber, Jennifer Noyes, Julie Scharm

Chair Papp called the meeting to order at 1:15 pm.

The minutes for the meeting of October 24, 2022, were approved by consent.   

Judd Kinzley, chair of the Memorial Library Committee (MLC), shared a draft for a new committee. It will focus on the library needs of faculty in the arts, humanities and qualitative social sciences. It would replace the MLC. As constructed, it allows some independence for the University Libraries Committee (ULC) and the library administration, while also making sure there is a connection. Committee membership of the new committee would be appointed by the Committee on Committees.

Bernard-Donals motioned, and it was seconded, to convene in closed session pursuant to Wis. Stats. 19.85(1)(c) and (f) to discuss a waiver and committee members at 1:31. One tenure clock extension was approved.

Papp motioned to reconvene in open session at 1:51. It was seconded and approved.

Lisa Carter, Vice Provost for Libraries, and Rania Huntington, chair of the ULC presented the ULC annual report. Revamping the MLC was the most important piece of business for the committee last year. There continue to be concerns about facilities including off-site storage in Verona as well as sustainable publishing and open access. They are also reflecting on what the libraries learned during the crisis part of the pandemic.

Steve Ackerman, Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education (VCRGE), discussed the NIH data sharing requirements that will become effective in late January. He said there are discussions about how to support the writing and administration of large grants on campus. RSP is still behind in post-award. They are planning to increase their contract with Huron on the post-award side to clean up the backlog.

The OVCRGE is holding several research competitions this year including Research Forward, Wisconsin Idea collaboration grant (with Extension), and a research initiative on increasing social and economic inclusion. They are also co-sponsoring the inaugural Bassam Shakhashiri awards with one award for faculty and another for staff.

Elise Ahn, co-chair of the Campus Diversity and Climate Committee (CDCC), and Lindsey Stoddard Cameron, staff for the CDCC, presented the annual report for the CDCC. This past year the committee met with a number of campus partners who shared their work and they participated in the Joint Cs meeting, which brings together a large number of individuals working on diversity work. They also participated in a logic model exercise to identify areas they are not engaged with and other areas where they are.

There are four subcommittees on the CDCC. The academic success subcommittee wrote a letter of support for continuation of the Public History Project and continued work on scholarship funding for Native students. The diversity forum subcommittee provided support and resources for the Diversity Forum. The policy recommendations subcommittee analyzed the 2020-21 reports from the academic divisions and drafted recommendations for the committee as a whole. The professional development subcommittee compile DEI resources in partnership with DDEEA.

Karl Scholz also discussed edX. The School of Business is the first to work on a partnership with the company to offer a Master’s level degree in analytics. They have permission to plan the degree. They already offer three non-credit courses through edX. The arrangement allows the School of Business to have complete control over content and admissions to the program. edX is almost a learning management tool with an audience of 40 million people.

Lois Brooks, Chief Information Officer, and Jeff Savoy, Chief Information Security Officer, discussed cybersecurity. There were three major events last year. They are have deployed two software solutions to help address this issue. One is Cisco AMP which provides real time protection by detecting intrusions and alerting UW about the intrusion. Qualys will analyze a computer for missing patches. UW System continues to require cybersecurity awareness training and has an ongoing education phishing email campaign.

Jennifer Mnookin, chancellor, discussed homecoming and the recent visit of Matt Walsh to campus. She enjoyed the mix of alums, community and campus involvement in homecoming. The Walsh visit protests were outside and remained peaceful. The talk was attended by both those aligned with Walsh and those again. There were some pointed questions that were asked. Halloween weekend was very quiet. There was someone dressed like Hitler on State St, but they were not affiliated with UW-Madison.

Papp adjourned the meeting at 4:23.