April 4, 2016
Audio recording
Transcription

Chancellor Rebecca Blank called the meeting to order at 3:32 p.m. with 131 voting members present (112 needed for quorum). A memorial resolution was offered for Professor Emeritus Robert Raymond Kowal (Faculty document 2618). Chancellor Blank presided over the presentation of the 2015-2016 Hilldale Awards. The recipients are: Arts and Humanities Division: Steve Stern (History), Biological Sciences Division: Paul Ahlquist (Plant Pathology), Physical Sciences Division: Laura Kiessling (Chemistry), Social Studies Division: Michael Apple (Curriculum & Instruction).  

Chancellor Blank announced the opening of faculty committee elections and provided updates on research funding, student awards, senior campus and WARF staffing, and presidential campaign events on campus. She also provided an update on campus and UW System tenure policies. Vice Provost and Chief Diversity Officer Patrick Sims asked the campus community to think carefully and deeply about our shared values and philosophies regarding diversity and inclusion. He commented on recent incidents of hate/bias on campus and provided an update on activities and efforts both in the vice provost’s office and elsewhere on campus. Sims concluded his remarks with several action steps that faculty and others can take, including addressing hate/bias in curriculum, committing to engaging in ongoing cultural competency training, and dedicating time to the leadership institute and other efforts.

There were several comments and questions about the upcoming Board of Regents meeting at which Madison’s tenure policies will be considered and about diversity and hate/bias incidents on campus. Professor Mark Etzel (Food Science) moved that the Senate formally reaffirm the tenure policies it passed in November 2015. The chancellor ruled this motion out of order, based on open meetings statute notice requirements. Professor Chad Goldberg (Sociology) moved to set aside the orders of the day in order to take up, as a special order of business, an urgent resolution considering Regent consideration of campus tenure policies. The chancellor ruled this motion out of order, also based on notice requirements of state open meetings laws. After ample discussion and comment, Prof. Goldberg appealed the decision of the chair. Against advice of the parliamentarian and legal affairs, but recognizing the will of the Senate, the chancellor allowed a motion to appeal her out-of-order ruling. Prof. Goldberg moved to set aside current rules and accept the motion. The motion was seconded and passed by voice vote with the required two-thirds majority. Goldberg moved the following resolution.

Whereas revisions to University of Wisconsin-Madison Faculty Policies and Procedures Chapters 5 and 10 regarding procedures for layoff and termination as the result of financial exigency or program discontinuance for educational considerations, as adopted by the Faculty Senate on November 2, 2015, are the product of lawful faculty governance in accordance with the faculty’s primary responsibility for educational matters;

Therefore, be it RESOLVED that it is the “Sense of the Faculty Senate” that the revisions to UW-Madison Faculty Policies and Procedures Chapters 5 and 10 adopted by the Faculty Senate on November 2, 2015, should be accepted by the Board of Regents of the UW System without material alteration.

The motion was seconded. Professor Christa Olson moved to amend the resolution to remove reference to FPP Chapter 5 and to add “or returned to the Faculty Senate” to the end of the resolution. The motion to amend was seconded. The amendment passed by voice vote. The motion on the resolution as amended passed by voice vote.

Due to time constraints, the chancellor asked consent to postpone the following four agenda items to the next meeting: State of Research Enterprise, Advisory Committee for the Office of Equity and Diversity Annual Report, Ombuds and Employee Assistance Office Annual Reports, and University Research Council and Related Faculty Policies and Procedures Changes. There were no objections. The minutes of the March 7, 2016, meeting were approved as distributed.

Professor Karl Broman moved to refer the open access resolution, Faculty Document 2612, to the University Library Committee for further review and study, to be resubmitted to the Senate at such time as the ULC has had the opportunity to consider the concerns raised by the Senate in March. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously by voice vote.

Professor Beth Meyerand (chair, University Committee) moved adoption of Faculty Document 2617, affirming the value of shared governance at UW-Madison. Prof. Goldberg moved to amend the document by striking the second sentence of the second paragraph and replacing it with “Faculty, academic staff, university staff, and students must be involved in decisions concerning the matters for which they are by law respectively responsible for advising the chancellor.” and to add “We further call upon the chancellor to delegate primary responsibility for academic and educational activities and faculty personnel matters to the faculty.” to the end of the document. The amendment was seconded and passed by unanimous voice vote without discussion. The motion to adopt the statement as amended passed by voice vote.

Prof. Meyerand presented a proposal to create a shared governance committee for a first reading, noting that this is a revised version of what was introduced in March and then referred to committee (Fac doc 2617). There was one comment, expressing concern that equal representation of faculty, academic staff, university staff, and students constituted a weakening of faculty’s responsibility for academic and educational activities and recommending instead a faculty majority on the committee.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:24 p.m.

 
Steven K. Smith
Secretary of the Faculty