UC members present: Broman, Edwards, Litovsky, Meyerand (chair), Wanner, Wendt

Others present: S. Smith, Richard, Felber, Radomski, McFadden, Daniels

Chair Meyerand called the meeting to order at 1:04 p.m. The UC discussed and made final edits to the Madison response on System draft policies at various points during this meeting. (Final version of letter included in minutes of 29 January special meeting.) 

O’Meara called attention to recent PROFS email establishing positions in favor of additional Alzheimer’s research funding and against Assembly bill that would combine credentialing boards. O’Meara also called attention to package of college affordability bills, including creation of funding for internship coordinators, which PROFS is considering supporting. Felber said that PROFS is considering hosting forum on possible move to self-insurance.

The UC discussed and reviewed the Faculty Senate agenda.

The UC presented the draft proposal for a shared governance budget advisory committee to Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Darrell Bazzell. He was generally supportive and felt this would be a useful addition to campus. He suggested adding the budget director as ex officio and pointed out that there tends not to be a lot of action around biennial process, most of which is reaction. Having that item in the charge is fine, but that’s not where most of the activity will be. He recommended thinking about mid-term and longer-term issues, currently in the section of the charge about other budget-related issues, which is where the committee could have a greater impact. Bazzell concluded by saying that he see lots of potential in this idea (“I think you got something here”) and added that it will really come down to getting people up to speed and making sure that the administration is ready to engage in the spirit that’s intended.

Broman asked the VCFA about the transition and learning curve for the new hire. Bazzell responded that higher education is intrinsically different than other areas, especially as regards sense of time. Wendt pointed to a recent memo on financial consequences for non-reporting of effort and resultant concerns from departments. Bazzell strongly recommended having Research Administration leadership in to talk about this. Much discussion.

Provost Sarah Mangelsdorf started with (natch) the tenure policies discussion. She will provide an update on where things stand at today’s Senate meeting. Wendt briefed the provost on progress by the ad hoc committee on hostile and intimidating behavior. Ample discussion, focused mainly on where an eventual web portal of information and resources would be housed and maintained.

Chancellor Rebecca Blank provided quick updates on the VCUR search (finalists will be announced soon and visit campus in mid-February), the VCFA departure (interim will be named imminently and the search for a replacement is moving apace), the Madison-hosted Board of Regents meeting this week (chancellor’s address topics, large student participation in activities, and reception moved from Olin House to basketball game), and plans for Faculty Senate announcements (as with the BoR address, will be a mix of good and bad news). Brief discussion about fund balances stemming from article with misleading headline that did recognize the complexity of the issue. The chancellor concluded with an update on the student minimum wage, which campus is planning to move to $9/hour, and a likely 2% increase for graduate assistants. 

Meyerand adjourned the meeting at 2:45 p.m. and the gang repaired to the Senate meeting.