49th Faculty Senate
September 4, 2014 – 3:30 PM
Robert C. Voight Faculty Senate Chambers – 325 Graff Main Hall
Vol. 49, No. 2
I.
Roll Call
a. Present: M. Allen, J. Anderson, K. Beyer, L. Caya, G. Cravins, M. Current, T. DocanMorgan, N. Eschenbaum, R. Fowler, T. Gendreau, P. Haried, D. Hart, K. Hunt, S. Kelly,
T. King-Heiden, J. Kirsch, R. McKelley, M. Rott, B. Seebach, J. Shanks, B. Shrestha, K.
Terpstra
b. Excused: C. Angell, W. Maas
II.
Minutes of May 8, 2014 (48th FS) and May 8, 2014 (49th FS) approved
III.
Reports:
a. Provost (Heidi Macpherson):
i. UW-L's Fast Track program and MOOC had good results this year.
ii. We will be sending a team to Madison in November to attend an institute on
piloting programs for college readiness. Based on our successes with Fast Track
and the MOOC, System has asked us to consider piloting some other mathreadiness programs.
iii. Twenty five first-year students were coordinated with faculty mentors this week
as the first cadre of Eagle Apprentices. These students will work side by side
with their faculty members on special projects or collaborative research related to
the student's major. Next year the number of Eagle Apprentices will double to 50,
as we will retain the current 25 and add 25 new freshmen scholars.
iv. There will be two significant searches this year as Dean May (CBA) and Dean
Benson (CLS) will be stepping down soon. A call for search and screen
committee members will be forthcoming to faculty senate.
v. Tomorrow (Friday, 9/5/14), we will be visited by both WiSYS and System
President Ray Cross. There will be open forums associated with both of these
visits.
vi. Questions?
1. It was announced via email today that Scott Rohde, the current Chief of
Protective Services, is resigning. What kind of search will there be for
his replacement? The CFO will address this question.
2. What is WiSYS? It is a foundation specifically designed to work with
comprehensive universities. It identifies opportunities for research,
funding patents, and focuses on finding ways to get ideas/technology to
the market.
b. CFO (Bob Hetzel):
i. Enrollment keeps climbing. We will be exceeding 10,600 students this year. We
are still in the midst of a biennial budget cut, but we've been able to manage the
cut without pushing the effects out to the colleges and departments because of the
strength of enrollment.
ii. Capital infrastructure: We were approved for the Wittich Hall renovation and a
new Residence Hall. We'd like to build a "Mitchell field house" to provide a
good home for the gymnastics team and other groups. Progress is being made
with Cowley Hall Phase I.
iii. Chief of Protective Services Scott Rohde is resigning. He has brought community
based policing to the campus and has done a very good, very proactive job. His
position will be filled via a national administrative search. CFO Hetzel will come
to SEC to ask for nominations for this search and screen committee. The search
should occur in January, and should result in a new hire by June 1. Sergeant Scott
McCullough will serve as the Interim Chief.
iv. Faculty Pay: HR is in the process of getting the letters ready to inform faculty of
increases. All faculty will receive a 1% increase as part of an equity pay
adjustment. For anyone who is below 100% of CUPA, the equity pay adjustment
will be accompanied by a 1% base-building increase and a one-time lump sum
1% payment. These changes will be reflected in the first paycheck.
v. Questions?
1. What are the timelines for current/upcoming campus construction
projects? The new Student Center will begin this fall and the new Phase I
Cowley will begin in spring 2016. We'll be moving into the new Cowley
in summer 2018. Phase 2 Cowley is currently scheduled to be funded in
the 17-19 biennium, but administration will try to get things moving
sooner if at all possible. The old Cowley will stand until 2020, and
faculty whose offices are currently in Cowley can expect to be
temporarily housed in Cartwright for 24 months.
2. CFO Hetzel was thanked for his work on compensation issues. He
credited the Chancellor and Provost for their work, as well.
3. Joint Planning & Budget has been charged with working on the pay plan,
but what about Promotion, Tenure, & Salary? Administration will try to
include them, particularly when we are able to assign merit pay. They
have been included in the past, but weren't always in agreement with
others as to how to proceed. The administration's hands have been tied a
little by how they were allowed to spend money. We'll be talking about
pay more this year, and will definitely try to include PTS in the
discussion. Salary compression/inversion is still an important issue for
the administration; we don't want to lose good faculty and staff to other
institutions. We may be able to follow a model like the one that is
currently in place at UW-Oshkosh. We will talk about this more at a
future meeting when we have more information.
c. Chancellor (Joe Gow):
i. UW-L has a positive economic impact, but people complain that "it costs too
much." We're not in the business of profiteering, but this is what we're up against
on the pay issue. We need to keep pointing out the comparisons.
ii. The open forum with Ray Cross will be at 11:00 tomorrow. There should be
many opportunities to talk to him about the pay issue. Note that this year we have
1987 new first year students when our target was 1975.
iii. Capital: The Department of Administration is making unilateral decisions. (This
has resulted in issues like) the delays in the new UW-Whitewater residence hall.
It's difficult to determine who is to blame for these delays.
iv. Budgetary concerns: Currently, the one-third of 1% that student tuition would
normally pay is being covered with one-time money. Where will it come from in
the future? It's not in our budget at the moment. We're trying to use money
quickly and expeditiously before it gets swept away.
v. Office of Student Life: This office does a great job. Students sometimes have
issues and do serious stuff -- we have good people who look out for them and
work with families to resolve issues.
vi. Chancellor Gow has had some good conversations with potential donors recently.
vii. Questions?
1. It was noted that in recent reports of capital infrastructure improvements,
the point has been stressed that these projects used no tax dollars. This is
a good message to keep emphasizing.
2. What are the prospects for President Cross getting the higher GPR?
There are currently no signals to read because of the impending election.
It's not a great sign that tax collections are down state wide, but
Chancellor Gow has faith in President Cross.
d. Faculty Representative (Georges Cravins):
i. Everyone is encouraged to make a good showing at the open forum with
President Cross tomorrow.
ii. Faculty Representatives will have another meeting with President Cross at the
end of September. Rep. Cravins will continue to share information as it comes in.
e. Student Representatives (President Kaylee Otterbacher and FS Rep. Amy Keel)
i. President Otterbacher introduced FS Rep. Amy Keel.
ii. The new student center groundbreaking ceremony will be on Oct. 17.
iii. Our contract with Sodexo ends in June 2015, and the student senate is interested
in looking at new bids. Information gathering regarding needs for the next
contract will be underway this semester.
iv. President Otterbacher has met with Sen. Shilling and Rep. Billings recently, and
has talked with them about budgetary concerns. She plans to be active with state
government and will encourage other students to do the same.
v. Grading Scale: Student senate will be discussing changes to our current grading
scale (i.e. from A, AB, B, BC, etc. to +/-). Preliminary research shows that it may
impact students in a positive way.
f.
Faculty Senate Chair (Bradley Seebach):
i. Chair's Workshops: There was some discussion in senate chambers about student
evaluations last year. This summer, there was an opinion delivered by the state
Attorney General which stated that student evaluations are part of personnel
evaluations, and as such, are not subject to public records requests. Also,
regarding academic freedom: the current legal perspective states that academic
freedom does not protect individual faculty, just the university. The state does not
have a say in how the administration directs their faculty at a particular
institution.
ii. Questions?
1. Chair Seebach recognized newly tenured/promoted senators.
IV.
Approvals of 1-year appointments to committees
a. APR Committee: Last year, APR's membership was increased by two people. This year,
they would like four more people to address a current backlog of reports. Currently, D.
Annino and B. Bratina have agreed to serve.
i. It was noted that we could set a dangerous precedent by changing the procedures
outlined in our bylaws by a popular vote at a single faculty senate meeting (i.e.
changing the number of people serving on APR).
ii. All committees were assigned a membership of 9 people when they were
arranged the way they are today. Maybe this idea should be revisited and updated
by the ABL.
iii. It was agreed that ABL should look into this further, and consider adding an
"excessive workload" clause or something similar to increase the flexibility of the
membership.
iv. Motion to add one year, temporary members D. Annino and B. Bratina to
APL; M/S/P.
V.
SEC nominations to fill vacancies in JPC, Consultative Layoff, IAS - CPC, Committee on
Faculty Committees, Senate Elections, Ombudspersons, and Textbook Services Oversight
Committee; M/S/P.
Joint Promotion Committee
Enilda Delgado – 3 yrs
Jen Miskowski – 3 yrs
Kasi Periyasamy – 3 yrs
Kristopher Rolfhus – 3 yrs
Jodi Vandenberg-Daves – 1 yr (replacing Dave Riley)
Consultative Layoff Committee
Bill Colclough – 3 yrs
Eric Kraemer – 3 yrs
Sherwin Toribio – 3 yrs
IAS Promotion Committee
Audrey Elegbede – 3 yrs
Laurie Strangeman – 3 yrs
Committee on Faculty Committees
Marty Allen, Convener
Natalie Eschenbaum
Peter Haried
Senate Elections
Michael Current
William Maas
Binod Shrestha, Convener
Kenny Hunt
Ryan McKelley
Faculty Ombudspersons
David Howard – 2nd yr
Darci Thoune – 1st yr
Ken Winter – 2nd yr
VI.
CBA rep on Textbook Rental Comm
Eddward (Eddie) Herron
Old Business:
MSP second readings changes to articles and by-laws:
A. Addition to Senate Policy IV.A.4 Responsibilities of Departments, Department Members
and Department Chairpersons. Replace last sentence with the following:
Departments will determine how courses offered through the department are to be delivered
(e.g., face-to-face, hybrid, online).
B. Addition to Articles of Faculty Organization (I.B.4.)
All Instructional Academic Staff, as well as those with split appointments who have chosen
Faculty Senate as their governing body, are granted faculty status (UWS 1.05) at the time of
hire.
C. Amend the Academic Program Review Committee bylaws under 2 to read:
Scheduling and conducting, in consultation with the provost/vice chancellor, the audit and
review of academic programs, including the joint (with UW System) review of newly
implemented academic programs.
D. Amend the membership paragraph for the Complaints, Grievances, Appeals & Academic
Freedom Committee bylaws to read:
Membership of the committee shall consist of nine tenured faculty members and six tenured
alternates. Committee members and alternates shall be selected for three-year-terms with a
third of the committee newly appointed each year. Members and alternates shall be appointed
without regard to membership on other committees. Broad representation in committee
membership shall be maintained with no more than one member and one alternate appointed
from a single department. An The IAS Liaison shall serve as a non-voting consultant in a case
involving an IAS member. The committee shall elect its chairperson and a secretary to keep
an official record of proceedings.
E. Amend the membership paragraph for the Hearing Committee bylaws to read:
Membership of the committee shall consist of nine full-time tenured faculty members who
are not department chairpersons. The members shall be chosen by the Committee on Faculty
Committees after all other committees have been chosen regardless of committee or senate
membership. Terms of membership shall be three years, staggered so that three members
retire and are replaced every year. Each member of the committee shall have a first alternate
and a second alternate, chosen for a concurrent term. The alternates will serve in case of
resignation (so as to complete the three-year term) or as a temporary replacement for a
member who is unable to serve or who is disqualified from a hearing through procedures
established by the committee. An The IAS Liaison shall serve as a non-voting consultant in a
case involving an IAS member. The committee shall elect its chairperson and a secretary to
keep an official record of proceedings.
F. Amend the Instructional Academic Staff Committee bylaws, as well as the Instructional
Academic Staff Career Progression Committee bylaws to read:
The Instructional Academic Staff Committee
Duties and responsibilities of the committee shall include:
1. Studying, developing, and recommending policies and procedures used in the university
concerning salary, position types and titles, career progression promotion, workload, and general
working conditions for Instructional Academic Staff.
2. Studying, developing, and making recommendations regarding the implementation in the
university of such policies and procedures.
3. Collecting and disseminating information on such policies and procedures and their
implementation in the university.
Membership of the committee shall consist of nine members of the faculty and shall include at
least three representatives from each of the College of Liberal Studies and the College of Science
and Health and two representatives from the College of Business Administration. Committee
membership may include Ranked Faculty but no more than one Ranked Faculty member from
each college. The committee shall elect its chairperson.
The Instructional Academic Staff Career Progression Promotion Committee (IAS-CPC)
(Added 2011)
Duties and responsibilities of the committee shall include reviewing career progression promotion
files subject to the following rules of operation:
1. The committee members shall use the general performance and achievement criteria
that are described in the “General Policies, Procedures and Criteria for Instructional
Academic Staff Career Progression Guide to Instructional Academic Staff Promotion”
(the most current version of which is posted on the IAS website
http://www.uwlax.edu/facultysenate/committees/ias/pages/CareerProgressionPromotion.
html). In addition to teaching, the criteria include service and/or professional
development, creative activity, or scholarship. The committee shall provide guidelines
for the submission of departmental criteria and other data supporting candidacy for
career progression promotion. Following the establishment of rules and procedures and
prior to submission of candidate applications, the IAS Liaison shall hold a meeting for
eligible candidates to describe the career progression promotion process. The
Instructional Academic Staff Career Progression Promotion Committee, via the IAS
Liaison, shall publicize this meeting in the Campus Connection.
The members shall give fair and full consideration to all relevant materials that are
presented on the candidate's behalf. A written unpublished record of the deliberations
shall be maintained. The unpublished records shall be destroyed at termination of the
committee year or after resolution of all appeals.
2. Within seven days of the committee’s decision on a candidate for progression
promotion, the chairperson of the committee shall communicate the decision in writing
to the candidate and to the appropriate department chairperson. A candidate who is not
recommended for progression promotion shall receive the reasons for the negative
decision as part of this written notification.
3. Within 7 days of receiving the written reasons for a negative decision, the candidate
may, by writing to the Instructional Academic Staff Career Progression Promotion
Committee chair, appeal the committee recommendation. An appeal review shall take
place within 14 days of the filing date. The IAS member shall be given at least 7 days
notice of such review. The burden of proof in such an appeal shall be on the IAS
member, and the scope of the review shall be limited to the question of whether the
decision was based in any significant degree upon one or more of the following factors,
with material prejudice to the individual:
a. Conduct, expressions, or beliefs that are constitutionally protected, or protected by the
principles of academic freedom, or
b. Factors proscribed by applicable state or federal law regarding fair employment
practices, or
c. Improper consideration of qualifications for progression promotion. For purposes of
this section, "improper consideration" shall be deemed to have been given to the
qualifications of a IAS member in question if material prejudice resulted because of any
of the following:
i.
The procedures required by rules of the faculty or board
were not followed, or
ii. Available data bearing materially on the quality of performance were not
considered, or
iii.
Unfounded, arbitrary or irrelevant assumptions of fact were made about work or
conduct.
Written notice of the results of the appeal shall be transmitted to the candidate and
appropriate department chair within seven days.
4. The committee shall provide the provost a list of those recommended and not recommended for
career progression promotion, and the results of any appeals. Separate lists shall be provided for
each series title.
Membership of the committee shall consist of 7 members of the faculty selected by the Faculty
Senate to be representative of the colleges/divisions and should include at least one representative
from each college. These members shall be IAS at the Senior Lecturer or Associate Clinical
Associate Professor level (or higher) or tenured ranked faculty at the Associate Professor level (or
higher), with the ultimate goal of IAS holding the majority membership of this committee.
VII. New Business:
a. Paula Knudson (Dean of Students) requested a representative from faculty senate for an
Academic Initiatives Committee (a student group). The group meets on Tuesdays from
4:30-5:30p. Chair Seebach will forward more information about this position to senators.
VIII. Adjournment at 4:40 PM
Respectfully submitted,
Janet Kirsch