MINUTES
University Staff Senate
December 8, 2015
Northwoods Room, MSC
9:30am – 11:00am
I.
Call to Order
II.
Approve Agenda
A. Entzminger motioned, Boyette 2nd, approved by consensus
III.
Approve November 12, 2015 minutes – posted to SharePoint and attached
A. Entzminger motioned, Gjestson 2nd, approved by consensus
IV.
Mike Smith – Children in the Workplace Policy Update (handout)
A. System workgroup; policy template developed by auditors and attorneys; provided draft
for review; flexibility and safety for children are main concerns
B. Policy is needed because UW-Madison was having issue with people dropping their
children off and leaving them unattended in the library
C. Jim Uhlir, Stout Safety and Risk Management is also on workgroup; all governance
groups represented; one more meeting as a group then route through approval process
on campus
D. Entzminger asked about off-contract and short periods of time being in office with
employee
V.
Discuss HR senate representation
A. HR asked to be removed from the University Staff Senate as an ad hoc member, in
alignment with other senates. Willingness to be present on an as needed basis
B. Will need to change our bylaws regarding membership to remove the HR rep.
VI.
Guest (10:15am): Provost – Campus Reorganization Update
A. Cost savings strategy to reduce from four colleges to three colleges; will search for a
dean in college 1 and college 2 with start date of July 1, 2016; Questions:
i. Longsdorf: concern for dean search in college 1 since not much change
departmentally; Guilfoile response: half of the faculty in college 1 and 2 will not
have previously been in those colleges so providing those opportunities to
participate in the search is valuable; searches are not in any way related to
performance of the deans; search committees are in the process of being
formed with 7-8 members each
ii. Wahl: what is biggest hurdle with this change? Guilfoile response: providing fair
budgets; there is hope to move to a different budget system in the future, based
on student credit hours, by the redbook deadline in February
iii. Wahl: feedback requests for college names by December 10th – can anyone
provide feedback? Guilfoile response: yes, but will work in part with college
councils; submit ideas to provost@uwstout.edu; pleased with process and
discussions overall
iv. Guilfoile: plans to move forward as quickly as possible with specific
reorganization information to give to those employees affected by change
v. Longsdorf: inequity among university staff and faculty across departments
(some have 1:35 ratios, some have 1:12), will this be addressed? Guilfoile
response: hasn’t been a high priority, but certainly do need to address it,
although may not happen by July 2016
vi. Longsdorf: has governance raised any issues about the search for the deans or
instability caused by possible failed searches, interim deans, etc.? Guilfoile
response: support from both Faculty Senate and Senate of Academic Staff for
searches
vii. Wahl: will there be university staff representation on the search committees?
Guilfoile response: not currently; is that a recommendation? Wahl/Entzminger
response: yes. Guilfoile response: will need reps this week or early next week,
so meetings can happen before end of semester
viii. Guilfoile: any concerns that we should pay particular attention to? Wahl
response: any potential layoffs once reorganization is in place? Guilfoile
response: No, that was not the focus, other than administrative savings of
eliminating one dean’s office. Wahl: VSIP vacancies included as part of expected
savings? Guilfoile response: yes
VII.
Sub-Committees: Reports
A. Bylaws
i. No updates; will need to revise membership language for removal of HR rep.
and update election timeline
ii. Review Hearing Pool: one individual dropped out, will find replacement;
planning orientation meeting in January
B. Personnel and Compensation
i. First review of salary adjustment form (one form for all employees), have
feedback for HR (Entzminger and Wahl meet with HR next week); expect full
senate review of the form in January 2016
ii. Steel Toed Shoes: Vice Chancellor Lyons supportive of raising reimbursement
amount to $120; Lyons to work with Kim Schulte-Shoberg to determine details
of process and financial logistics; Schram asked if that will be written into
compensation policy (was formerly under bargained contract); HR open to
discussing where this would be stated; unclear if this only applies to university
staff or includes faculty/academic staff – Entzminger will talk with Senate of
Academic Staff Chair Butterfield; Schram asked if January checks can be delayed
until this policy is confirmed – Wahl suggested that may negatively affect
department budgets this fiscal year if asked to increase reimbursements in
January
iii. Review Hearing Pool: Orientation meeting in January
C. Awards and Development
i. Feedback Results for University Staff Professional Development Day, November
18, 2015 were overwhelmingly positive
ii. New Charge from Chancellor Meyer: Create a cohort experience for new
university staff – subcommittee is requesting 2-3 additional members to help
with this charge until May 2, 2016 when the proposal is due
D. Election Committee
i. Boyette will meet with Linda Borofka in the Senate Office regarding upcoming
spring election process
ii. May need another call for 15 person Hearing Review Pool depending on final
turnout; Wahl asked if it is necessary to put a call out in January – could we just
move forward with a smaller pool for the reminder of their term to avoid
confusion? Group consensus that this is okay.
iii. Will need to review senate membership/representation related to the number
of university staff in each division after VSIPs
VIII.
Key Audit Update
A. Entzminger talked with Vice Chancellor Lyons who shares concerns about the process;
Lyons also heard concerns from faculty; Lyons is receptive to changing the timeline to
avoid the month of October, also supportive of asking general services to take care of
this and have key holders report to General Services for annual audit
IX.
Hand Dryers – Jeremy Janiak
A. Janiak working to see if campus can go paper towel free, researching costs and
equipment; would like to test this in one building (Millennium Hall), expect cost-savings;
Schram said MSC looking at cost and sustainability benefits for removing paper towels;
misinformation that WI is a ‘paper state’ and thus required to have paper towels –
reality is that paper towels OR hand dryers need to be provided; Wahl asked if custodial
supply dollar savings could be moved to salary for custodial raises – Janiak is uncertain if
that is possible, that’s an accounting decision; Schram said cost information stickers
going on paper towels and hand dryers in MSC
X.
Proposal to merge UW-Stout Online and the Graduate School – Dana Stone (handout)
A. Topic shared with the Senate as an FYI
XI.
Informational
A. Strategic Planning Group and Chancellor’s Advisory Council meeting minutes available
through the Informational Portal.
B. Next USS meeting 1-14-16, 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. MSC Northwoods
C. UW-System University Staff Telepresence Meeting, Dec. 9, 10:00 – 11:30 a.m., 3rd floor MH
D. Wahl – New business intelligence tool approved to replace Hyperion, January 13th
informational session via video link from UW System
E. Website Update from SPG: 70% of site usage is internal, proposing move towards more use
of SharePoint rather than posting documents on our website to keep the website cleaner
and used primarily for recruiting; 1-3 year process
XII.
Adjourn
A. Entzminger motioned, Stone 2nd, approved by consensus
Minutes recorded and prepared by:
Julie Zack, University Staff Senate Secretary