AGENDA
University Staff Senate
September 17, 2015
Northwoods Room, MSC
2:00pm – 3:30pm
I.
Call to Order
II.
Approve Agenda
A.
Entzminger motioned approval, Stone 2 nd the motion
III.
Approve August 11, 2015 minutes – posted to SharePoint and attached
A.
Entzminger motioned approval, Krahn 2 nd the motion
IV.
Guest (3:00pm): Meridith Drzakowski – Providing updates on the Higher Learning Commission site visit.
A.
Visit from regional accrediting body in March 2016, standard 10 year accreditation cycle
B.
Two things to prepare: Assurance Argument (narrative of how Stout fits accreditation) and Federal Compliance Packet (how we fit with federally mandated accreditation)
C.
Discussed items the HLC is particularly interested in: compressed courses, no limit on credits enrolled over WinTerm (will change to a 4 credit cap), developing proposal for hiring qualified instructors, opportunity for public comment (via website)
D.
Info being included in Assurance Argument: Composite Financial Index (CFI) that now includes foundation assets, putting Stout above the mid-range; Quality Initiative Report to identify a major initiative on campus – recruiting and retaining high quality faculty and staff
E.
Tallman asked when Stout would see the public feedback. Drzakowski said comments go directly to HLC and would be given to Stout at the site visit.
F.
Wahl asked if reorganization would be part of HLC site visit. Drzakowski answered, only if concerns are raised in the public comments
V.
Discuss and vote on resolution to update the faculty handbook for USS Marshall (attached)
A.
Entzminger provided brief background of discussion and approval from Chancellor to add a university staff employee as an assistant marshal; this change will need to be noted in FASLA handbook; Faculty Senate Chair Ghenciu would like USS endorsement before the Faculty Senate moves forward with a vote to update the handbook;
Discussion: i.
Concern with ‘credited workday’ for university staff – how is US employee paid for participation as assistant marshal? Recommend credit of full workday for non-exempt staff. Need to seek support and clarification from Chancellor on this point. ii.
Clarification needed on how US employee is elected to assistant marshal – recommend the USS elect the US employee to serve as assistant marshal.

VI.
Vote for USS Standing Committee members
A.
Opportunity for USS self-nominations that were not submitted via survey: Melland selfnominated to Personnel & Compensation Committee; Gjestson self-nominated to
Election Committee; Nichols self-nominated to Awards & Development Committee
B.
Election Committee paper ballot vote held, with results: Don Gjestson, Tara Boyette,
Brenda Krueger elected
C.
Awards and Development Committee paper ballot vote held, with results: Julie Zack,
Jeremy Janiak, Jenn Nichols elected
D.
Bylaws Committee paper ballot vote held, with results: Justin Krahn, Heather
Klanderman, Dana Stone elected
E.
Personnel & Compensation Committee paper ballot vote held, with results: Mike Smith,
Josh Schram, Josh Entzminger, Robin Melland, Joan Wahl elected
F.
Entzminger asked each committee to determine and announce their chair at the next
USS meeting in October
G.
Campus-wide committees will be filled with university staff representatives in spring via
Senate Office nomination and election process.
VII.
Sub-Committees Reports
A.
Bylaws: Update to USS Chair responsibilities to better match other senate chairs on campus was reviewed and approved by the Senate; USS Standing Committee Chair responsibilities were updated, reviewed and approved by the Senate. Revised Bylaws will be posted to USS website for 14 days and voted on at next USS meeting in October
B.
Personnel and Compensation: Revised Layoff Procedure has been approved, Complaint
Procedure has been approved, Grievance Procedure has been approved; Wahl asked
Tallman to ask HR Director if open forums will be scheduled now. Recruitment
Procedure is finalized and ready for USS vote next month; Waiting on form update before working on Compensation Procedure.
C.
Award and Development: first award of this academic year given to Bob Cook; nothing new on November Professional Development plan – will resume plans at first standing committee this month; resume/interview skills workshop on 9/15/15 was lightly attended but it was a quality presentation.
D.
Election Committee: 15 members elected to Review & Hearing Pool are in the process of being notified, meeting will be held with these members to discuss roles and responsibilities
VIII.
Other Questions:
A.
Stone asked how current employee apply for job openings on campus. Tallman answered that they should follow instructions in job announcements that are posted, applications are then screened like they are on the unclassified side with an interview group to get the applicant pool size down; getting an approved recruitment procedure will answer a lot of questions employees may have.
B.
Stone is on an informal group to review all employee handbooks to make them more uniform
IX.
Informational
A.
UPS open forums on hold until the policies are completely approved.
B.
Linda Borofka – Senate Office – introduction planned for October meeting.

C.
Web Information Policy , 02-62 has been revised. The revised policy can be found online at http://www.uwstout.edu/parq/upload/webpolicy-update-final-2015.pdf
.
D.
Strategic Planning Group and Chancellor’s Advisory Council meeting minutes can be obtained through the Informational Portal.
E.
Senate Chair Entzminger will be attending the system wide shared governance meeting on
9-18-15 in Madison, this is the first time that university staff have been formally included.
F.
Next USS meeting 10-13-15, 9:30am to 11:00am Price Commons-Glass Lounge
X.
Adjournment
A.
Entzminger moves to adjourn; Boyette 2 nd the motion