Faculty Senate
February 11, 2016 – 3:30 p.m.
Robert C. Voight Faculty Senate Chambers – 325 GMH
Vol. 50, No. 9
I. Roll Call.
A. Present: B. Bennie, G. Cravins, T. Docan-Morgan, S. Foley, A. Galbraith, T. Gendreau, D. Hart,
K. Hunt, H. Jones, S. Kelly, T. King-Heiden, J. Kirsch, K. Kortenkamp, A. Loh, J. Longhurst,
W. Maas, M. Moeller, J. Nunley, M. Rott, B. Seebach, K. Terpstra
B. Excused: J. Anderson, R. Fowler
II. Approval of minutes.
A. Minutes from January 28, 2016, were approved as distributed.
III. Reports (Note: not presented in order of discussion)
A. Chancellor (Joe Gow):
1. Recent meeting with alumni from computer science was a reminder of the powerful impact
UWL faculty have on our students, and the accomplishments of our amazing alumni.
2. Reports from meeting with BOR: likely that proposed tenure policies will stand; does not get
the sense that BOR are interested in changing programs.
3. Budget concerns related to low enrollment – do we want to raise targets for first year
students? (joined by Betsy Morgan & Bob Hetzel for discussion)
a) Increasing international students will be a slow recovery
b) Working on increasing transfer students –
(1) Providing information regarding credit transfers prior to acceptance will help.
(2) Hiring second admission counselor to invest in transfer students.
c) Discussions related to cost/benefits to increasing the number of 1st year students;
enrollment management considered nuances and impacts and decided NOT to increase
targets, which means reductions in teaching positions.
(1) Increasing # 1st year students would put pressure on enrollment in introductory and
general education courses.
(2) Serious housing shortage – no way to address current housing shortage let alone put
additional pressure; currently no options for increasing on-campus housing.
(3) Reputation of UWL – acceptance rate would be 85% which impacts UWL “brand.”
(4) (Morgan) Last year, 14 GQA positions were frozen; 6-7 GQA contracts will not be
renewed.
(a) Plan to work with Deans/Department chairs to be as strategic and flexible as
possible.
(b) Deans will decide how much faculty input regarding non-renewal of contracts.
(5) (Hetzel) international numbers are down, but so are enrollments in J-term and
summer courses; GQA reserves being used to cover losses from last summer and Jterm so cannot be used here.
(a) reserves have to be used in year that shortfalls occur
(b) if next summer courses do not fill, will pull addition from reserves
B. iProvost (Betsy Morgan):
1. Faculty applications for promotion were strong – lots of promotions.
2. Our reputation at UWL stands strong.
3. Interim 2-year replacement for CSAH Dean Riley.
a) Qualifications and gender equity will be considered
b) Please email with recommendations
4. CFO (Bob Hetzel): See above discussion
C. Faculty Representative (Georges Cravins)
1. Tenure policy passed without discussion; education committee all new members so hopefully
there will be some discussion prior to (very likely) adoption in March.
2. More impacts of Act 10: WI state employee movement to self-insurance is very likely to
happen; estimated to increase costs an additional $1000-2000 per year, maybe more. We are
all encouraged to reach out to our representatives.
3. Ray Cross wants to implement strategic planning across the UW System with the goal of
improving the image of the UW System.
4. Concealed carry is not dead; will likely resurface next year.
D. Student Senate Liaison (Rep Lauren Mason)
1. Doing inclusivity training within student senate to unite.
2. After recent discussions with Rep. Jill Billings have decided to focus on bringing attention of
affordability of 4 year programs (vs 2 year).
3. Plans to continue to fight to regain shared governance for students.
E. Faculty Senate Chair (Brad Seebach)
1. Please solicit petitions for next elections for vacancies on faculty senate.
F. Please consider SEC positions; contact any SEC member for more information; invited to our
meetings (3:30 Mondays), but please let Brad know you are coming in case there are closed
discussions planned.
G. Joe Heim, Fri. Mar 4th Legislative Open forum.
1. Looking for Faculty Senate to co-sponsor.
2. Motion to co-sponsor was discussed and approved, M/S/P
H. Regent Higgins on campus Tues, Feb 23rd
1. Interest in speaking with him, contact Brad.
2. Betsy noted that it is rare to have a regent visit; please take advantage.
I. Tenure policy discussion not a dead issue
1. Governance groups still trying to clarify certain aspects of the policy, specifically appeals.
2. UW-Madison taking the lead on defining the process.
IV. Conversation with UWL Police Chief, Scott McCullough
A. McCullough expressed his desire to improve communication and interaction between Police,
employees, and students.
1. Response time averages 2 minutes!
2. Open to community forums and outreach.
B. Request to increase community policing presence on campus was received enthusiastically.
1. Options for “soft uniform” presence to avoid fear.
2. Introduction would be slow, to promote positive interactions & build community.
C. Requests for additional active shooter preparedness training.
1. Please contact McCullough for any requests – happy to provide.
D. Jurisdiction is restricted to campus, but have mutual aid agreements with La Crosse Police.
E. General surveillance Q&A.
1. Patrol cars do not have plate readers, sting ray equipment, and no government surplus gear.
2. Currently looking for replacement body cameras; currently on patrol cars.
V. Confirm Peg Maher as SAH Ombudsperson
A. Discussed and approved.
B. Request to provide more information on faculty senate website.
VI. APR Report for UG Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE)
A. Report was discussed and accepted M/S/P.
VII.
Old business
VIII. New business
IX. Adjournment at 5:12 p.m.
Submitted by T. King-Heiden and J Kirsch