Faculty Senate
November 12, 2015 – 3:30 p.m.
Robert C. Voight Faculty Senate Chambers – 325 GMH
Vol. 50, No. 6
I. Roll Call.
A. Present: J. Anderson, C. Angell, B. Bennie, G. Cravins, S. Foley, R. Fowler, 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: T. Docan-Morgan
II. Approval of minutes.
A. Minutes from the 10-29-15 meeting approved with minor amendments.
III. Reports
A. Chancellor (Joe Gow):
1. Not present
B. Provost (Betsy Morgan)
1. Geography and Sports Management had great program reviews
Advising equity: working towards ways to achieve equity across colleges with respect to
work load for academic advising
a. Can academic advising help to reduce load?
b. Equity across and within departments
2. Retention of students: working towards exit interviews for students leaving UWL; currently
84-86% retention
3. Cool news re faculty: Jo Arney on leave for ASCU (1st year experience for students); Jenny
Klein funded to study aging in Zebrafish
4. Presented new name for School of Education that was agreed upon: School of Education,
Professional, and Continuing Education
C. CFO (Bob Hetzel):
1. Looking into compensation for 2017
D. Faculty Representative (Georges Cravins)
1. All WI listening sessions completed
2. Concealed carry: halted; considering exemptions for residence halls, childcare centers, etc.
3. Ban on fetal tissue for research: not likely to pass; move towards federal laws
4. Major program prioritization across UWs resulting from budget cuts
a. Superior has had programs closed
b. Madison has had layoffs
c. Stevens Point has had colleges combined
d. UW colleges has had layoffs
E. Student Senate Liaison (Rep Molly Davies)
1. Not present
F. FS Chair (Brad Seebach)
1. Slight changes in agenda
2. Concealed carry: FS summary statement (Tisha King-Heiden) will be combined with other
governance statements and submitted to BOR
3. Request exception to how FS approve search & screen – vote via electronic survey
a. Since FS will not meet again until Dec 3, and S&S needs to proceed with search
b. Exception approved
c. Senators will receive an email with survey link
4. Next FS meeting we will discuss new on-line software for SEIs; please be prepared for good
discussion
IV. Presentation by River Architects on Cowley Lab Sciences Building
A. Cowley Hall is a $82 million building project – the largest for comprehensive universities
B. Architects commented on the collaborative nature of our campus, and how that has helped them
to design the best that they can for us
C. The building will be unique in that it takes a thematic/interdisciplinary approach for organization
of research and teaching labs – the floor plan allows for savings and efficiency
D. Bids will go out in Feb/March with plans to initiate building in June 2016-2018
V. Service Animal Policy – 2nd reading
A. Clarified difference between service vs comfort animals
B. MSP to approve the Service Animal Policy
VI. HLC Related Policy on Faculty Qualifications for Courses – 2nd reading
A. MSP to approve the Policy on Faculty Qualifications for Courses
VII.
Department of Mathematics Name Change
A. Proposed name change to Department of Mathematics and Statistics
B. MSP to approve the name change
VIII. Policy on Overload Payments
A. UWL version never came before FS
1. Overload is what faculty members can earn outside of their 9-month salary (teaching summer
courses, grants, etc), that needs to be distributed during summer months
B. System max = 2/9 salary + $18k/20%; UWL max = 2/9 salary + $18k
1. Why UWL more restrictive? B. Morgan noted that there are very few people whose 20%
salary is more than $18K; any faculty member affected could have this appealed.
C. Approved and will be posted on HR website, with link on Provost website
IX. Regent Tenure Task Force: Tenure Layoff Post Tenure Review Discussion
A. Discussed plan as developed so far to provide feedback to Chair Seebach for upcoming meeting.
1. Tenure Task Force developing plan; present to BOR who will work with legal to put into
policy
2. Once policy completed, will come back to Tenure Task Force for endorsement
B. Major changes of concern
1. Post-tenure review more substantial than currently done; Task Force working to develop a
way that is feasible that doesn’t dramatically increase work load/resources and that allows
sufficient time for a faculty member to make changes if necessary; also establishing an appeal
process
2. Discontinuation of programs or modification/redirection of programs: Task Force working to
ensure/document financial emergency and that student voices are considered
3. Wording for “Just Cause” for faculty layoffs; as written, it is not clear; hopefully Task Force
can clarify and provide specifics for justification
C. Separate from merit pay
1. Since merit pay has not been distributed from state in at least 10 years, probably best to keep
separate
X.
Old business
XI.
New business
XII.
Adjournment at 5:15 pm
Submitted by T. King-Heiden