Faculty Senate
December 8, 2005
Vol. 40, No. 8
325 Graff Main Hall
3:30 p.m.
I.
Roll Call.
Present: Choy, Clow, Cravins, Gongaware, S. Grunwald, Heim, K. Hoar, Hunt,
Johnston-Rodriguez, S. Kelly, Knox, Kraemer, S. Krajewski, B. Riley, D. Riley, Senger,
Shanks, S. Smith, Straker, R. Sullivan, C. Wilson.
Excused: Galbraith
II.
Minutes.
Minutes from November 10, 2005 meeting were approved as distributed.
III.
Reports.
A. Chair’s Report – The faculty senate meeting scheduled for February 9, 2006 will be moved to February 16, 2006. The February 23, 2006 meeting will stay as scheduled.
M/S/P to approve the list of Fall 2005 graduates contingent upon the successful completion of the requirements of the respective degrees.
B. Faculty Representative’s Report – Joe Heim, UWL Faculty Representative, updated senate on the following matters in the WI legislature and UW System that are important to this campus.
UW System was highlighted in a Chronicle of Higher Education article titled “Stuck in a
Badger Hole”. This article highlighted how UW System was under assault by the state’s leaders. Heim updated senate that UW System is currently working on a policy to deal with people convicted and charged with a felony. Furthermore, due to budgetary pressure, UW System is looking to shift system budget money to campuses. This would probably include about $500,000 in faculty development money that would be distributed to campuses to manage. Also UW System is looking at sabbatical awards to be sure that sabbatical guidelines that are distributed by system are being followed.
The Student Bill of Rights will likely get a hearing but probably will not be acted on soon. A 2005 Senate Bill 452 is being introduced by WI Senators Schultz, Kapanke and
Ellis regarding providing collective bargaining rights to faculty and academic staff. The conceal gun carry bill will be on the floor of the senate soon. If passed this would exclude weapons in campus building but not on campus grounds. Finally TABOR will likely be discussed in the WI Assembly this year.
C. Student Association Representative’s Report – Ryan Vanloo attended and reported on a student senate resolution to allocate $2.5 million of student funds to help build a new stadium. $750,000 of this would be taken out of the recreation center reserve fund. This issue will be held as an advisory referendum Feb 21st. Comments from senate on this issue included concern of student perception of increased tuition along with more

increases in student fees. Questions included if student fees at sister institutions have been looked at and compared to UWL and if student senate has looked into helping fund other campus building initiatives?
Ryan also updated senate that student senate president, Steve Tennies, is resigning due to going off campus in spring for an internship. Ryan Kockler will thus be stepping in as student senate president.
V. Briefing. Bruce May and Rob Tyser, members of the electronic portfolio working group, updated senate on the incorporation of e-portfolios at UWL. This group was charge by the Provost to identify, evaluate, and make suggestions regarding faculty portfolio systems for collecting, managing, and aggregating and reporting faculty teaching, research and service activities. May and Tyser outlined the process the working group went through to evaluate the various systems. The working group recommended that
UWL adapt Digital Measures for a 2-3 year pilot system starting in April 2006 and then after that time evaluate the longer term e-portfolio need on this campus. General comments by senate included the security, ownership, and access to the data that is being provided to establish an e-portfolio.
VI. Campus Climate Coordinator Update. Beth Hartung, campus climate coordinator, updated senate on recent activities and new initiatives. A hate incidence form has been posted on the uwlax.edu/campusclimate website. Any campus member can fill out this form if they are a victim or have witnessed a hate incidence. The purpose of this confidential reporting form is to monitor the occurrence of hate incidents both on and off campus. Hartung also informed senate that the sexual harassment tutorial is on this website.
Hartung also informed senate that she is the new work-life contact. She will be working with the Sloan Foundation team and will be maintaining the work-like website. She also is working on a salary equity study.
VII. Budget Review Committee Report. Steve Senger, chair of the Budget Review
Committee, updated senate on the committee charge of gathering information on enrollments, target, and FTE. Senator Senger distributed a table (see posted summary table) which summarized enrollment targets, actual enrollments, FTE etc… for the past
20 years. The table shows that there has been a decline in ranked faculty, a decline in faculty as % of total, and an increase in the fall student FTE/faculty FTE ratio. The fall
FTE/faculty FTE ratio has increased from 22 in 1994 to 25 in 2003. General comments included that this trend will get higher with the planned increase in student enrollment unless there is also an increase in ranked faculty positions at UWL.
M/S/P that faculty senate request that the Provost develop a plan to reduce the fall student
FTE to faculty FTE ratio to the historical average of 22.
Senator Senger also distributed a document entitled “Summary of UW-System Budget
Reductions and UW-L Revenue Shortfalls” (see posted summary). Senator Senger

reviewed the document highlighting that with the increased student enrollment in 2005-
2006 that the budget shortfall may not be as bad as once thought.
VIII. Joint Planning and Budget Report. David Riley, chair of the Joint Planning and Budget
Committee, distributed a document entitled “First Report on Operational Efficiencies and
Enhancements” prepared by the Joint Planning and Budget Committee December 5, 2006
(see posted report). Senator Riley reviewed the Chancellor’s charge to the committee which was to draft and develop recommendations and submit them to the governance groups after reviewing a draft of potential Operational Efficiencies and Enhancements that was presented to them in fall 2005. The committee’s recommendations will be finalized and then presented to all governance groups. General comments on the report were that the list of budget saving ideas was developed through a brainstorming session.
IX. Adjournment.
The meeting adjourned at 5:07 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Sandy Grunwald, Secretary