March 12, 2015 – 3:30 PM
Robert C. Voight Faculty Senate Chambers – 325 Graff Main Hall
Vol. 49, No. 12
I.
Roll Call a.
Present: M. Allen, J. Anderson, C. Angell, K. Beyer, L. Caya, G. Cravins, M. Current, T.
Docan-Morgan, N. Eschenbaum, R. Fowler, T. Gendreau, P. Haried, D. Hart, J. Kirsch,
M. Rott, B. Seebach, J. Shanks, B. Shrestha, K. Terpstra b.
Excused: K. Hunt, S. Kelly, T. King-Heiden, W. Maas, R. McKelley
II.
Minutes of February 26 tabled until next meeting
III.
Reports: a.
Chancellor (Joe Gow): i.
Chancellor Gow noted that the discussion of the budget would be a large component of the meeting's agenda, and that he would keep his report brief as a result.
ii.
Open Forum Listening Session: Senator Jennifer Shilling and Representative Jill
Billings will hold a listening session for state budget issues on Monday, 3/16/15, in the Hall of Nations from 4:30-6:30 PM. All are welcome iii.
Chancellor Gow briefly reported on the events of the Board of Regents Meeting that was held on 3/5/15 in Madison.
b.
Provost (Heidi Macpherson): i.
The Department of Mathematics has been acknowledged with the 2015 Regents
Teaching Excellence Award.
ii.
Provost Macpherson updated the Faculty Senate on the CLS Dean's Search. She anticipates an announcement of the new Dean soon after spring break.
iii.
The Provost's Office will be moving back to its permanent location soon, as renovations are nearing their completion.
iv.
Academic Office Hours with administrators will resume after spring break in the
ICE space.
c.
CFO (Bob Hetzel): i.
CFO Hetzel reported on the recent activities of the Budget Council. He provided the Senate with details about resource strategies that the council has identified.
These include increases in enrollment, non-instructional position reductions, supply and expense budget cuts, and an increase in the rate for administrative overhead.
ii.
Comments/Questions: The media coverage of Chancellor Gow's recent open forum was discussed. Chancellor Gow was also asked to provide more information about feedback he was receiving as a result of the open forum.
d.
Student Senate Liaison (Rep. Amy Keel, SA President Kaylee Otterbacher, SA Vice
President Hayley Kresnak):
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i.
Student elections will be starting up soon.
ii.
Pres. Otterbacher announced that three students were going to be appointed to the state's Shared Governance Task Force.
iii.
The search for Tenure Task Force members is also underway.
e.
Faculty Representative (Georges Cravins): i.
Rep. Cravins provided the Senate with highlights of his report from the recent
Board of Regents Meeting.
ii.
After meeting with people from Human Resources, he confirmed that all banked sick leave would be maintained in the Public Authority structure.
iii.
He acknowledged the job UW-L's administrators are doing with addressing budget cuts, and expressed concern for general morale and instability.
IV.
Conversation with Representative Jill Billings: a.
Rep. Billings updated the Faculty Senate on the status of the budget discussion in
Madison. She indicated that people on both sides of the political aisle acknowledge that the proposed cuts are extremely deep. b.
She reminded the Senate of the listening session that she and Sen. Shilling will hold on
3/16/15, and announced that the state Joint Finance Committee will be holding listening sessions around the state over the next couple of weeks. c.
There was a discussion about the implications of the UW System becoming autonomous, including shared governance and tenure. There are also concerns about how information would be disseminated to students regarding procedures for reporting sexual assaults on campuses and the elimination of recruiting programs for minority and disadvantaged students. d.
Comments/Questions: Several questions for Rep. Billings followed her address; they primarily centered on System President Cross's motives and effectiveness in the current budget process. Rep. Billings was urged to encourage/promote transparency amongst all legislators.
V.
Approval of 2016-2017 Academic Year Calendar: a.
There were no comments or concerns raised about the calendar.
b.
The 2016-2017 Academic Year Calendar was unanimously approved, M/S/P.
VI.
Ed.D. in Student Affairs Administration Request for Implementation (Dr. Christine Bakkum,
Registrar and Ed.D. Program Lead; Dr. Jodie Rindt, SAA Department Chair): a.
Registrar Bakkum provided the Senate with background information about the degree, including a timeline of how it came to be.
b.
The consortial program follows a cohort model, with twelve students per cohort and one cohort per year. Classes will meet year-round.
c.
All of UW-L's classes will be online, but some of the consortial partner institutions' classes will be bricks-and-mortar. There will also be some distance learning opportunities.
Registrar Bakkum indicated that she expected to see greater accessibility to different courses as the program matures.
d.
The motion from SEC to approve the request was unanimously approved, M/S/P.
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VII.
Discussion of BOR Actions: a.
Study of Shared Governance and Tenure: b.
Structure of Public Authority: i.
There was no formal, separate discussion of items VII.a.
and VII.b.
; they were addressed at various points throughout the meeting.
c.
Regent Higgins proposed visit to campus: i.
This visit was proposed as a way to make more contact with the Regents and to give them a firsthand look at the everyday activities at UW System campuses. ii.
The Senate discussed the kinds of things that they wished Regent Higgins to see if he visits campus.
iii.
Questions/Comments: The impact of the letter drafted by the SEC was discussed.
Some questioned the benefit of inviting a Regent to campus, but the general consensus seemed to be that the Regent's visit could be advantageous. This topic will be revisited at a future meeting.
VIII.
Old Business:
IX.
New Business:
X.
Adjournment at 5:36 PM
Respectfully submitted,
Janet Kirsch
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