November 22, 2022

ASC Chair Priem met with the UC and updated us on current activities:

  • There is some consternation as to how the 4% budget cut will affect academic staff.
  • The campus is looking into standardizing Canvas use across classes; this may impact instructors.
  • ASC is cleaning up its by-laws to be consistent with the new P&P restructuring of Schools and Colleges.
  • The sub-committee on employee orientation may be lifted into a standing committee so that there can be consistency on how new academic staff are informed of their roles, responsibilities, and rights.

In member reports:

  • The proposed policy on promotion to full is still being commented on by UWM Legal but should be ready soon.
  • The SSEA will soon discuss the proposed framework for revising the assessment of administrators.
  • The APBC met and discussed budget matters, and a proposed PhD in Mechanical Engineering.
  • The School of Freshwater Sciences Dean search committee is crafting the position description and hopes to have a list of candidates from which to choose a short list before classes resume in January.

A point of concern was raised regarding the Testing Center’s curtailing of services, likely due to budget cuts (after being moved from the Registrar’s Office to UITS). This gives the appearance that UWM administration is discouraging instructors from giving in-person examinations and teaching evaluations. The UC will consider looking into this situation further.

Lastly, the UC meeting on November 29th has been canceled due to lack of business.

November 15, 2022

Today’s UC meeting unfortunately conflicted with the Chancellor’s Town Hall, which meant we didn’t have a chance to hear from Provost Gronert.
In member reports:

  • The CIO search will include some faculty members recommended by the UC.
  • The Space Planning Committee met.
  • The SSEA had some comments on proposed operational changes. The UC discussed these comments and will work toward a revision that addresses the comments. Boyland will circulate the rough outlines of a revised proposal.
  • The AAFEC will be encouraged to continue its work and assured that it need not have a formal chair.

Prof. Filippello, faculty representative on the 2030 Taskforce on Professional Development, reported to the UC They are working with AVC Fessahaye on general discipline-independent development. It seems to be mainly aimed toward non-instructional staff.

VC Nesbitt (UWM Advancement) and AVC McCaffery gave an informal presentation to the UC on the reorganization of development (now “advancement”) and its plans.

November 8, 2022

Chancellor Mone provided the following updates:

  • A virtual town hall meeting next Tuesday (Nov. 15) will in part review available election results.
  • While recognizing that elections have consequences, there is room for some optimism in any outcome, as UW-Milwaukee enjoys bipartisan support among the current UW-System Regents.

In member reports:

  • The Advisory Policy Committee discussed current policies for honorary degrees and alcohol consumption on campus.
  • APBC met and discussed the end of the budget year process.

Lastly, the UC nominated several faculty members to serve on the CIO search committee.

November 1, 2022

Schwartz gave the following updates:

  • Campus administration has requested some faculty nominees for the Chief Information Officer (CIO) search committee. The UC will explore this next week.
  • The Affirmative Action in Faculty Employment Committee (AAFEC) has been operating without electing a chair. The members have the impression that AA/EO policies are unevenly applied across campus and are considering collecting data on this topic.
  • The Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Mental Health has asked for a Faculty Senate representative. Schwartz will send a message to the Faculty Senate about this opportunity.

Interim Provost Gronert sought guidance in how to handle non-compliance in Outside Activities Reporting. The UC recommended following standard procedures: a complaint to be referred to the FRRC with recommendations for discipline.
Separately the UC expressed interest to Gronert in knowing how Navigate helps student success (if this has been measured), and in various possible improvements to the system.

October 25, 2022

ASC Chair Mike Priem updated the UC: The ASC is interested in the campus making progress on defining pay progression in the new titles, but it seems this has stalled, putting a January start date in jeopardy.

Schwartz reported that he has asked the GFC to revive work on reconsidering existing embargo requirements for theses and dissertations. He also reported that the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Mental Health is seeking a Faculty Senate representative. The UC asked him to inquire about existing faculty representation.

Boyland reported that the SSEA will meet to discuss proposed changes to the process for evaluation of administrators. Secretary Reisel will join the discussion.

October 18, 2022

Provost Gronert updated the UC on several topics including:

  • His office (in collaboration with other groups) is messaging the university on various COVID-related policies. Most importantly that students should not be required to provide doctor’s notes for medical excuses.
  • He intends to start an informal search for an interim Dean of the new College of Arts and Architecture. The plan is to appoint two faculty each from the PSOA and SARUP, together with two faculty from elsewhere on campus and a representative from the Provost’s office. These would solicit applications, interview candidates, and submit recommendations to his office. The UC thought that the proposed process sounded fine, but requested that he ensure that a diverse group of applicants are encouraged to apply.

AVC Fessahaye briefed the UC on a new organizational development website that would be a one-stop shop for resources for non-discipline-specific professional development. The website would assist UWM employees identify and work toward their own professional goals.

Lastly, UC representatives were chosen for the forthcoming ZCPH (Dolan) and SFWS (McHenry) Dean searches.

October 11, 2022

Chancellor Mone provided the UC with the following updates:

  1. The framework for the UW System Strategic Plan is being presented to various interest groups; it includes three aspects:
    1. Building the talent pipeline for Wisconsin;
    2. Increasing equity with affordability and accessibility;
    3. Educating on citizenship issues.
  2. The demolition of NWQ Building A should soon accelerate, due to a recent court ruling.
  3. The new Chemistry building is on track for completion in January 2024.
  4. The Free Speech survey team plans to contact 10,000 students at UWM and UW-
    Madison to get at least 500 responses each.

October 4, 2022

Provost Gronert updated the UC on recent actions:

  • Various administrative leaders have expressed support for students impacted by Iranian demonstrations and the Iranian government’s reactions to them.
  • The report from the 2030 Taskforce on the Faculty Workforce will be shared with Deans across campus this week.
  • Campus units have been told to plan for a 4% budget cut next academic year.

AVC Fessahaye (HR Director) met with the UC briefly to discuss a new professional development resource page. She will return later to give more details.

The UC reached a consensus on an outline of proposed changes to the promotion to full professor procedure. A full document will be considered for approval at a later meeting. Also, we received clarification that the student “free speech” survey proposed methodology has not been changed. Obtaining 500 completed surveys for each UW-System campus is still the goal.

Lastly, the new Dismissal/Disciplinary Hearing Committee (DDHC) still needs two additional appointments. The UC discussed potential candidates to fill out the roster.

September 27, 2022

We welcomed newly elected members Lindsay McHenry (Geosciences) and Kathy Dolan (Political Science). The UC now has its full complement of seven faculty.

ASC Chair M. Priem updated the UC on recent actions of that committee, including continuing work with the TTC process, especially monitoring roll-out of the new teaching and research faculty titles.

VP/Dean Mark Harris briefed the UC on a new 2030 Taskforce on the Faculty Workforce report. The report reviews sample workload assignment policies across the university. Overall, it details that service (in particular) is not usually quantified and valued, and explicit expectations for workload balance at different stages of an academic career are sometimes missing. The report also pointed out College of General Studies faculty are assumed to teach more courses than at the Kenwood campus due to a different workload policy. There was general discussion about concerns that faculty and staff are often routinely being asked to work beyond full-time, to allow inadequate budgets to keep programs functioning. Proper documentation of actual workloads may help to establish the need for a larger workforce size commensurate with the actual work.

G. Rodger reported the APBC had a productive discussion of the 2030 Taskforce on GER Reform at their recent meeting. J. Boyland noted that the draft SSEA revision documents are in the hands of the current SSEA who will now review and suggest changes as they deem appropriate. M. Schwartz relayed that it appears the UW System “Free Speech” student survey process will now randomly select 5000 students on each campus, rather than 500 as we had previously been informed. Schwartz will make inquiries to clarify the actual process planned.

Lastly, the UC further discussed a draft document considering changes to the promotion to full professor procedure, with special attention to putting in place an appeal process for those denied full consideration. Discussion will continue in later meetings.

September 20, 2022

Provost Gronert provided the following updates:

  • The Dean search committees for the School of Freshwater Sciences and the Zilber College of Public Health are being finalized. The SFS search will be launched soon, with the ZCPH following after a slight delay.
  • An internal search for interim Dean of the new College of Arts and Architecture will take place this year.
  • The current 3.4% enrollment decline has highlighted the need to improve retention of students, especially after the first year.

The UC considered several matters:

  • The current evaluation of administrators procedure has been referred to the SSEA for suggested revisions.
  • SAAP 7-13 on Academic Freedom was reviewed and determined to not need revision.
  • Discussion on possible changes to the full professor promotion process continue.