December 1, 2025 – Academic Staff Committee (ASC) – Minutes

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Time: Monday at 9:00 a.m.
Location: Microsoft Teams

Attendance

Present: R. Edwards, K. Esguerra, A. Follmer, B. Freer, J. Herriges, N. Oswald, A. Schmidt, N. Simonson, J. Steinheiser
Guests: Makda Fessahaye, Thomas Gibson, Sara Luelloff

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by Chair J. Herriges at 9:00 a.m.

The agenda was approved as presented.
The minutes of November 17, 2025 meeting were approved as presented.

Persons Who Wish to be Heard

None

Chair’s Report

J. Herriges reported she gave reports to the University Staff Senate, University Committee, and Faculty Senate. She attended the “How Can I Be Of Service” presentation on November 19th. She has not met with Chancellor Gibson nor Provost Daire since the last ASC meeting.

Guests

  1. Chancellor T. Gibson
    Chancellor Gibson gave seven updates: 1. Board of Regents (BOR) voted unanimously on November 19th to support Act 15 and the workload policy and general education requirements. He noted there was robust discussion about the general education curriculum revisions. 2. The UWM Panther Arena and the Miller High Life Theatre were granted permanent historic designation by the Milwaukee Common Council on November 25th. While the designation does not prohibit the demolition of the buildings, it does require input from the City’s Historic Preservation Committee, and also would require the process to be done in a way that best preserves the structures. UWM uses the arena for the UWM’s basketball games and commencement so losing the space would be a major concern. 3. Gibson will update on UWM’s strategic actions in response to the Deloitte report to the BOR later this week.4. Academic Affairs launching a new initiative called “Roar Ready” that focuses on K-12 students. 5. This week’s Chancellor WUWM show and podcast will highlight UWM’s Athletics programs. 6. Demolition on the Chemistry building will begin December 8th. 7. All are invited to attend the December 10th Employee Arctic Appreciation event in the Wisconsin Room.
  2. Associate Vice Chancellor M. Fessahaye
    AVC Fessahaye stated final numbers of the VSIP after December 8th. The deadline for completing performance evaluations was extended to November 30th for university and non-instructional academic staff. The final 2025 new employee orientation will be December 2nd. Fessahaye said HR is close to finalizing the Comprehensive Compensation Review Guidelines and will share with governance in early Spring 2026. She said it will not be a guaranteed increase in salary and instead it will guarantee a review. There are four cohorts determined by TTC standard job descriptions.

Unfinished Business

  1. Workload Policies for AS – No update.
  2. Academic Staff Personnel Policies and Procedures Chapter 105 Performance Management. K. Esguerra has not received a response from E. Bechly Schubert in HR so will follow up this week.

New Business

  1. Review Proposed Revisions to AS Awards Bylaws – AS Awards Committee Chair, S. Luelloff, provided context for the proposed revisions and explained the changes. R. Edwards moved and B. Freer seconded approving the revised AS Awards Bylaws with additional revisions and forwarding to the AS Codification Committee for review. Motion passed unanimously.
  2. January 2026 ASC Meeting Schedule – The ASC agreed to meet virtually only on January 5 and to schedule a meeting on January 26th (9-10 am) on Teams. T. Howard will send the calendar invite and update meeting notices.
  3. ASC Appointment to AS Codification Committee – After review of last year’s preference form data, J. Steinheiser moved and K. Esguerra seconded to appoint Alexandra Trumbull-Holper for remainder of this committee year with Randall Trumbull-Holper as back up. Motion passed unanimously. T. Howard will prepare the appointment letter after confirming interest and availability.
  4. Review Proposed Revisions to SAAP 0-1 UWM Policy on the Creation of Selected Academic & Administrative Policies – After review, it was agreed that ASC members will share individual feedback with J. Herriges by December 3rd who will compile and send to Joely Urdan by December 5th.

Reports

  1. R. Edwards reported the Realignment 2.0 Workgroup toured the School of Freshwater Sciences last week and will visit L&S/Natural Sciences this week.
  2. A. Schmidt reported on last week’s UWs Shared Governance Council meeting.
  3. K. Esguerra reported the NIASRC canceled last week’s meeting due to no cases being submitted.

Personnel Matters

None.

Good and General Welfare

T. Howard reported that Gina Lukaszewic was appointed to serve on the Search Committee for Vice Chancellor for Marketing and Communications. J. Steinheiser raised concern about timing of guests’ reports at AS Senate meetings. J. Herriges will keep guests on track at future meetings.

Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 10:46 am.