December 9, 2025 – Academic Staff Senate – Minutes

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Time: Tuesday at 2:30 pm
Location: Microsoft Teams

Attendance

Present: M. Archer, R. Calkins, M. Rausch Camacho, C. Cho, J. Court, C. Driscoll, R. Edwards, K. Esguerra, A. Follmer, C. Fleider, B. Freer, J. Herriges, B. Hinshaw, J. Johnson, K. Korinek, S. Luelloff, A. Meddaugh, L. McGovern, B. Mueller, N. Oswald, M. Priem, J. Rotier, C. Sampson, A. Schmidt, K. Scholz, N. Simonson, A. Singer, J. Steinheiser, A. Stoddard, S. Surach, B. Trager, K. O’Connell Valuch, D. Van Kerkvoorde, E. Zahasky  

Absent: None

Guests: Ali Abedi, Andrew Daire, Makda Fessahaye, Thomas Gibson

Call to Order

Chair J. Herriges called the meeting to order at 2:30 p.m.

  1. Minutes of November 11, 2025 meeting approved as distributed. 

Chair’s Report

J. Herriges will keep time according to the agenda, particularly with guests. The ASC has met twice since the last Senate meeting and discussed topics with guests including teaching workload policy and Act 15; Regent Policy Document 20-25; Academic Staff Personnel Policies and Procedures Chapter 105 and aligning schedules with Workday; and strengthening partnerships with other governance groups. J. Herriges provided reports on the ASC’s activities to the Faculty Senate and University Staff Senate.

Guests

  1. Chancellor T. Gibson
    Chancellor Gibson reported the following items: 1. All employees are invited to the December 10th Employee Arctic Appreciation event/brunch. 2. Gibson gave an update to the Board of Regents last week on UWM’s strategic actions and fiscal highlights. 3. Updates on student success and student experience campus initiatives. 4. Recent Chancellor’s radio show and podcast highlighted athletics at UWM. Gibson encourages employees to attend an athletic game, arts performance or student exhibition in the new year.
  2. Provost A. Daire
    Provost Daire provided updates on the following: 1. Spring 2026 enrollment increased. 2. UWM has implemented early alerts for at-risk students to improve retention and re-enrollment. A targeted enrollment campaign has been launched. Grants for students who re-enroll are available. UWM has partnered with a third party company to help re-enroll students who stopped attending UWM for at least 2.5 years.
  3. Associate Vice Chancellor (AVC) M. Fessahaye and Total Rewards Director R. Joos
    AVC Fessahaye reminded attendees to review personal contact information in Work day. The final guidelines for the Comprehensive Compensation will be shared with governance groups in Spring 2026. Final 2025 new employee orientation session was held December 2nd. Sessions will resume in January 2026. Fessahaye provided an overview of current learning and development offerings. R. Joos gave updates on total rewards efforts and benefits and wellness opportunities.
  4. Vice Chancellor for Research A. Abedi
    VC Abedi presented on Research at UWM and the goals and strategies for supporting the R1 mission at UWM. He shared short term goals including 1. diversifying and expanding funding sources; 2. improving research infrastructure and efficiency; and 3. increasing grant success rates; and long term goals including 4. aligning research with institutional and societal priorities; 5. advocating and elevating research visibility; and 6. supporting talent and building research culture at UWM.

 New Business

  1. AS Doc 153 Revisions to Academic Staff Hearing and Appeals Committee (ASHAC) Bylaws – Mike Priem, co-chair, ASHAC, presented an overview of the revisions. No concerns were raised. S. Surach moved and A. Stoddard seconded approving the proposed revisions to the ASHAC Bylaws as presented. Motion passed unanimously.

Unfinished Business

None.

Committee Reports

  1. Committees
    Rick Edwards, ASC, reported the Realignment 2.0 Workgroup has met and is in the information gathering stage. The group’s final report is due March 2026.
    Mike Priem, Chair of AS Hearing and Appeals Committee, had nothing to report.
    Stephanie Surach, Chair of AS Orientation Committee, had nothing to report.
    Kyla Esguerra, Chair of the Non-Instructional AS Review Committee, had nothing to report.
  2. Subcommittees
    Lynne Jones, reported there have been changes in the Non-Instructional AS Subcommittee’s (NIAS) leadership. NIAS will meet in January 2026 to review its past activities. Academic Staff are invited to submit suggestions or feedback on future activities to her.

General Good and Welfare

Chair Herriges encouraged attendees to attend the Employee Arctic Appreciation event.

Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 3:34 p.m.