February 10, 2026 – 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, C. Fleider, B. Freer, C. Hayes, J. Herriges, B. Hinshaw, J. Johnson, K. Korinek, S. Luelloff, A. Meddaugh, L. McGovern, N. Oswald, M. Priem, J. Rotier, A. Schmidt, N. Simonson, A. Singer, J. Steinheiser, A. Stoddard, S. Surach, K. O’Connell Valuch, D. Van Kerkvoorde, E. Zahasky
Absent: T. Joosten, B. Mueller, C. Sampson, K. Scholz, B. Trager
Guests: 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 January 13, 2026 meeting approved as distributed. 

Chair’s Report

J.Herriges congratulated all who received their Length of Service Awards today. Academic Staff Committee met on February 2nd and guests were Provost Daire to discuss personnel matters in closed session and Associate Vice Chancellor, HR, Makda Fessahaye. The changes to ASPPP Chapter 105 – Performance Management will include revising dates to align with UWS and Workday. ASC reviewed the interim policy action SYS 200-03, Interim: Faculty and Instructional Academic Staff Teaching Responsibilities and Workload, which has been approved and published. Herriges met with Chancellor Gibson on January 10th and discussed how the ASC can serve as a sounding board and the importance of Indefinite status and multiyear contracts. She gave a report to the University Staff Senate and noted that Gail Dukes retired and Anna Dempsey Fischer is the new chair. There was no Chancellor Cabinet meeting since the last AS Senate meeting.

Guests

  1. Chancellor T. Gibson
    Chancellor T. Gibson recognized the good work of employees and encouraged all to participate in the many activities during Employee Appreciation week. He reported the new student services hub will be located in the Union and is driven by the pillars of the 2030 action plan. No employees are losing positions with the change. Board of Regents met last week and discussed AI and the Universities of Wisconsin. UWM’s efforts on AI were well received. He will attend the admitted students welcome day in March. Gibson’s latest podcast on WUWM focuses on the importance of telling UWM’s story and highlights UWM’s activity in community engagement.
  2. Provost A. Daire
    Provost A. Daire reported deans and department chairs are attending EAB workshops on academic cost decisions in practice. The workshops are focused on aligning instructional resources with institutional priorities including the limits of short-term cost-cutting and explore alternative approaches to optimizing resources; common sources of inefficiencies at the departmental level; unique governance and leadership challenges chairs face; and using a structured decision-making framework. Daire also noted a draft interim UWM Teaching Load Policy is being reviewed by Chancellor Gibson and will be shared by with various groups, including ASC Chair and ASC soon. Provost Daire has regular conversations with Kay Eilers, Associate Vice Chancellor for Strategic Enrollment Management & Student Success, regarding increased focus on student retention. Eilers has been meeting with deans individually to set specific retention targets.
  3. Associate Vice Chancellor (AVC) M. Fessahaye and Total Rewards Director R. Joos
    AVC Fessahaye congratulated all who achieved milestone years of service. She noted that performance evaluations for instructional academic staff are due April 30, 2026 and communication with details will be sent soon. Information about performance evaluations for non-instructional academic staff will be sent in the coming months. Mandatory trainings will begin in March and must be completed in Workday. The next new employee orientation will occur on February 25th. Fessahaye highlighted the current professional development opportunities. R. Joos provided an overview of employee appreciation week activities and upcoming health and wellness opportunities. All information is posted on the website.

 New Business

  1. None.

Unfinished Business

  1. None.

Committee Reports

  1. Committees
    Sara Luelloff, Chair of AS Awards, reported that the Committee Bylaws were approved and the webpage is updated. The Call for Nominations for Outstanding Teaching and Outstanding Performance and Service awards were distributed and encouraged attendees to spread the word. The AS Professional Development awards are not being funded by the Provost and so not being administered this year.
    Tammy Howard, member of AS Nominations Committee, reported the Committee met on January 14th and selected candidates for the Spring 2026 election ballot. They will meet February 12th to add candidates for one more faculty committee. Nominations from the floor for the AS Nominations Committee will occur at the March 10th AS Senate/General Meeting.
    Stephanie Surach, Chair of AS Orientation Committee, reported the Committee will meet next week to schedule orientation session.
    Mike Priem, Chair of AS Hearing and Appeals Committee, had nothing to report.
    Elizabeth Jastrab, Chair of AS Codification Committee, had nothing to report.
  2. Subcommittees
    Sarah MacDonald, Communications Subcommittee, reported the Spring 2026 AS Newsletter was distributed today.
    Lynne Jones, Non-Instructional AS Subcommittee, had nothing to report.

General Good and Welfare

J. Herriges encouraged all to take part in the Employee Appreciation activities this week.

Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 3:11 p.m.