December 15, 2025 – Academic Staff Committee (ASC) – Minutes

Time: Monday at 9:30 a.m.
Location: Lubar N456 and Microsoft Teams

Attendance

Present: R. Edwards, K. Esguerra, A. Follmer, B. Freer, J. Herriges, N. Oswald, A. Schmidt, N. Simonson, J. Steinheiser
Guests: Thorsten Curcio, Lynne Jones, Melinda Kavanaugh

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by Chair J. Herriges at 9:31 a.m.

The agenda was approved as presented.
The minutes of December 1, 2025 meeting were approved as presented.

Persons Who Wish to be Heard

T. Curcio and L. Jones, co-chairs of the Non-Instructional Academic Staff Subcommittee (NIAS), are seeking guidance from the ASC on the future of the Subcommittee and its purpose. Membership has been waning in recent years. They want to collaborate with ASC more frequently to make sure they are providing meaningful and beneficial opportunities to campus. It was suggested to consider the NIAS and the Instructional and Research Academic Staff Subcommittee (recently re-launched) working together. ASC will discuss further and share feedback with T. Curcio and L. Jones. L. Jones invited ASC or a rep to attend the January 27th meeting. The ASC agreed after the guests left to assign the two subcommittees to work together to gather data from peer institutions to learn more about how UWM appointment types and contract terms compare to our peer institutions. Specifically, they will be asked to research Information on employee classifications (whether they have classifications similar to probationary and indefinite status); Information on tenure and what types of positions are eligible for tenure; and information on employee contract terms, specifically the employment terms for academic staff or similar employees. They will request the Subcommittee’s present to the Academic Staff Committee in April 2026. N. Oswald moved and R. Edwards seconded requesting this information from the NIAS and IRAS as soon as possible. Motion passed unanimously.

Chair’s Report

J. Herriges did not meet with Chancellor or Provost since the last ASC meeting. She attended the December 10th Budget Transparency meeting for governance committees and provided a report at the December 11th Faculty Senate.

Guests

University Committee Chair M. Kavanaugh
The UC has been discussing workload policy and Act 15 and the GER implications. ASC discussed the reduction in probationary and indefinite appointments with M. Kavanaugh who expressed concern and noted the UC supports the continuing of offering probationary appointments. Discussion about the proposed revisions to Faculty Status (Chapter 1.01 1(b)) shared by M. Kavanaugh took place. M. Kavanaugh invited feedback from the ASC who agreed to send this week. ASC expressed concerns surrounding academic freedoms and fears around speaking up without employment protections. N. Oswald moved and R. Edwards seconded to approve additional revisions proposed by the ASC to the Faculty Status policy and rationale. Motion passed unanimously. J. Herriges will share the revised document with M. Kavanaugh.
Provost A. Daire
ASC presented concerns surrounding the Provost’s statements at the December 12th presentation to the Libraries about reducing probationary and indefinite appointments. A. Schmidt reported actions that campus is taking around moving away from probationary to indefinite status. At the Provost’s address to the library staff, he made it clear that this is happening, and library staff on probationary contracts have been given the option to leave that track, and told that new hires will not be given probationary contracts. Daire will follow up with Secretary John Reisel and Chief Legal Counsel Joely Urdan and bring information back to the ASC at a future meeting. ASC noted they have been asking campus to implement multi-year contracts for years and to implement the comprehensive compensation plan and still nothing is in place. Provost Daire said he will work with M. Fessahaye and R. Van Harpen on budget and probationary appointments.

Unfinished Business

Workload Policies for AS – No update.
Academic Staff Personnel Policies and Procedures Chapter 105 Performance Management – No update.

New Business

ASC’s feedback regarding revisions to SAAP 0-1 UWM Policy on the Creation of Selected Academic & Administrative Policies – Postponed until January 5th meeting.
ASC’s feedback on Provost’s Budget Transparency meeting – N. Oswald noted the presentation was well organized and clear. Information provided was mostly known by ASC members who attended.

Reports

A. Follmer reported the APBC will meet this week.

Personnel Matters

None.

Good and General Welfare