February 16, 2026 – 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, B. Freer, J. Herriges, T. Joosten, N. Oswald, A. Schmidt, N. Simonson, J. Steinheiser
Guests: Andrew Daire, Melinda Kavanaugh, Matt Knachel, David Witzling

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by Chair J. Herriges at 9:00 a.m. ASC welcomed Tanya Joosten as a newly appointed member replacing Adam Follmer.

The agenda was approved as presented.
The minutes of February 2, 2026 meeting were approved as presented.

Persons Who Wish to be Heard

David Witzling, instructional academic staff in Film, spoke about the data from the survey on indefinite status. He voiced concerns about the discrepancies in awarding probationary contracts among instructional academic staff and non-instructional academic staff. Witzling also presented inconsistencies with what is occurring with appointments and Chapter 104 and serious concerns surrounding compensation for instructional academic staff. Matt Knachel, Teaching Professor, Philosophy, shared concerns over the recent changes to Faculty Policies and Procedures Chapter 1.01 – Faculty Status. Knachel further spoke about Chapter 104.01 being violated by deans who are not granting instructional academic staff with “appointments at 50% time or greater for which there is reasonable expectation of continuing need shall be probationary or indefinite.” ASC agreed to request statistics of number of fixed term academic staff with over ten years of service who have not been offered multi-year contracts.

Chair’s Report

J. Herriges reported she met with Provost Daire on February 13th and talked about peer institutions, the interim faculty and instructional academic staff teaching responsibilities and multi-year contracts. Daire suggested talking with deans about contract types being offered. J. Herriges was informed that Chancellor Gibson will attend the AS Senate once per semester and every other month for ASC. ASC expressed disappointment with the new schedule and feel this may be viewed by some as a lack of support for academic staff. J. Herriges emphasized to Sue Weslow, Chief of Staff, that the ASC wants more engaged conversations with Chancellor Gibson, not simply reports on current events. The 1:1 meeting between Chancellor Gibson and the ASC Chair will remain the same.

Guests

  1. Scott Gronert, Dean, College of Letters and Science, was invited to present the reality of academic staff contracts in the College of Letters & Science. He admitted that the College has not been offering probationary contracts for instructional academic staff for the past few years due to the budget deficit in the College. Long-term commitments don’t make sense because of the changes for instructional needs that may occur within departments. The College stopped issuing probationary contracts in the late 20teens and faculty haven’t been hired for the last three years. Gronert recognized that academic staff suffer the most during budget cuts. He has been trying to move the College to increase multi-year contracts for instructional academic staff. He encouraged the ASC to continue its advocacy for academic staff multi-year contracts and not necessarily probationary contracts. He is advocating for more uniform practices across colleges in regards to issuing academic staff contracts.
  2. Melinda Kavanaugh, University Committee (UC) Chair, reported on the current UC and Faculty Senate activities. The UC has been discussing the Workload Policy, budget including the tax against departments, and the approval matrix process. The UC is also talking about student presence at the Faculty Senate sharing concerns about ICE and private vs public spaces on campus and the restructuring of the student identity centers. B. Freer is part of a team facilitating listening sessions about the changes, meeting the needs of the students while honoring the history of the centers. K. Esguerra raised concerns about the rationale for the restructuring. The UC fully supports students attending the Faculty Senate meetings.
  3. Provost A. Daire
    Provost Daire shared an update on Act 15 teaching load and sent the draft of the interim policy to J. Herriges for review. She did not have concerns or comments. N. Oswald moved and R. Edwards seconded moving into closed session pursuant to Wis. Stats. 19.85 (1) c and f to discuss personnel matters including layoffs of academic staff. Motion passed with unanimous vote and closed session began at 10:34 a.m. Provost Daire presented rationale for layoff and the ASC did not have concerns or questions. N. Oswald moved and R. Edwards seconded reconvening in open session. Motion passed unanimously and the committee reconvened in open session at 10:41 a.m. Discussion about impact of budget cuts on instructional academic staff, the evaluation process for instructors and conversations at the UWs Shared Governance meetings related to these topics. Provost Daire said he is a champion for academic staff.

Unfinished Business

  1. None.

New Business

  1. ASC feedback on SYS 1310, Copyrightable Materials Ownership, Use and Control – J. Herriges will send ASC’s comments to Kathryn Amato before the deadline.
  2. ASC appoint representative to replace A. Follmer on the Academic Planning & Budget Committee – T. Joosten volunteered to serve. R. Edwards moved and N. Simonson seconded appointing T. Joosten to the APBC. Motion passed unanimously.
  3. Academic Staff Professionals Representation Organization (ASPRO) presentation – Jenny Dahlberg, ASPRO President, shared her background and gave an overview of ASPRO. ASPRO is a not-for-profit, professional organization that represents the interests of academic staff to the Wisconsin State Legislature, the Governor, the Board of Regents, and the public. ASPRO advocates for academic staff by educating decision-leaders about academic staff roles. ASPRO hopes to increase participation from other campuses. Some recent issues being discussed by ASPRO include challenges surrounding Workday, capping undergraduate tuition, and Act 15. Discussion about contract types for academic staff, pay progression and compression, and indefinite status took place. The membership form will be shared with the ASC.

Reports

  1. R. Edwards reported that Realignment workgroup is continuing to meet regularly and determining criteria. Listening sessions will be held next week.
  2. K. Esguerra reported on revisions from AS Codification to Chapter 105.03. The updated document will be shared with ASC at the March 2nd meeting. She shared the AS Codification Committee’s concerns over the lack of communication from HR to instructional academic staff about the evaluation process.
  3. R. Edwards reported the Libraries Committee met last week who will be reviewing the results of a survey and impact of the digital accessibility requirements on the library.

Personnel Matters

See Guests, Item C.

Good and General Welfare

ASC enjoyed the Employee Appreciation Week activities.

Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 12:02 p.m.