July 20, 2026 – Academic Staff Committee (ASC) – Minutes

Posted on:

Time: Monday at 9:30 a.m.
Location: Microsoft Teams and Lubar N440

Attendance

Present: R. Edwards, K. Esguerra, B. Freer, J. Herriges, T. Joosten, N. Oswald, A. Schmidt, J. Steinheiser
Guests: Kurt Hennemann

I. 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 June 15, 2026, meeting were approved as presented.

III. Persons Who Wish to be Heard

None.

IV. Chair’s Report

J. Herriges met Chancellor Gibson on July 7th about creating and updating AS policies, similar to her discussion with Interim Provost Freiberger. Indefinite/Probationary vs. Fixed Term appointments. Asked Chancellor if ASC could work with deans about appointment types, and if they could be made aware of the governance policies.

HR said they couldn’t provide requested statistics through Workday.  

Discussion with M. Fessahaye, J. Urdan, and N. Oswald regarding consistency in governance policies and the policy reviews that are happening. Concern from ASC was that the committee wasn’t being consulted with changes, and they stated that the reason behind the edits that have been happening were to be consistent between the different governance policies. N. Oswald discussed inviting J. Urdan and a member from AS Codification to a meeting next AY. There is also cleanup beginning on Faculty Documents.

Attended Chief Innovation Officer interviews.

V. Guests

  1. HR Compliance Officer K. Hennemann shared questions about ASPPP Chapter 108. CGS closing resulted in “courtesy notices.” K. Henneman requested that the language be clearer in the first bullet point under “Exceptions” to remove the ambiguity. Next step is for ASC to propose clearer language to send to AS Codification Committee.
  2. Interim Provost T. Freiburger was unable to attend.

VI. Unfinished Business

  1. Proposed revisions to Academic Staff Personnel Policies and Procedures Chapters 106, 109, and 110 – Item postponed until further notice from Legal Affairs.
  2. Review Academic Staff Appointment Types and Contract Term Comparisons to Peer Institutions submitted by NIAS and IRAS Subcommittees – ASC charged the workgroup to draft a presentation for review by ASC for expected presentation to the AS Senate in September.
  3. ASPPP Proposed Chapter 114: Instructional Academic Staff Workload – No update.
  4. Review Academic Staff Personnel Policies and Procedures Chapter 108: Notice Periods – See item V.A.

VII. New Business

  1. Approve AS Senate Agenda (August 14) – After review, N. Oswald moved and K. Esguerra seconded approving the August 11 agenda as presented. Motion carried unanimously.
  2. ASC appointments and recommendations for faculty committees – ASC reviewed the preference form data and made recommendations for the following: Academic Planning and Budget Committee, Academic Policy Committee, Academic Program & Curriculum Committee, Faculty Senate Subcommittee on the Evaluation of Administrators, Graduate Faculty Committee, Honorary Degrees Committee, Libraries Committee, and University Relations Committee.
  3. Review ASC appointment process for faculty committees and provide feedback – ASC discussed the proposed changes to academic staff appointments to faculty committees.

VIII. Reports

  1. T. Joosten reported that APBC is not meeting this summer.
  2. R. Edwards reported that Libraries Committee is not meeting over the summer.
  3. A. Schmidt reported that Honorary Degrees is not meeting this summer.

IX. Personnel Matters

None.

X. Good and General Welfare

None.

XI. Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 11:00 a.m.