March 16, 2026 – Academic Staff Committee (ASC) – Minutes

Posted on:

Time: Monday at 9:45 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, Mingyu Sun

I. Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by Chair J. Herriges at 9:46 a.m.

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

III. Persons Who Wish to be Heard

None.

IV. Chair’s Report

J. Herriges reported she met with Provost Daire and asked what types of academic staff contracts he believes will contribute to UWM’s future success and how ASC can best transition with the interim provost and new provost. J. Herriges requested statistics on the number of fixed term academic staff with over ten years of service who have not been offered multi-year contracts and for statistics on multi-year contracts for employees with over 15 and 20 years of service.

V. Guests

  1. M. Sun, Director, Language Resource Center (LRC), shared her appreciation for ASC’s guidance regarding her questions about the process for merging LRC into the Department of World Languages and Cultures. M. Sun provided details of her concerns and stated outcomes including clarity surrounding her role in the newly merged department and to better understand the administrative process for merging LRC with WLC. ASC suggested contacting HR about changes to her job description and to review academic staff policies and campus policies related to her situation to ascertain if any violations occurred.
  2. Provost A. Daire
    Provost Daire shared that UWM has submitted three proposals for funding from the legislature funding of $22.5M. CHPS, ZCPH, and Social Work put forth requests. Provost Daire is addressing potential non-compliance issues related to the digital accessibility requirements and asked ASC to forward information about areas where clearer communication may be necessary. Daire shared an update on the College of Letters & Science Dean search. They are currently vetting search firms and preparing to interview candidates for the interim position. He also noted he is working with his leadership team on lists of initiatives to complete before his departure and items the interim and new provost can continue working on. N. Oswald asked about the status of Jonathan Haines replacement and Provost Daire indicated they are near the selection of finalists.

VI. Unfinished Business

  1. None.

VII. New Business

  1. Approve AS Senate Agenda (April 14) – R. Edwards moved and N. Simonson seconded approving the April AS Senate agenda as presented. Motion passed unanimously. K. Esguerra raised questions about the role of academic staff governance in making decisions such as the creation of the new cultural and identity student centers. ASC discussed how to make sure governance is involved in decision-making process. T. Joosten shared her research on cultural and identity centers.

VIII. Reports

  1. R. Edwards reported that Realignment workgroup is holding three listening sessions on March 17th to gather feedback on three options. The deadline for submitting recommendations was pushed to mid-April.
  2. K. Esguerra reported the NIASRC canceled last meeting due to lack of cases.
  3. K. Esguerra attended the last UWS shared governance council meeting in B. Freer’s place and noted there was discussion about the UWS policy prioritization process. T. Howard confirmed that ASC has submitted priorities in the past and a request typically is sent annually in April. B. Freer would recommend that a change to the mandatory trainings include required suicide prevention. ASC voiced support for this.

IX. Personnel Matters

None.

X. Good and General Welfare

None.

XI. Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 11:32 a.m.