October 20, 2025 – Academic Staff Committee – Minutes

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Time: Monday at 9:00 a.m.
Location: Lubar N440 and Microsoft Teams

Attendance

Present: R. Edwards, K. Esguerra, A. Follmer, B. Freer, J. Herriges, N. Oswald, A. Schmidt, N. Simonson, J. Steinheiser
Guests: Andrew Daire, Melinda Kavanaugh

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by Chair J. Herriges at 9:01 a.m.

The agenda was approved as presented.
The minutes of October 6, 2025 meeting were approved as presented.

Persons Who Wish to be Heard

None

Chair’s Report

J. Herriges did not meet with Chancellor or Provost over the last two weeks. She provided a report to the Faculty Senate on ASC’s activities. Faculty Senate discussion included Act 15. Dave Clark was at the Faculty Senate meeting to present the “self-inflicted wounds” list. She has not met with University Staff Senate.

Guests

  1. University Committee Chair M. Kavanaugh
    UC has been discussing Act 15. M. Kavanaugh has been attending meetings at the system level. Advocating not only for faculty but teaching academic staff. GER discussion continues because Act 15 will likely bring about changes to the GER “buckets.” Faculty Senate discussion about state control over what is taught. Want to be sure they maintain academic freedom. Continuing discussions about degree or program closure for at-risk programs. Multiple faculty members have brought concerns to UC on this topic. Her goal is to maintain close partnerships with the other governance groups on campus. Another concern is that there are some classrooms that don’t lock. This was brought to the police chief who told them that there was no budget to do a survey of classroom doors and make these updates. This was brought to the Chancellor, and the Provost was at UC during the discussion, so they are both aware. There have been some issues with community members coming into classes, especially ones that cover gender related issues. Very concerned about safety issues, especially as Wisconsin is a conceal and carry state. It’s a complex situation, but it’s a good topic to begin to discuss. Question from N. Oswald about the grade forgiveness initiative proposed by Dave Clark, who wanted to know about faculty standpoint. Some advisors have voiced concern, M. Kavanaugh stated that she’s going to bring the topic to UC for more discussion. Question from R. Edwards regarding the cap on faculty workloads. M. Kavanaugh stated that this is a concern for the faculty, especially within smaller departments and programs. The comprehensives are lobbying really hard against it.
  2. Provost A. Daire
    K. Esguerra moved and R. Edwards seconded to move into closed session pursuant to Wis. Stats. 19.85 (1) c and f to discuss personnel matters related to a layoff with Provost Daire. The motion passed unanimously to move into closed session at 10:32 a.m. B. Freer moved and R. Edwards seconded to reconvene in open session and the committee moved out of closed session at 10:58 a.m. Brief questions and discussion about Act 15 and how to create the environment where all thoughts and perspectives are included in classroom discussions.

Unfinished Business

  1. Workload Policies for AS – No update.
  2. Non-Instructional AS Review Committee Survey on Indefinite Status – The overall takeaway from the presentation at the October 14 AS Senate meeting was frustration. K. Esguerra received a request to share the PowerPoint with Lubar and will send it to Monica Camacho.
  3. Faculty Status for Academic Staff. Discussion with Secretary of the University J. Reisel was deferred until next meeting.
  4. Academic Staff Personnel Policies and Procedures Chapter 105 Performance Management. K. Esguerra is waiting for response from AVC M. Fessahaye, HR, on timelines.

New Business

  1. SAAP 10-13 Treatment of Human Anatomical Specimens – ASC reviewed SAAP 10-13 Treatment of Human Anatomical Specimens. N. Simonson moved and A. Schmidt seconded to change this policy from auto consent for further review. Motion carried unanimously.

Reports

  1. K. Esguerra reported she met with HR to discuss the evaluation process in Workday. Since the evaluations were adopted across the system, our HR doesn’t have much leeway to make changes within Workday, however, the “old” evaluation will still be available to augment the current Workday evaluation. Responsibility for augmenting the evaluation will likely fall on the employee or supervisor, not HR.
  2. N. Simonson reported the AS Orientation Committee met last week, presentation soon. No major changes to the presentation from last year.
  3. A. Follmer reported the next APBC meeting is this Thursday.
  4. B. Freer reported that the UW System Shared Governance Council is meeting Friday, October 24th and stated if there are any topics committee members want brought up to reach out to her before then.

Personnel Matters

K. Esguerra moved and R. Edwards seconded to move into closed session pursuant to Wis. Stats. 19.85 (1) c and f to consider personnel matters. The motion passed unanimously and closed session began at 9:23 a.m. K. Esguerra moved and R. Edwards seconded to reconvene in open session and the motion passed unanimously at 10:10 a.m.

Good and General Welfare

None.

Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 11:46 a.m.