Provost Gronert visited the UC today with two items to discuss:
- As per University policies, he informed us that a tenure-clock extension was granted to someone due to a birth.
- The library is considering proposing a policy to permit access to be granted only to affiliated individuals with some exceptions for unaffiliated individuals who could apply for a temporary ID. Some possible consequences were discussed: 1) Enforcing such a policy would take extra employee time, possibly including new security personnel; and 2) It could make the library less welcoming to the community, and even to University members who might not always be carrying their IDs.
He was also asked about the latest UITS report that gave the impression that UITS would create a uniform course evaluation form. We were assured that the content of course evaluations would not be decided by UITS, and even if a more unform course evaluation questionnaire would be beneficial, the content will continue to be determined by each unit independently, not UITS.
In other business:
- The revised System Policy 102 on new and substantially revised programs was discussed briefly. No particular areas of concern were noticed.
- A proposed exit interview for employees leaving UWM looked fine but may be too long to get a good participation rate.
- The proposed SSEA revisions were discussed, especially that the evaluation of associate deans will be left to the individual colleges.
- It was reported in the press that the UW System wants chancellors to indicate how they intend to put branch campus on a “sustainable path.”
- The administration is proposing a new policy on “Unaffiliated Individuals” which places some restrictions for the general public on our campuses, including a blanket ban on all unaffiliated minors unless they are under the “custodial care of supervising adults.” On its face, this proposed policy would seem to make all outreach programs on campuses much less convenient: as even 17-year-olds would need to have their parents bring them to events. Affected programs could include the planetarium, Science Bag, Math circle, K12 music lessons, Girls Who Code, prospective student events and many others.