April 7, 2020

UC Chair Kathleen Dolan reported she attended the Deans’ Council meeting on April 1st. Provost Johannes Britz announced that most summer courses will be delivered online. Some face-to-face courses will be delivered in later summer, and will be cancelled if necessary. Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance and Business Services Drew Knab reported that all summer online classes online will have a $35/credit fee to standardize and reduce the usual technology fee ($250) fee usually charged for online courses.

K. Dolan also reported she attended the Crisis Management Team meeting on April 6th. Dr. Bonner presented updated data on COVID-19 in southeastern WI. Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administrative Affairs Robin Van Harpen reported that the FAA unit has begun to construct financial projections for different scenarios for Fall 2020. Vice Chancellor for University Relations and Communications Tom Luljak reported that the open rate on emails sent by campus range from 25% to 75%. Also, most students have left campus, with a small number of graduate students remaining.
Provost Johannes Britz attended. Spring Commencement has been rescheduled for October 10th, 2020. A virtual Town Hall meeting will be held sometime next week. Provost Britz also briefly discussed budget scenarios for fall, school scenarios for fall, and retention projections for fall.

Also attending were Dean of the College of Letters and Science Scott Gronert, and Interim Co-Lead for the Division of Enrollment Management Kay Eilers. They discussed how the Summer Bridge Program has been canceled for the summer, due to COVID-19. There are plans to launch a one-year program in Fall 2020, the details of which are being developed. Between 100 and 200 students have been recruited for the program; they will be informed of their status by the Admissions Office in the next month. Students who are targeted for the program include students at risk. Dean Gronert reported that L&S will work with students who are identified as potentially being successful if given extra support.

UC Member Bettina Arnold reported that the R1 workgroup met on April 3rd, and discussed how to change campus climate to foster collaboration. The workgroup also discussed the 2030 Think Tank draft recommendations, especially regarding incentivizing collaboration.

UC Member Julia Snethen reported that the Rules Committee met to review and set the agenda for the April 16th Faculty Senate meeting. VC T. Luljak has been invited to an upcoming meeting to discuss the recent billboard campaign.

UC Member Laura Otto-Salaj reported that the AAFEC met on April 1st. They will present on the committee’s activities to the Faculty Senate; this presentation is targeted for October, 2020.

UC Member Mark Schwartz reported he will present on the status of MORFS to the Faculty Senate before the end of the academic year.

Secretary of the University Trudy Turner reported that the April 16th Faculty Senate meeting will be held online via Microsoft Teams. Instructions will be sent to everyone prior to the meeting.