UC Chair N. Rothfels presented an additional modification of SAAP 10.12 (COVID), which extended the mask requirement through Nov. 26th, and it was unanimously approved. He reported that the ITPC vacancy had been filled, the status of the UC ex-officio rep. to the GFC is still in process, and that the change of name from “Thanksgiving” to “Fall” Recess is moving forward. A brief discussion also ensued about the visit by Regent Robert Atwell to the most recent Chancellor’s Expanded Cabinet meeting. Rothfels discussed our concerns about the Council of UW-Wisconsin Libraries proposal to limit borrowing between campus libraries with UWM Libraries Director M. Doylen, who is optimistic that there may be ways to build in flexibility to deal with this issue. The borrowing proposal will also be on the agenda for discussion at the upcoming Faculty Reps. meeting in Madison.
Provost J. Britz reported that a listening session for the System President Search and Screen committee was just held on our campus. The committee has Feb./Mar. 2022 as a target for determining finalists. He is also working on ways to ramp up the System-wide presence of UWM online degrees. Britz mentioned that a recent report shows UW-System campus’ share of college students has dropped from 33 to 29% over the past 5 years, and that strategies are being considered to address that decline. The Freshwater Collaborative will be receiving $2.5M in funding this biennium, and there is optimism the UWM may receive some Federal COVID funds that are being distributed by Governor Evers. Lastly, Britz will check on the status of UWM’s COVID vaccination dashboard, as so far (unlike UW-Madison) our employee data has not been released.
Member D. Misra reported that at the most recent APBC meeting the Provost announced expected 3.5% reductions to School/College budget planning for 2023, and that the committee determined its representatives for other campus committees
Rothfels presented the revised statement about the Title and Total Compensation (TTC) process and after a few minor edits, it was unanimously approved. He will now send it to the Faculty Senate by email, and the statement will be introduced for consideration by that body at the Sept. 23rd meeting.