Academic Staff Assembly
April 16, 2008 Approved Minutes
12:00 – 1:30 p.m., Ambrose 2023N
(please use rear building entrance)

The meeting was brought to order by Mike Cohen at 12:10.

1. Approval of Minutes from April 2, 2008 Meeting

Ehlen/Farmer moved to approve the minutes of 4-2-08 by a unanimous vote.

2. Summer conference in Platteville [Cohen]

The Assembly was reminded of the upcoming Summer System conference in Platteville on July 17 & 18. The cost is covered by our budget. The conference may be held here at UW-Whitewater during the summer of 2009. More than one hundred members of system-wide academic staff are expected. The Academic Staff Assembly will have a part in planning the event. A committee to plan the conference will be formed when it is confirmed that UW-Whitewater will host the event. Participants will be invited to stay in the new air-conditioned residence hall accommodations, if the building is completed by the summer of 2009.

3. Progression and Promotion

Randy Marnocha, Vice Chancellor for Administrative Affairs, could not attend today’s meeting to discuss progression and promotion. A special meeting with Marnocha and interested non-instructional academic staff members is scheduled for Thursday, May 1 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in Hyer Hall, room 142. The Titling Committee is also invited.

4. Academic Staff Committees and Liaisons

1. Academic Staff Awards Committee - Flanagan reported that that the Nominee Awards Reception went well. The reception was held on April 9 at the Fern Young Terrace to honor the nominees for the 2007 – 2008 university-wide awards.
2. Academic Staff Economic Issues Committee - Cohen reported that Tom Drucker, of Mathematical and Computer Science, has scheduled a meeting in later April.
3. Academic Staff Elections/Balloting - Bowen reported that approximately 60 ballots were counted on Tuesday, April 15. There were 11 write in votes. George Clokey, Paula Mohan, and Nancy Farmer will serve on the 2008 – 2009 Academic Staff Assembly as instructional members and Freda Briscoe and Patricia Fragola will serve as non-instructional members. The 7^th seat on the Assembly will be announced after the new Assembly Chair is selected.

   The Assembly approved unanimously on an Ehlen/Clokey motion to allow the Elections and Balloting Committee decide and create a recommendation regarding who will be the 7^th new member to fill the vacancy on the Academic Staff Assembly for the 2008 – 2009 terms, as this depends on who is elected as Chair and Vice Chair. The Assembly extended collective appreciation of the Elections and Balloting Committee and especially to Deborah Bowen for her dedication and tireless work.

4. Academic Staff Government Relations — Mohan, no report
5. Academic Staff Organization — Ehlen, no report
6. Academic Staff Professional Development — Ehlen requested ratification of a recommendation for partial funding for both applicants as described in the document she distributed to the Assembly before the meeting. The ratification and recommendation was approved unanimously on an Ehlen/Clokey motion. The Assembly recognized and extended collective appreciation of the Professional Development Committee members (Denise Ehlen, George Clokey, Rebecca Reichert, Ronna Hoeper, and Eric Field) for their time and tireless dedication. They have done a great job!
7. Academic Staff Instructional Promotions — Ehlen, no report
8. Academic Staff Review — Ehlen for Cohen, no report
9. Academic Staff Title Appeals — Margulies, no requests
10. Academic Staff Titling Committee — Youngquist, no report
11. Academic Staff Rewards and Recognition Committee — Flanagan reported that they have received six nominations. Nomination packets have been delivered to committee members. He thanked Denise Ehlen for creating a new and very precise process to evaluate and score the application nominations. The committee is scheduled to meet on May 30 at noon in room 2023N. Final results will be reported on May 7.

5. Announcements

Cohen reported that he will attend the system-wide academic staff representatives meeting in Madison tomorrow, where they will be updated on the budget process, legislative issue, and Human Resources issues.

6. Future Agenda Items

Multiple Year Contracts – This issue will be taken up with the new Chancellor next school year and will be added to agenda items.

Unclassified Leave changes – Mary Blaesius, of Human Resources, emailed information regarding changes in Unclassified Leave that informed employees that they must go to the website to get payment information. She may attend an ASA meeting next school year.

Shared Governance Principles and Guidelines – Cohen distributed the latest version of the “Shared Governance Principles and Guidelines for Faculty and Academic Staff” document. The Faculty Senate has no known objections to the document. Tomorrow there will be a system-wide meeting of representatives of academic staff in Madison where Cohen will endorse this document after he checks with Dave Carlson regarding whether the wording in line 36 ought to include “Academic Staff” as well as Faculty.

The Assembly unanimously approved the “Shared Governance” document for endorsement on an Ehlen/Fox motion.

The Assembly agreed unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 1:03 p.m. on a Flanagan/Margulies motion.

Respectfully submitted,
Rebecca Pechous,
Program Associate
Governance Office
Ambrose HC, 2002