Minutes of University Committee
for February 5, 2002

Call to Order:

The meeting was called to order at 2:05PM by Prof Peggy James, Chair. Present in addition were Profs Walter Feldt, Susan Haller, James Kinchen, Don Kummings and Greg Mayer; members.

Business:

Meeting with Chancellor Keating - Budget Situation

Chancellor Jack Keating met with the Committee and gave an update on the campus budget outlook. He started by pointing out that Gov McCallum's budget proposal, which would reduce the UW System's state support by about five percent, would be reviewed by the legislature for approximately two months, or longer, thus our FY02-03 budget might not be clarified until at least April. He continued with a rather complex recent history of additions and subtractions from the UW-Parkside base budget. Quite apart from any cuts for FY-02-03, the campus experienced an unexpected shortfall this fiscal year due to a lack of projected retirements and a statistically good round of full-time hiring. These inaccurate estimates led to a severe shortage of adjunct funds; in fact, more than the entire amount budgeted for adjunct instruction was used in the fall semester. Another strain on the budget is caused by paying adjunct instructors a higher salary. Also since more such instructors are now receiving fringe benefits, and the campus has recently had to start paying the cost of such benefits, this is an added expense. As of the moment, the Chancellor said that while the budget
situation was serious, he did not think we would have to take any severe actions such as eliminating programs or functions or laying off full-time personnel in order to accomodate the cut in next year's budget.

Meeting with Dean Cress - Proposed College Council

Dean Donald Cress of the College of Arts and Sciences, met with the Committee to discuss a draft proposal to create a College Council. The group would, under his proposal, consist of ten faculty members, two from each of the electoral divisions in the college, elected by the members of that division. The dean and the assistant dean would serve ex officio. The Council would advise the dean on a broad variety of matters, establish long-range goals for the college, review administrative, faculty and staff evaluation procedures, provide the provost with an annual performance appraisal of the dean, and perform other functions. After outlining his proposal, the Dean sought the advice of the University Committee. Discussion ensued concerning how the Council would interact or
conflict with the existing faculty governance structure. The Committee expressed concern that the Council not be a substitute for any existing governance group. Some concern was voiced on whether the department chairs might not serve the functions suggested, but there are some 25 department chairs and program directors within the College. Election vs appointment of members was also discussed. No conclusions were reached and it was agreed to hold the topic over until the next meeting.

Adjournment:

The meeting adjourned at 3:30 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Walter T. Feldt
Secretary of the Faculty Emeritus