Minutes of the University Committee
for October 6, 2003

Call to Order:

The meeting was called to order at 12:11 PM by Prof Gary Wood, Chair. Present in addition were Profs Sylvia Beyer, Doug DeVinny, Christine Evans, James Kinchen and Don Kummings, members; and Prof Walter Feldt, Secretary of the Faculty.

Business:

Report on Faculty Representatives Teleconference
Prof Wood reported on a teleconference of UWS faculty representatives that was held on October 5.

He mentioned that he and the chancellor were members of committees that were part of the Regents study titled "Charting a New Course for the UW System" .. see http://www.uwsa.edu/srvpadm/study/. Prof Wood and Chancellor Keating are members of the Research and Public Service Work Group.

A hot topic of discussion was how to handle increased pressures to accept increased numbers of Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) credits in transfer. President Lyall has a plan that provides for acceptance of more general education credits. Under the plan, the WTCS colleges will have a uniform set of courses that will be reviewed by the UWS institutions. UWS is putting together a group of faculty, provosts and UWS administrators that will oversee this process. There will be a discussion at the next UC meeting concerning a UWP faculty representative.

The WTCS would also like to expand their college-parallel offerings. Currently these are limited to a select few WTCS colleges, not including Gateway Technical College. Were Gateway to seek such authorization, this would be a threat to UWP since WTCS tuition is significantly less than that of the UW System.

The "pay plan" for non-represented staff was scheduled for Regents action this week. When the process concludes, the likely result is no pay increase for 2004-05 and a one percent increase for 2005-06. The Regents are likely to ask for an "up to 4% + 4%" package, which would keep us in line with peer institutions. It would be funded from the "compensation reserve" if funds are available. The likely outcome will be that there is no money to fund such a package and that a 0% + 1% package will result.
When the fact that all employees will be required to contribute to health care expenses is added in, it is quite likely that staff will be taking a net pay cut.

Legislative hearings on the UWS sabbatical practices are scheduled for October 7. There is a proposal to require that all sabbaticals be funded from gifts and grants. UWS campuses normally fund sabbaticals from cost savings for those that take full-year leaves at 2/3 salary with little cost to the state. If passed, the proposal would have the most impact on the comprehensive (i.e. "four year") campuses.

Resolving Ties in Faculty Elections
Prof Feldt reported that last spring, there was a complaint on how he offered to settle a tie for a committee seat in the all-faculty
election. He offered the candidates a "mutual consent" option in place of using a device of chance, thinking that it was an obvious simpler alternative.

After some discussion, it was decided that the best procedure was to indeed do the device of chance since some faculty members might be intimidated and not speak up or feel pressured to step aside. Prof Feldt said that in the future, all ties would be decided by the toss of a coin.

Administrative Committees - Terms for Faculty Seats
In a review of the active administrative committees (i.e. committees charged by and under the control of the administration), it was found that, for faculty seats, some specified terms and others did not.

Prof Wood agreed to ask the chancellor to consider creating a staggered-term system for all faculty seats on administrative committees. Should the chancellor agree, the Committee will approve a proposal for his consideration.

Wis Stats 36.09(4) - Primary Responsibilities of the Faculty - Governance Representatives
Inspired by an administrative request for nominees for an administrative committee, instead of direct appointments, Prof Feldt asked the Committee if it wished to seek clarification of Wis Stats 36.09(4) which provides that Wis Stats 36.09(4) FACULTY. The faculty of each institution, subject to the responsibilities and powers of the board, the president and the chancellor of such institution, shall be vested with responsibility for the immediate governance of such institution and shall actively participate in institutional policy development. As such the faculty shall have the primary responsibility for academic and educational activities and faculty personnel matters. The faculty of each institution shall have the right to determine their own faculty organizational
structure and to select representatives to participate in institutional governance.

It was agreed to discuss this further at an upcoming meeting after Prof Wood checked with the faculty representatives from other UWS campuses.

Higher One Card
Prof Wood agreed to contact Dean of Students Steve McLaughlin and ask him to discuss the Higher One program with the Committee.

The University has entered into an agreement with Higher One (see http://www.higherone.com/) which enhances the capabilities of the Ranger Card to optionally include credit card and banking services. A similar program is in effect at UW-Stout (see
https://www.uwstoutone.com/info/outaboutus.jsp)

Next Meeting
Since a Faculty Senate meeting was scheduled for October 14, it was agreed not to meet on October 13. The next meeting will be at noon on October 20, 2003.

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 1:05 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Walter T Feldt
SECRETARY OF THE FACULTY