Minutes of the University Committee
for September 3, 2003

The inaugural meeting of the committee year was called to order at 3:15 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 the Faculty Representatives Meeting

Prof Wood reported on items discussed at a meeting of the UW System Faculty Representatives held in Madison on Friday, August 29. He described briefly the medical plans to be available to UWP staff in 2004. Everyone will have to pay something toward a plan. Plans include Compcare and Humana. He said it is particularly important to study the It's Your Choice booklet when it comes out in the next few months. He said that the Regents had created five work groups, each headed by a Regent. These groups include chancellors, faculty, staff and system representatives. A description of the charge to the groups can be found at http://www.uwsa.edu/srvpadm/study/index.cfm. Prof Wood continued that the legislature is again disturbed by what they perceive as inadequate articulation agreements with the VTAE institutions. Also, System Administration is willing to help campuses identify programs that can be scaled back or consolidated, in response to budgetary cutbacks. Finally, the pay plan, not yet approved, is still likely to be 0% for FY 2003-04 and 1% for FY 2004-05.

Convene Committees

The Committee asked the Secretary of the Faculty to select convenors for faculty committees.

FRRC Seat

The Committee selected several potential appointees for a seat on the Faculty Rights and Responsibilities for a one-year term. The appointment was necessitated because of a vacancy and a lack of available, eligible, runners-up from the Spring 2003 election.

Vice Chair of University Committee

Prof DeVinny was elected vice chair of the Committee for 2003-04. He also agreed to be the UC's nominee for chair of the Faculty Senate.

Provost's Cabinet Representative

Prof Wood is not available at the regular time for meetings of the Provost's Cabinet. Prof Evans agreed to represent the UC on this group.

Lack of Support for UW System

After Prof Wood reported that the only major state agency to actually have a budget cut was the UW System, the Committee had a short discussion concerning the lack of state support for higher education. In response to a question, Prof Wood said that the legislature was not perceived by System or the Board as friends of the UWS. Efforts are underway to collect anectodal evidence of the importance of the System to the state.

Provost's Cabinet Retreat

The Provost's Cabinet met for an off-campus retreat in late August and Prof Wood was invited to attend. The Hallmarks of Excellence program, the NY Times American Democracy project, the teacher education work group and adult learners were discussed at the retreat. Since Provost Martin will be discussing these issues with the UC in upcoming weeks, details are
omitted herein.

Meeting Times

The Committee had great difficulty in finding a mutually acceptable meeting time. Mondays from 12-1 PM was picked. The next meeting will be Monday, September 8 at 12 noon.

Respectfully Submitted

Walter T Feldt
Secretary of the Faculty