Minutes of the University Committee
for September 22, 2005

Call to Order:

The meeting was called to order at 3:35 PM by Prof Doug DeVinny, Chair. Present in addition were Profs Mary Lenard, Frances Kavenik, Paul Mohazzabi and Chris Evans, members; and Prof Walter Feldt, Interim Secretary of the Faculty. Prof Anne Statham was excused. Chancellor John Keating and Provost Rebecca Martin also attended for a portion of the meeting.

Business:

Discussion with Chancellor Keating

Chancellor John Keating said that the Board of Regents (BOR), in a reaction to controversial events at UW-Madison, was discussing several personnel issues. These included the use of backup appointments for administrative appointees and the appropriate use of sick leave.

He said that granting tenure to senior academic administrators was not being discussed and that UWP did not make use of backup appointments for other administrative appointments.

The policy on sick leave would likely require that those who use sick leave would be required to have a note from a physician after a certain time period.

Discussion with Provost Martin

Provost Rebecca Martin started by mentioning that Plan 2008, Phase 2 was initially sent to governance groups last spring, but then Bridgette Johnson, Assistant to the Chancellor for Equity and Diversity, left the campus. She suggested that, after the executive summary was prepared, a joint governance committee might be formed to review the proposal. She added that, since the Board had already acted, there would be no opportunity for changes at this point.

Then the Provost, now the chief budget officer on campus, moved on to discuss the campus budget situation. She said that the campus continues to take budget cuts from System, compounded this year by a failure to meet the enrollment target. This situation for next year, she continued, was especially bleak with additional cuts of $500K projected.

Supplies budgets have been cut by at least 3%, she said, and many sections planned for adjunct instruction in the fall, were cut.

She suggested several steps that could be taken, including better management of wait lists, lifting enrollment caps and easing the burdens on incoming students between the time they are accepted and when they attend classes.

She said that enrollment targets by department are under consideration. Enrollments are very uneven among faculty and among departments, she added.

She mentioned that the Department of Engineering would likely be disbanded, since one of the faculty members has retired, another been reassigned and discussions were ongoing with the third member that may result in reassignment.

Provost’s Cabinet Report

Prof Kavenik reported briefly on a recent meeting of the Provost’s Cabinet. She said that a Management Task Force, chaired by Ann Marie Durso, was under formation.

The problem of not being able to find Department Chairs on campus in August was also noted. This is a peak period of advisement.

“Hyperaugmentation” of Executive Committees

The Committee discussed a proposal by Dean Cress to augment the Modern Languages Executive Committee. It was noted that since there were three tenured faculty members in the department, this was not permissible by UWPF 3.08.

Augmentation – Geography Executive Committee

The Committee approved Dean Cress’s proposal to augment the Geography Department Executive Committee. The Committee for 2005-06 will thus consist of Richard Walasek (GEOG, Assoc Prof, Chair), Joy Wolf (GEOG, Assoc Prof), Scott Thomson (BIOS, Assoc Prof) and Dennis Kaufman (ECON, Assoc Prof).

Agenda – October 4, 2005 Meeting of the Faculty Senate

The Committee approved the agenda for the October 4 meeting of the Faculty Senate.

University Planning Council – Nominations

The Committee forwarded nominees for faculty vacancies on the University Planning Council. The appointments will be made by the Chancellor.

Request by Prof Xun (George) Wang

The Committee declined a request from Prof George Wang that it further consider the personnel action taken by the Faculty Rights and Responsibilities Committee as a result of a complaint filed by Dean Cress. It was pointed out that Prof Wang’s request centered on the handling of his case and that any further review in his case is in the hands of the Board of Regents.

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 5:05 PM

Respectfully Submitted,

Walter T Feldt

Interim Secretary of the Faculty