Minutes of the Meeting of the Faculty
for February 28, 2011
PSF 35/10-11

 

The UW-Parkside Faculty met on Monday, February 28, 2011 in Greenquist Hall room 103.

 

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 12:05 p.m. by Chancellor Ford.  Faculty attending the meeting were Lori Allen, Jeff Alexander, Ross Astoria, Rob Barber, Sylvia Beyer, Terry Brown, Alice Chang, Patti Cleary, Norm Cloutier, Herb Colston, Linda Crafton, Michele Gee, Laura Gellott, Kate Gillogly, Nathan Godley, Gail Gonzalez, Stuart Hansen, Peggy James, Dennis Kaufman, Jenny Keefe, Farida Khan, Lisa Kornetsky, Mary Lenard, Matt Makarios, Lauren McCoy, Alex McNair, Jay McRoy, Marcelo Milan, Megan Mullen, Kara Recker, David Rogers, Mary Kay Schleiter, Suzanne Swiderski, Adrienne Viramontes, John Ward, Gary Wood and Dean Yohnk.  Others attending included Vanaja Menon, Anna Stadick, Denise Widup, Steve McLaughlin, Paul Aceto, Annette Wisner, Chirs Zanowski, Cheryl Gundersen, Theresa Reinders, Bill Streeter, Dave Bruning, Catherine Jameson, Heather Miles, Darlene Safransky, Karen Grabher and Jim Robinson.

 

Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the February 15, 2011 meeting were approved as distributed.

 

New Business

A motion was on the floor to move to a committee of the whole to discuss matters of general interest according to UWPF 1.04(3).

The motion passed on a voice vote.

The University Committee Chair, Peggy James, led the committee of the whole discussion.

Chancellor Ford reported on the most recent Board of Regents meeting.  She said it is unknown at this time whether UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin’s request to grant UW-Madison its own public authority status and separate it from the rest of the UW System will be granted.  The chancellors of the other UW campuses are lobbying for the same flexibilities (budget, personnel, purchasing, etc.), as the UW-Madison chancellor is seeking.  The UW System administration and the chancellors are calling their plan the Wisconsin Idea Partnership.

Provost Brown said that it is unusual that conversations about UW-Madison separating from the rest of the UW System were carried out in private, not in public.

Professor Astoria asked about the status of the UW System in Governor Walker’s budget bill.  Chancellor Ford said that the UW chancellors and UW System administration are awaiting the governor’s budget address.  She also outlined the upcoming budget process.

There followed a long discussion about the governor’s budget, its effects on the UW System and on UW-Parkside, and the potential effects on the UW System and its campuses of UW-Madison separating from the system.

Provost Brown said that we need to help our local legislators understand how the proposed state budget, including the UW-Madison separation, might affect UW-Parkside.

There was general agreement that the proposed changes to the UW system structure contained in the budget bill are complicated, and that a careful review of the bill should be undertaken.  Chancellor Ford asked for volunteers to serve on a legislative action team to network with colleagues on other campuses.

Chancellor Ford said that she is scheduling budget forums for the upcoming weeks.

Professor Makarios expressed concern about the future of UW-Parkside in the context of the new state budget.  He said that he was attracted to UW-Parkside because of its emphasis on teaching and research.  He asked if increases in teaching loads have been considered.  The Provost said no, but added that she has asked the deans to justify low enrollment courses.  The chancellor said that in times of budget issues we need to be open to looking at everything.  Provost Brown added that we need to focus on enrollment [to increase revenue.]

Professor Alexander asked what is being done to enhance our public image.

Chancellor Ford said that we are staying on message with the “Stand Out” campaign.  Provost Brown added that we need to be clear about our identity, who we are, who we serve, and what programs we want to promote.

Professor Mullen asked about the potential for reduction of UW System administration resources.  Chancellor Ford and Provost Brown said there has been no indication that system administration resources would be reduced.

Professor McNair spoke about the demoralization felt by faculty as a result of the governor’s budget proposal, the general attempt to demonize public employees, and low faculty salaries.  He cited specific examples of faculty whose salaries have been reduced [by increased deductions] to what they were 10 years ago.  Chancellor Ford said that increased flexibilities for individual campuses should enable them to control compensation.  Provost Brown added that we need to do a comprehensive salary and compensation analysis.

Several other faculty members commented that the recent debate has been dominated by questions about public employee unions and questions about compensation have been ignored.

Chancellor Ford said that we need to promote the value of higher education.

Professor Cleary said that the upward mobility typically associated with higher education is no longer the norm.

Professor Wood said that we need to promote the value of higher education beyond just the economic argument that people with college degrees earn more money.

Professors McRoy and Schleiter said that we need to educate students about the potential effects of the governor’s budget proposal.

Chancellor Ford thanked the faculty for the discussion and said that is important to have candid dialogues.  She said that we [the administration] are trying to minimize the impact of the governor’s budget proposal as much as possible, but we are in unprecedented times.  She added that she is grateful that in the midst of all of this, we are keeping our students at the center of what we do. 

 

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m.

Submitted by,

Gary M. Wood

Secretary of the Faculty