Academic Staff Council Minutes

October 23, 2002

Call to Order

Chair’s Report (Kathy)

1. For legislative updates on the scandal in the Legislature, see http://www.thewheelerreport.com. The Madison and Milwaukee newspapers also include information about the latest in the legislature.

2. Legislative Debates will be held at the River Falls High School on October 24th at 7:30 p.m. Please attend and ask questions about the candidates’ commitment to higher education. Also, don’t forget to vote on Tuesday, November 5.

3. The “Worth Every Penny Campaign” should be shared with your colleagues. The campaign includes talking points for UWRF and the UW System

4. Regent’s meeting at Whitewater

5. Mark Kinders attended the Economic Summit and provided the following comments:

• UW System needs more money, especially because we are an integral part of the state’s economy
• There is a budget crisis - $2.8 billion deficit
• There is lots of scandal in the government and Wisconsin is losing its reputation for having a “clean government.”
• Student retention is down – it’s currently only 70 percent.
• Both gubernatorial candidates are practical options:
  • McCallum wants to grow Wisconsin out of a bad economy. Trouble is that a 3 percent growth rate won’t fix the economic problems. Is placing an emphasis on education and growing the economy through technology jobs.
  • Doyle suggests that it will take the state four years to get of out the economic slump. Also indicates that education is critical to the growing Wisconsin economy.
    
• Check the UW System web page to read more about the economic
  situation. A bi-partison panel put together by the System, wrote the information.
• Also discussed zero-based budgeting and the System’s relevancy to the
  state of Wisconsin. If education is part of the economic solution, don’t cut our budget.

Representative’s Report (Tony)

Tony supplied minutes from 9/19/02 and 10/17/02 Academic Staff Rep meetings.
During overview of the minutes, discussion arose about an item under the 9/19 Budget Update Section. Clarification was reached that "new items funded by program revenue, instead of GPR." meant that any new initiatives must be funded by their own income.

New Business

Tom Weiss now sits on the Long-Range Planning Committee as the representative for the Academic Staff Council. He attended our meeting as a guest and provided an update about what’s happening on the Long-Range Planning Committee. Currently, there are nine identified long-range goals. The two that were discussed include: increasing awareness of UWRF in the St. Croix Valley, and increasing/improving the feeling of community on our campus.

Old Business

None

Adjournment