Meeting Minutes

November 21, 2005

Members Present: Sarah Egerstrom, Kimberly Gould-Speckman, Mark Kinders, Gretchen Link, Jason Neuhaus, Cara Rubis, Amber Tubré

Members Absent: Alicia Acken Cosgrove, Carmen Croonquist, Faculty Representative

Call to order at 2:05 PM

Approval of 10/17/05 minutes. Motion made by K. Gould-Speckman. Seconded by A. Tubré. S. Egerstrom asked that under the Legislative Update section, the number of Academic Staff who have limited appointments with back-ups on the UW-River Falls ' campus be changed from two to three. Revised minutes were unanimously approved.

Chair's Report (S. Egerstrom)

Vision and Values Survey
Results from the survey are posted online with a summary of the Chancellor's speech on Tuesday, November 15th.

Update about Health Insurance meeting in Madison and scheduled visits from local legislators
S. Egerstrom will be going to Madison next Thursday to represent UWRF academic staff at the Health Insurance meeting. Others from UWRF that will be making the trip include representatives from Faculty Senate, Student Senate, Classified, and Union .

Update on Chancellor's Inauguration
Chancellor Betz's Inauguration will take place on Friday, April 28 th at the Knowles Center . There will be a full week of events prior to the ceremony. Academic Staff Council needs to decide on a gift that will be presented to Chancellor Betz at the Inauguration on behalf of all UWRF academic staff.

Representative's Report (K. Gould-Speckman)
Minutes from the 11/17/05 meeting of Academic Staff Representatives are available online

Legislative Update (M. Kinders)
Legislature is currently dealing with the topics below:

•  Morning After Pill Bill: This bill is currently stuck at the legislative level.

•  Some amendments have occurred with some mandatory state purchasing contracts. They have been loosened up under legislative pressure, so UWRF should be able to save some money by seeking competitive bids for some goods.

•  During the February session, legislatures will vote on the following:

•  TABOR – Taxpayers Bill of Rights is a proposed Constitutional amendment. This is a method to cap high property taxes. However, it would cap spending at a state level; therefore, public education would suffer greatly.

•  Concealed Carry Bill – This has not moved forward for vote yet. If it does pass, individuals could carry a weapon on campus. Regents are opposed to this bill. Chancellor Betz has written to our legislative delegation asking them to seek to amend the bill to exempt our buildings and grounds. If they can't enable that to occur, then he has asked them to vote against the bill.

New Business
Announcements:

•  Falcon Daily – M. Kinders announced that the Falcon Daily publication will soon replace Fac/Staff emails. The exact date of the elimination of Fac/Staff emails has not been determined yet. Falcon Daily will carry a brief on items that have been submitted. This publication is administered through the Office of Public Affairs.

•  Noncredit Outreach Program Manager – A. Tubré announced that there is an opening for this full-time academic staff position. The deadline to apply is December 1, 2005.

•  Executive Director of University Advancement – K. Gould-Speckman announced that this search is in the phone interview stage, with 10 phone interviews currently underway this week.

•  WIN – S. Egerstrom announced that the Women's Issues Network will meet on Friday, December 9 th from 12:20 – 1:15 PM in the Presidents Room of Hagestad Student Center.  The Yale survey article will be discussed and also the article by Matt Miller, “Listen to My Wife.”  Pat Berg has agreed to lead the discussion.  Invite a colleague and bring your lunch along.

•  Kadison Visit – G. Link announced that Kadison, the author of “College of the Overwhelmed,” will be on campus on Jan 19 th for a presentation. The time and location is TBD.

•  New Counselor Position – G. Link announced that due to the shortage of counselors on campus, one new LTE counselor position has been added to work two days per week beginning spring semester.

Old Business
Update on Academic Staff Orientation and Continuing Professional Development Opportunities
S. Egerstrom received good response from the campus in regard to the email that was sent out to all academic staff to inquire what they would have liked to see from an orientation program when they were first hired. In summary, individuals responded that the current orientation program is not consistent. S. Egerstrom will email the Academic Staff Orientation Team (S. Egerstrom, K. Gould-Speckman, J. Neuhaus, C. Rubis, W. Sader , and A. Tubré) to set-up the first meeting.

Progress on Faculty and Academic Staff Handbook Updates (Chapter VI)
The Academic Staff Handbook Team ( S. Egerstrom , A. Acken Cosgrove, and G. Link) has not met since the last Academic Staff Council meeting.

 Adjourned at 2:59 PM. Motion made by J. Neuhaus. Seconded by M. Kinders. Unanimously approved.