| Present: | R. Daluge, L. Davis, C. Dillhunt, E. Doyle, K. Holtgraver, B. Hudelson, B. Jensen, F. Kooistra, R. Russell, M. Westler, B. Wilson, and T. Wright. |
Meeting was called to order by Frank Kooistra at 8:35 a.m.
Introductions were made. F. Kooistra gave some background information about CASI for the new members. This is a governance committee mandated by campus and has been in existence for three years. It is chaired by the Dean who has delegated that responsibility to F. Kooistra as ex-officio. There are usually three meetings each semester although extra meetings have been held second semester depending on projects that need to be finished. There are 13 members-10 are elected and 3 are appointed by the Dean to ensure diversity.
Budget-A 1-1½% reduction was imposed in the second year of the 01-03 biennium. Most departments achieved this reduction by reducing their operating budget. Of the total reduction to UW System, Madison took 25% of that cut. In the 03-05 biennium, all agencies are to make a 5% base cut and it will probably be taken in the first year. Wiley will likely argue the economic impact on the University provided a lot of the base budget cut already and the reduction on Madison should be less than the 5 percent. The next cut will probably involve personnel but the Provost has said there will be no layoffs.
Facilities-The nurses' dorm has been torn down to make room for the first Biostar building which is the expansion of the Genetics/Biotechnology building. The second building is Microbial Sciences. F. Kooistra will try to have drawings to share with the Committee at the next meeting. Construction is scheduled to begin in spring of 2004 with occupancy in summer/fall of 2006. There is talk of accelerating the project. Current occupants of Fred Hall will move to Biochemistry, the Enzyme Institute, and Food Microbiology and Toxicology. The question was raised whether there would be parking included with the building. There are 150 spaces currently planned for underneath the building. The current cost is $30,000 per space and Campus will not commit to parking if it is over $20,000 per space. The architects are looking at ways to reduce the cost of constructing the parking.
Greenhouse-The new greenhouse will be constructed on the parking lot north of the current greenhouses. All of the wood frame greenhouses will be torn down and the aluminum frame greenhouse will remain until the co-generation plant expansion in about ten years. The expansion will shade those greenhouses and they will have to be taken down.
Soil and Plant Analysis Lab-Construction was scheduled to begin this spring but was delayed because of County and City permits. DFD contacted the subcontractors for the project and plumber pulled out. They have decided to go with the second lowest bid for plumbing so construction will not be delayed. The question was raised about the long-term stability of the West Madison Station. It is the policy of CALS that they will stay at West Madison. The only way they would move is if another property is available that is equal in quality and size to accommodate all the programs currently using the facility. There may come a time when the property becomes so valuable that the College will change its position. The Research Park has just bought land contiguous to West Madison and is getting ready to start distributing some of the profits from the Research Park. The original agreement between Dean Walsh and Chancellor Shain states that 45% of the profits will go to CALS and 55% of the profits will go to Graduate School.
Climate and Diversity-Both of these issues are high on the University's priorities. CASI did a climate survey two years ago.
LTC-Every department is reviewed every five years. The committee that reviewed LTC said the current organization is not sustainable. Dean Aberle appointed an internal committee to find a way to make it sustainable. An email was sent to campus units to submit proposals to make it sustainable. Agricultural and Applied Economics proposed incorporating LTC in their department. They would like two FTE's to hire faculty and would control their budget but did not want any of their staff. The Gilbert group had representation from Agricultural and Applied Economics, Animal Sciences, Forestry, LICGF, and Rural Sociology. They proposed keeping LTC the way it is but hire a new director. A third proposal came from the staff. Dean Aberle met with all three groups. Another proposal is being developed that is a combination of the AAE and Gilbert proposal. All of the staff is paid with soft money.
There were no questions from the committee
T. Wright made a motion to appoint B. Jensen. B. Wilson second the motion. Motion carried.
The Committee reviewed the subcommittee assignments and new members signed up for the subcommittees they were interested in. Leaders were chosen for those subcommittees that didn't have one. The Academic Staff Representation and NC Accreditation Report/Governance subcommittee will keep J. Mather involved as a consultant. J. Mather was the leader of this committee last year and is no longer on CASI.
F. Kooistra asked for two to three volunteers to serve on a joint subcommittee with members of the Equity and Diversity Committee to look at supervisory issues. There will only be a couple of meetings and the subcommittee will issue a report. This subcommittee will address the lack of information on administrative policies such as work hours, maternity leave, etc. L. Davis, K. Holtgraver, and B. Wilson volunteered. S. Ingham will chair the committee. P. McManus is the other representative from the Equity and Diversity Committee.
Academic Staff Awards and PD - The process for awards has improved in the last two years. Selection of Professional Development Awards recipients will be coming up soon.
Communications, Web-site & Districting - C. Krembs has the CASI minutes, committee members, etc. and will be updating the CASI website. Send any comments/suggests to C. Dillhunt or anyone on his subcommittee.
Nominations and Mentoring - No report.
Personnel Procedures and Compensations - B. Jensen distributed a draft document regarding performance evaluations to be emailed to academic staff. Academic staff don't always understand their rights and responsibilities. The committee would like to send out brief emails monthly with things of interest or issues that may be upcoming up. He asked the Committee if this kind of communication was important enough for the subcommittee to continue doing it over the academic year. R. Daluge said information should be sent out but it may not have to be done monthly. They could be sent as issues arise. F. Kooistra will talk to L. Heideman to see how many performance evaluations are coming in from departments and she will report at the next meeting. Some departments may want to be targeted more heavily than others. The email will be distributed from the Human Resources office with the endorsement of CASI.
Meeting adjourned at 3:00 p.m.
Submitted 9/26/02
J. Simons