Meeting Minutes

Members present: Alicia Acken Cosgrove, Carmen Croonquist, Sarah Egerstrom, Brad Gee, Mark Kinders, Gretchen Link, Jason Neuhaus, Cara Rubis, Travis Tubré

Members absent: Kevin Bertelsen, Kimberly Gould Speckman

Call to order: 2:10 p.m.

Approval of 5/22/06 minutes. Motion made by T. Tubré. Seconded by G. Link.

Chair's Report (S. Egerstrom)

Strategic Planning Steering Committee is in the process of wordsmithing the 12 strategic goals in preparation for sending them back to the Faculty Senate. If approved by Faculty Senate the goals will be sent to work groups responsible for developing action plans. Egerstrom encouraged academic staff participation in the work groups.

Kathy Schulz, Director of Human Resources, will attend the next meeting to discuss revised performance evaluations for academic staff.

A series of workshops are being held on campus this year focusing on professional development and leadership. These are part of a number of leadership initiatives being undertaken by the Chancellor.

Representative's Report (C. Rubis)

Minutes from the 9/14/06 meeting of Academic Staff Representatives are not yet available. They will be posted at www.uwsa.edu/acadaff/asreps/agendaminutes.htm and will be attached to next month's ASC minutes.

Legislative Update (M. Kinders)

The three Assembly races in the 10th Senate District contain 6300 UWRF alumni. It is important to talk to the candidates in these races about the worth of UWRF and issues important to the campus.

Governor Doyle is budgeting $15 million for the Wisconsin GI Bill. $8 million will go toward providing 100% remission of tuition costs for veterans attending UWS institutions. UWRF will need to adapt its marketing strategy to these veterans and their families.

The Wisconsin Covenant, supported by Governor Doyle and the Board of Regents, will also have an impact on UWRF by providing financial support to students from low-income families. Students in this program will start enrolling in 2012.

New Business (S. Egerstrom)

The process of reviewing and updating Chapter VI of the UW-RF Faculty/Academic Staff Handbook proved to be an overwhelming task for three people. Members of the committee volunteered to share the burden and review individual parts as follows:
1, 2 C. Rubis
3, 4 C. Croonquist
5, 6 A. Acken Cosgrove
7, 8 G. Link
9, 10, 15 S. Egerstrom
11, 12 M. Kinders
13 J. Neuhaus
14 B. Gee

Committee members will check the text for understanding, clarity and consistency with UWS and UW-RF campus policies.

Continuing Business

Update on Mentoring Project (T. Tubré)
Needs analysis has been completed. A total of 32 respondents indicated an overwhelming need for mentoring. The most support was shown in two areas: increased availability of development resources and networking opportunities. Tubré thought these two needs could be addressed by better informing staff of development opportunities and by promoting efforts by mentors to help protégés meet people on campus. Respondents indicated less support for coaching and local community resources. Tubré remarked that coaching is often job-specific and mentors may not be familiar with the job responsibilities of their protégés. He also commented that staff come from a diverse geographic area, so it might be more useful to provide local community information through a packet of materials given to newly-hired employees.

Tubré reiterated that there was definite support for a mentoring program, and he said he had asked the Chancellor how such a program might be administered. At the Chancellor's behest, he will be meeting with Human Resources staff on 9/25 to discuss whether that office would be able to administer the program.

Announcement

UW System President Coming to Campus (M. Kinders)
President Reilly will be at UW-RF on October 26 to discuss the UW System Growth Agenda for Wisconsin. An open session will take place around 3:00 p.m. in Abbott Concert Hall.

Adjourned at 3:28 p.m. Motion made by G. Link. Seconded by J. Neuhaus. Unanimously approved.