Academic Staff Council

Full Council

October 24, 2006

126 Wing

Present: Hoeft, Richter, Heyer, Robinson, Karpinsky, Veglahn, Weiland, Jacobson,

Van Roosenbeek, Brunk

Guest: Jennifer Wilson, HR Office

Meeting began 3:08 p.m.

Approval of the minutes Heyer/Robinson

Criminal Background Check - Jennifer Wilson (guest speaker)

A criminal background check is currently being done on some new hires – not everyone. Based on the law that already exists staff hired to work in the Childcare Center, police officers, custodians (that have master keys), and students needing to do clinicals are typically required to have a criminal background checks.
The new policy of criminal background check will be on new hires only. No move has been made to check current hires.
UW-L will need to decide if they will include new LTE’s, new student employees not other wise covered, in the mix for criminal background checks.
We now have a draft of the UW System Policy document; in addition we have a template from UW System (HR & Legal) for use by each campus in composing their campus policy, which must comply with System policy.
It takes two days – two weeks to do a background check making it difficult to hold off on making an offer for two weeks. We could possibly send a contract letter stating that employment is contingent on a positive criminal background check.
Confidentiality is written in to protect new hires. If something is found during the criminal background check HR may involve Affirmative Action, dean of the college and division officers.
Al Crist has made it clear a criminal background check is not an option, but is a done deal. We have to decide how to do it and how to fund it.
An area that requires clarification from UWSA is CBC in cases of transferring within a campus, between campuses, or from another state agency. This is being discussed within UWS.
A vendor, “HireRight” will most likely be used to do the background checks.
When we use a vendor such as HireRight, we are covered under the federal Fair Credit Report laws, and must comply with those rules prior to, during and after a CBC.
Some states limit the length of time to seven years for a criminal background check to obtain information that could affect a decision on hiring. Jennifer has asked UWSA HR for clarification on this and they will most likely provide a System standard of review years.
Dean’s Council has looked at this and Senate Exec will receive information by next Wednesday (November 1^st)
The final UWL draft will be send to UWSA for review by legal. The UW System policy and each campus policy will be on the December 2006 BOR agenda. The effective date is January 1, 2007. HR will work on a ‘bridge’ for searches that are in process but not completed by January 1^st.

2007 Leadership Conference:

UW Superior will host the June 28 & 29^th, 2007 Leadership Conference. Their committee is seeking recommendations of topics for breakout sessions so they can develop their theme.

Possible topics may include:

Mental Health

Wellness

Book Study

Deb will forward these ideas on.

Marriage Amendment:

Changes on the ASC Resolution in Opposition to the Proposed Constitutional Amendment Regarding the Definition of Marriage include:

Change this sentence to read - Whereas, such legislation would create further intolerance and thus have significant and far reaching societal consequences,

Add this sentence - Whereas, this amendment would legalize and encourage both harassment and discrimination,

Change this sentence to read - Whereas, such amendment is extreme and far reaching by banning civil unions and denying any legal protections for unmarried couples,

Change this sentence to read – Whereas, the recruitment and retention of high-quality faculty and staff for UW La Crosse is predicated on an inclusive climate that supports all individuals,

Change the end of the last paragraph to read…the Joint Resolution represents a significant and dangerous destruction of harassment and discrimination protections.

Motion to approve the resolution – Richter

2^nd Veglahn

Motion approved

*The ASC Resolution will be forwarded to Bruce Riley, Brent Smith, Jennifer Shilling, Dan Kapanke, UWS Reps, Carmen Wilson, Ryan Vanloo, and the Campus Connection.

Fall Kickoff:

-The Fall Kickoff appeared to be a success with positive feedback from others. It is recognized that academic staff members were not all able to attend especially from offices where it is difficult to attend due to office coverage (Health Center & Admission’s offices) We could try to ask for release time for staff.

-Positive feedback on the certificates provided to the nominees

-Pat asked Tim Walls to make it clear in that all Academic Staff Professional Development Grant winners will need to provide a poster for the Kickoff.

-The ASC Executive Committee recommended a possible “Spring Fling” in the form of a celebration. Details would need to be worked out.

-In an effort to make the AS Excellence Award plaque more visible, could we move the AS Excellence Award plaque to outside the Chancellor’s Office?

-HR was asked about possible longevity awards similar to what the classified staff does for employees after 5, 10 years, etc.

-Diane will apply for the Academic Staff Excellence Award (State competition) sometime this spring.

Committee Reports:

A. Salary and Personnel –Committee is still trying to meet

B. Planning and Budget – Frank Zacher will replace Mary T.

C. Search and Screen – Four Chancellor candidates are currently on campus for interviews. One candidate withdrew.

Chair’s Report:

1. Future guests to invite to ASC include Liz Hitch and also somebody from the Foundation to talk about the Capital Campaign.

2. The Legislative Audit Bureau will be looking at sick leave – keep this on the radar screen.

Next meeting – Two meetings will take place during November. November 14^th and November 28^th.

Meeting Adjourned 4:25 p.m.

VanRoosenbeek/Robinson

Minutes submitted by

Sharie Brunk