Academic Staff Council - January 26, 2009
Present:
Van Roosenbeek, Leahy, Kolkmeier, Dodge, Sasaki, Lo,
Bean-Thompson, Heyer, Robinson, Vahala
Excused: Burton
Guests: Chancellor Gow, Vice Chancellor Hetzel
Meeting
called to order at 1:18pm.
I. Pay
Plan
The
Regents have recommended an increase of 2.5% in each year of the
next biennium.
However it is not currently funded.
This kind of increase is typically distributed as 2/3
performance and 1/3 merit.
Vice Chancellor Hetzel came to get the Council’s opinion
of this distribution.
The pay plan is distributed first to the University and
then to the four divisions.
If not everyone is awarded merit money, any excess funds
are turned back over to the central fund.
Governor
Doyle will be here on Friday in Port O Call at 12:45pm.
II. Budget
The
federal stimulus package has talked about shovel ready projects
and Centennial Hall is one of a few in the state.
That has shifted to talk of funding work related to
renovation and maintenance.
The Cowley Auditorium and lab renovations have been added
to the list. It is
not guaranteed that we would receive any funds.
The University is examining how other states are dealing
with their deficits.
The website set up for people to give suggestions on cost
saving idea has received about 100 suggestions which have been
distributed to the Council.
The goal is to save about 2.1 million dollars.
Bookstore –
The technology in the bookstore
is becoming outdated and the purchasing power of a single
bookstore is quite limited.
It turns out that neither the Bookstore or Textbook
Rental is currently self-sustaining. The university is focusing
on bringing a business-minded attitude to running the Bookstore
and Textbook Rental. 90% of bookstores on college campuses are
outsourced. Five
other UW schools of comparable size have outside groups which
manage their bookstore and/or textbook rental.
We will be asking for information from companies who run
bookstores on other campuses.
If the employees currently in the bookstore do not find a
good fit with the company that comes in, the University will
work to find another place on campus for them.
An agreement reached with the outside company would give
us at least an agreed upon amount of money per year.
The University would like to use this money to fund
undergraduate research.
Alternative Funding for
Counseling and Testing –
The University is looking at
raising fees at the Health Center to support funding for
Counseling and Testing.
Copy Center –
The University is looking at
doing something similar with the copy center as they considering
doing with the Bookstore.
Mission Statement –
The group is still working on
it. A couple ideas
have been suggested and are being considered.
The goal is to have a mission statement in February
sometime.
Meeting adjourned at 3:05pm.