Campus Planning Committee: Meeting of November 19, 2009

With neither welcome, nor introduction, the Campus Planning Committee (CPC) commenced its November 19, 2009 meeting. There were four items on the agenda:

1) Approval of the November 12, 2009 Minutes.

2) Irwin Goldman, Interim Dean of CALS, gave the presentation on replacement of the existing Seeds Facility. The wooden structure was built in the late 1940's. The reasons for this request is the proposed expansion of the Meat Science and Muscle Facility and the inability to preserve seeds. For example, under normal conditions, seeds should last at least 25 years, but in the current facility, it is only 5 years.

3) Al Fish, FP&M, gave the presentation on the improvement of the lakeshore area that is north adjacent to Memorial Union and the Evelyn White building. The scope of work includes repair of the concrete piers, improvement of the walking areas, and the development of a park between the Red Gym and the Memorial Union. The goal is the prevention of lakeshore erosion and the connections of a pedestrian walkway from the lake shore to 21 North Park Street/Smith Hall.

4) Teresa Adams, FP&M, presented a proposed scheme for the Capital Projects requests for the 2011-13 biennium. The requests originate from the projects reviewed this semester. After some deliberation, the ranking of General Fund Supported Bonds are as follows:

1. Nursing Science Building
2. Utility Projects
3. Walnut Street Greenhouses
4. Seeds Facility replacement.

The ranking of Program Revenue Supported Borrowing is as follows:

1. University Houses
2. Natatorium Renovation (pending student vote)
3. Lakeshore Improvement/Alumni Park

The Chemistry request has been placed in the 2013-15 biennum for further discussion/analysis.


With that, the meeting adjourned.

dr-m

Campus Planning Committee: Meeting of November 12, 2009

With neither welcome, nor introduction, the Campus Planning Committee (CPC) commenced its November 12, 2009 meeting. There were three items on the agenda:

1) Kathryn May, Dean of the School of Nursing, gave a presentation for the construction of a new School of Nursing building to be located at Parking Lot 85. Currently the school is ranked 20th in the nation and 18th in funds from the NIH. Current enrollment is nearly 500 students, but because of low student teacher ratios, the School of Nursing has to turn down qualified students because of lack of facility space. In addition, the new building will allow the school to incorporate POD, SCALE and Human Patient Simulators as part of the curriculum.

2) Paul Evans, Director of Housing, gave a presentation regarding the renovation of the University Houses. These are graduate housing facilities that are south adjacent to Eagle Heights and abuts the Village of Shorewood. These wooden apartment facilities were built in the late 1940's as post WWII faculty housing required for the large number of returning veteran students. An earlier proposal advised that these buildings be removed, however, that proved expensive. Housing derives its funding from its residents and a demolish/rebuild would have seriously increased rental rates. As proposed as a phased renovation, the rental increase will only be $50 per month for University House residents.

3) John Herrod, FP&M, gave a presentation that outlines more utility projects for the campus. They will be located near the Cogeneration Plant and Central Campus. In addition, one project will improve stormwater reduction within existing retention ponds.

With that, the meeting adjourned.

dr-m

Campus Planning Committee: Meeting of Oct 29, 2009

After a brief welcome and introduction, the Campus Planning Committee (CPC) commenced its October 29, 2009 meeting. Provost DeLuca chaired the meeting an gave an address regarding the process and functions of the committee. There were three items on the agenda:

1) Approval of the October 22, 2009 Minutes.

2) Robert Hammers, Chair - Dept. of Chemistry, made a presentation that demonstrated that the current chemistry building does not meet the current demand for students of organic and applied chemistry. The current building has out-of-date fume hoods, lack of storage, and limited lecture discussion facilities. He stated that Chemistry courses serve 41% of CALS students, 33% of Engineering students, and 48% of Med/Nursing students. However, he was not able to determine if this were students with single, double, or triple majors. Unfortunately, their proposal did not contain a minimum square footage or any costs, but suggested a 6 story structure.

3) Bill Tracy, Chair - Dept of Agronomy, gave a presentation that outlines the need for new and updated greenhouses that are north of the Cogeneration Plant. Within the next few years, another phase of construction at the Cogerneration Plant will place the existing greenhouses under shade. The proposal is construct 5 new state-of-the-art greenhouses so that the current facility square foot capacity is not reduced. Within the past 3 years, the facility has upgraded its utilities and therefore, the site is fully capable to support the construction. An alternative plan, using a West Madison (Junction Road & Mineral Point) was discussed. The disadvantages of this location is the distance and the required infrastructure.

With that, the meeting adjourned.

dr-m

Campus Planning Committee: Meeting of Oct 22, 2009

After a brief welcome and introduction, the Campus Planning Committee (CPC) commenced its October 22, 2009 meeting. Provost DeLuca chaired the meeting an gave an address regarding the process and functions of the committee. There were four items on the agenda:

1) Approval of the September 24, 2009 Minutes.

2) Hank Walter, of Food Services, gave an overview of the food service locations that exist on and are planned. His main points were that food service must turn a profit, therefore new food service requests (i.e. ICU Deli) should have a quantifiable demand. If the demand is not met, then the requesting organization must pay into an operational subsidy. Over the summer an ad-hoc subcommittee made recommendations for the implementation of future food service requests: a) Housing Services or the Wisconsin Union have first right of refusal of any request. b) Outside vendors (i.e. Starbucks, Taco Bell, etc.) can then submit an rfp. The ad-hoc committee 'recommended' that living wages would be used by outside vendors, but did not make any statements regarding corporate ethics or responsibility.

3) Faramarz Vakili, of FP&M, gave an update on the We Conserve program. The guiding principles are Efficient Systems, Informed People, Realistic Expectations, and Responsipble Action. Currently, the campus' utility bill is $50M per year--3x the maintenence budget. The increases in fuel and electricity costs are the drivers of this amount. The biggest demanders of energy are HVAC systems and as a result, they use 65% of a daily energy use. The program was commenced on Earth Day 2006 and will terminate in 2010, unless support (finanical and adminsitrative) is found.

4) Al Fish, of FP&M, gave an update on 2 NIH grants and 1 NSF proposal.

With that, the meeting adjourned.

dr-m

Letters and Science Curriculum Committee

These are some of the issues which were discussed on the October 26, 2009 meeting in South Hall 101.

• Aiming for consistency between Elementary/Intermediate listings with course numbering (300 level elementary course) in Hebrew/Semitic Studies. Course approved, letter advising department to use numbers to distinguish levels of courses sent.
• Ensuring prerequisite of QR-A is enforced prior to students taking QR-B – class violating this currently in School of Human Ecology
• Course Overlaps cntd –
o Sending inquisitor memo to departments inviting discussion regarding course overlaps, providing initial questions so far as what the issue is and what can be done to resolve it
o What happens to the exceptions to the rule?
o Multiple overlapping introductory sequences raise many questions.
o Departmental or college level problem? What happens when Math must determine which Physics courses do/do not count?

Health Care Advisory Committee (HCAC)

The committee met on October 15, 2009.

After a brief introduction of all committee members and attendees, the UHS annual report was distributed and comments and questions were raised.

One concern brought up was the impact on student health insurance under proposed health care reforms that include a group/employer-based model and an individual model; student health insurance would not fall under either model. UHS and others around country are concerned about making sure student health insurance plans are taken into consideration in the reform process.

Another question brought up was the impact UHS has on campus nutrition (e.g., quality of food offered in residence halls, etc.). UHS does not currently provide input, but the proposed WiscFit campus-wide wellness initiative for students, faculty and staff has a nutrition component.

The following points were addressed:

• Fall activity update: Visits were up 20% as of the end of September. Part of increase is related to H1N1, but 10-15% increases began as soon as UHS moved. Resources are stretched thin; costs are going up.
• 
  
• Director Searches: Prevention Services: Susan Crowley left. There is November 15 application deadline for her position. Counseling Services: Position description is being developed and should be posted by mid-November. Interviews will be in February.
• 
  
• Budget Timeline: HCAC reviews UHS budget and recommends that it be forwarded to Student Services Finance Committee (SSFC). SSFC meets in mid-February and makes recommendations to the Chancellor. Although UHS budget is included in the non-allocable portion of student segregated fees, recommendations made to the Chancellor are important. HCAC will begin discussing UHS budget in December. We will review the budget at the January meeting, the week after the Martin Luther King holiday. Copies of the proposed budget will be distributed for review prior to the January meeting.UHS is also doing a study to evaluate costs and new revenue sources which HCAC will review at the November meeting.
• 
  
• H1N1 Update: There were 1,300 H1N1 calls in September. Students are interested in H1H1 vaccine. Seasonal vaccines are also up. UHS was given 2,500 doses of H1N1 vaccine so far. First priority will be to health care workers. There will be a large clinic on November 3 to distribute vaccines. Michael Rosenblum at UW Hospital will be contacting all UW students who have been hospital volunteers. People with chronic health issues are prioritized but not in the top priority, per CDC guidelines; there will be enough vaccines to vaccinate all remaining students at the same time. UHS is working with UW Communications and their own communications department to get information out and alleviate fears based on myths about the safety of the vaccine. H1N1 will probably be part of the seasonal flu vaccine next year. People who think they already were sick with H1N1 but were never tested are still being encouraged to get the vaccine. People can receive both the seasonal and H1N1 vaccine at the same time, provided both are not the nasal spray type. All campus units have Continuity of Operations Plans (COOP) to help them prepare for things like pandemics, natural disasters, etc. Academic units do continuity of instruction plans. Other individual units focus on how they would continue to provide their services with decreased staff, compromised buildings, etc. UHS is involved in overall campus pandemic planning.

Comments are desired. What do you think? Should UHS be involved in improving campus nutrition, such as residence halls and unions menus?

Union Council Minutes - May, 2009

There seems to be a bit of confusion over Union Council's May 2009 action in regards to the building project's Design Committee. Since Union Council meeting agendas and minutes are not accessible online, the section of minutes relating to that action is listed below.

To provide context, Union Council was incorrectly informed in May 2009 that the furniture design needed to be completed by the end of summer 2009 - Union council is now not review these designs until December. Thus, in an effort to meet the stipulated summer deadline for completing the furniture design, an interim Design Committee process was developed that would fulfill the obligations established by the 2006 referendum authorizing the expenditure of nearly $100 million of student fees for the Union project. This summer process would convene an interim, but still student-majority, Design Committee of to review furniture design decisions.

In July 2009, an email from Union administration thanked participants for their time and informed them that the process was being "streamlined" to expedite the furniture design process. The interim process was thereby "postponed" without plans to restart it.

These minutes also stipulate that a report with recommendations for the Design Committee's future be presented at the first meeting of the fall semester. That report has yet to be given, even though planning and visioning for the Memorial Union phase of the project has already begun.

------------------

[earlier portion of meeting minutes are omitted]

Mr. Cornelius reported that he, Mr. Guthier, Mr. Walter, and Mr. Broadhead wrote a recommendation for the design committee structure in the future. A copy of the proposal/description/recommendation is on file with the minutes. Mr. Walter clarified that a summer design committee will be needed to review furniture specifications, provide a way for students to provide input, and perhaps provide a more flexible, temporary structure.



Mr. Guthier said he he’d like 2-3 students on subgroups during the summer. Ms. Boegel said she felt the current design committee members should continue to receive communications.





Mr. Weinschenck MOVED and Mr. Cornelius SECONDED to approve the following:



Design Committees for the Building Project

The Wisconsin Union expresses its deep appreciation for the work of the Design Committee during Phase I of the Union’s Building Project. Over the course of the last three years, hundreds of hours have been dedicated by countless students to the design of the New South Campus Union, all under the direction of the committee and led by its commendable students. As the formal structural, exterior, and interior design of the building comes to a close in May, 2009 Union Council extends its gratitude to the members of the committee and looks forward to the next chapter in the design process for the Union’s overall building project.



Design committee members are: Ade Afolayan, Angela Pakes Ahlman, Jon Augelli, Andrea Bill, Bruce Kieffer, Bradley Molzahn, Paul Broadhead, Carl Korz, Dan Erdman Stephanie Dar, Paul Davidsaver, Dan Cornelius, Drew Lake, Gwen Drury, Hank Walter, John Sharpless, Julie Grove, Jacklyn John, Jeremy Chapman, Josh Clements, Jeff Rolling John Sinclair, Kyle Olsen, Kaitlin Koehler, Katey Smith, Mike Lasecki, Lynn Stathas, Melissa Mamayek, Mark Guthier, Matt Colvin, Marc Kennedy, Margaret Tennessen, Michael Nemmetz, Liz Novy, Patrick Tilley, Jamie Schroeter, Shayna Hetzel, Susan Dibbell, Shira Weiner, Charles Johann Sung, Tim Gloeckler, Lea Zeise, and Xiangyun Zhang. They will be kept updated on all aspects of the building project.



To that end, the Council requests that every effort be made to fully engage students over the course of the summer in 2009 as a bridge to the next iteration of a Design Committee for Phase II of the Union’s Building Project. It is expected that final furniture, fixtures, and equipment (along with other items) will be determined during the summer months and it is Council’s intent that students have an influential voice in those decisions. A fully developed summer plan that includes an interim Design Committee structure and defined student leadership roles should be presented by the Vice President for Project Management to the 2009-10 Union Council Executive Committee at its May 18, 2009 meeting for approval.



In preparation for Phase II of the Building Project, Union Council requests that the Vice President for Project Management present a recommendation for the constitution and responsibilities of a Design Committee for its consideration at the first meeting of the Council in the fall semester of 2009-10.



There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:20 pm