Dean of Students Advisory Board - 12/18/07

It was a sparsely-attended meeting this afternoon, due to finals, but there was still a lot of great discussion.

RSO Alchol Policy.
Renee Alfano of the Student Organization Office presented on the proposals for a modified RSO alcohol policy. The goal is to increase safety while lowering liability for the individual leaders of the organizations, and new broad-based committee will submit recommendations to the Committee on Student Organizations which will then submit the policy to the Dean of Students and ultimately the Chancellor's Office. Renee stressed that the changes are not "about cutting out alcohol at [student org] events" but rather about proactivity. I want to be as thorough about this part of the meeting as possible, because I know there are a lot of questions and possibly misconceptions about it. Please spread the word!

A major factor in the new proposed policy is the definition of "event." A disclaimer of "this is not an official event" on an official e-mail to the official student org's listserv does not count as abiding by the policy. Below are some questions that may be asked to determine if a gathering of students in a student org is an event or not (and thus required to abide by the alcohol policy or not):
- Was the event publicized in any fashion with the student group's name?
- Were official lines of communication used to promote/publicize the event?
- Was the event announced at meetings as a part of an official order of business?
- Were organizational finances used to support the event?
- Did the leadership of the organization act in an official organizational capacity to promote/publicize the event?
- Was the event held in reserved University facilities?
- Were all members of the organization invited to the event regardless of age?

Current policy:
1. Student groups that serve or permit possession of alcoholic beverages at student group functions, on or off campus, may be disciplined if violations of alcoholic beverage laws or of university regulations occur.
2. It is the responsibility of the student group to assign people in the group to create a system to identify and confront underage drinking, security issues, and over intoxication (If the event is at a 3rd party vendor, the group must work with the establishment to insure [sic] systems are in place.
3. Cup parties or anything similar are not allowed at unlicensed facilities.
4. Advertising on campus or advertising using University resources may not include specific reference to alcohol as a part of the event. References to alcohol are prohibited in either printed word or graphic image. [my note: This includes such phrases as "cash bar" and "18 to enter, 21 to drink." This particular item is being redefined for clarity and consistency.]

Proposed additional policies: draft
5. The use of "common containers of beer" (ie: kegs, party balls, etc.) may not be used except at third part vendors or the organization has the insurance necessary to allow the use of common containers of beer.
6. No bulk collective home-made drinks allowed.
7. Events, including general or executive board meetings may occur at a liquor licensed establishment only if everyone is 21 years of age or older or the establishment is listed as a Restaurant or Under 21 (CV) licensed establishment.
8. Any events or activities where consumption of alcohol at the event is the purpose, consequence, or reward of the activity are prohibited. [my note: drinking games]

Recommendations: draft
9. Reasonable quantities of non-salty snacks relative to the size of your group should be provided.
10. Non-alcoholic beverages (besides water) should be available and be less expensive than alocholic beverages and comparable in size. Non-alcoholic beverages should be provided at all times that alcohol is served.
11. It is recommended that no consumption of alcoholic beverages at general or executive board meetings occur unless everyone is 21 years of age or older.



Parental Involvement (Presentation by Associate Dean Kevin Helmkamp)
- FERPA was amended in 2005 to allow for the reporting of certain incidents (alcohol, drugs, sexual assault) to parents without breaking the privacy act.
- the University will contact parents when one or more of the following occurs:
- underage students are transported to detox for alcohol and drugs (the majority of parental notifications)
- suicide attempts or thoughts that present a danger to self, others, or a disruption of the living environment (particularly in University Housing) -- this must be actual behavior, not mental illness
- students are placed on probation for drug/alcohol concerns and before they are suspended
- students pose a risk to the health and safety of themselves and/or others
- either UW Housing ResLife staff or the Assistant Deans of Students/ SAJA can make contact with parents
- students are encouraged to make the initial contact with parents

- the highest number of detox transports up to this date EVER has been in this semester
- the University is hesitant to mandate counseling (but may choose to require alcohol assessments and education)

"I'm tired of it [the alcohol problem], but I still have to be an educator." - Kevin Helmkamp, explaining why harsh discipline is not always the best answer.


Listening Sessions (the Dean's office talking to groups on campus)
- Students with disabilities: would like to see more accomodations for an increased ability to participate in extracurriculars and also more education for RSOs in how to put on accessible events (and the funds to do so)
- Veterans: generally feel welcome on campus but also desire to talk about their experience and connect socially
- Seg Fee forum: main questions were "Why now?" and "What are the implications" of the change

- future listening sessions may include athletes, transfer students, nontraditional/returning students, etc.



If you have any questions about the drafted alcohol policy (which I have posted in full here), please contact Renee Alfano at the SOO. Any other questions, feel free to ask them here.

Labor Licensing Policy Committee December Meeting

We had our LLPC meeting today. We got an update from the UW Bookstore guys about the new fair trade line they've been carrying. It has been very successful. They have sold more in a month than they require a line to sell in a year in order to keep purchasing it. They are still trying to diversify their fair trade clothes with other brands such as Fair Indigo, but as of right now they only have the one brand. Next we got an update on the situation at the New Era Cap Company distribution center in Mobile, Alabama. They still aren't letting the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) conduct their investigation, which violates our contract with them, so the administration has decided that if the WRC isn't granted access to the factory by Wednesday 12/19, we will send a breach of contract letter to New Era. The committee unanimously supported this as well as publicizing our termination of the contract if it comes down to that. Next we talked about the Hermosa situation. Nothing has really changed for the workers in a long time, and we are getting different stories from Gregg Nebel (adidas bigshot) and Scott Nova (executive director of the WRC), but the committee decided that it is not our job to investigate these matters, that is what he pay the WRC to do, so we should trust what they say and the recommendations they make, and the burden of proof is on adidas. We decided that it would be beneficial to invite both Gregg Nebel and Scott Nova to our next meeting (January 25), to clear some things up, so if anyone wants to come show support, it would be appreciated. I don't know for sure if they will be able to make it or what time the meeting would be, but I'll keep everyone updated. We thought that the end of January would be a good time for them to come because there are several things that will hopefully be resolved or have progress by then. The Fair Labor Association (FLA) hired an ombudsman to oversee hiring practices at nearby factories, and that is supposed to be taking place in January. Also (this is unrelated to the specific case), I think we should hopefully be getting the Department of Justice letter about the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP) back around the end of January, so it would be nice to have them here around that time. The DSP would lead to systemic change and worker empowerment, so it's really exciting, and hopefully it will be able to be implemented soon after we get the DoJ letter back, if it is favorable. The codes of conduct are also being looked at by a committee of universities and the CLC. This should take about 6 months, I think, and suggestions will be brought to us. I think that's about it. If anyone has any questions, let me know.

Information Technology Committee: Students and the RIAA

One of the issues that we’re constantly discussing on the Information Technology Committee is the attack on students by the Recording Industry Association of America, or RIAA. The RIAA employs a small army to search the large public file sharing networks to find people sharing music which the RIAA claims a copyright. For many years, the RIAA would send a “Cease and Desist” letter to the people it believed to be violating their copyright, or if it could not identify the person directly it would send the letter to the ISP that person used to connect to the Internet, such as Charter, TDS, or for many students, the UW. A new twist emerged this past spring, with the deliberate targeting of file sharers on college campuses and a significant upping of the ante. The Cease and Desist letters became “Pre-settlement notices,” threatening the student with a lawsuit unless they accepted an offer to settle before the lawsuit was filed. For most people, this offer was between $3000 and $4000 dollars. These “Pre-settlement notices” have, as far as anyone can tell, only gone to people using college networks, and have completely ignored people on commercial networks, such as home cable modem or DSL users. The RIAA has had a pattern of sending notices to about 20 universities a month, to about 500 students in each batch. 16 UW-Madison students received letters in March of 2007, and another 28 in September. No UW student was included in the October, November, or December batch. The UW believes most students who receive the letters settle, rather than go through the time and expense of a court battle.

As students at a research institution, we are acutely aware of the need for respect of the intellectual and artistic creations of others. We want to have a larger conversation about copyrights. It is especially important now to all students. A generation ago, the best a senior thesis could hope for was actually getting on a library shelf, and not just in the bottom of a pile in a professor’s office. Now our creations have the ability to be made available and locatable to the entire world with ease. The RIAA’s insistence on discussing copyright only as “stealing music” has made an education campaign about copyright more difficult, and drowns out many of the other important topics we need to discuss. We are going to have that conversation, and we’re going to do it on our terms, not the RIAA’s.

Our main goal right now is increase student awareness about the RIAA’s targeting of students. The message is going to be kept simple:

The RIAA is out to get you, if you’re not sure if you’ve placed yourself at risk, here’s who can answer your questions.

That’s it. We’ll have a larger conversation about copyrights later. We want students to understand the risk they’re placing themselves under, and let them make their own decisions. We are convinced that some of the people who have received pre-settlement notices had no idea they were doing anything that could get them involved in a lawsuit.

On Friday, December 14^th at 9AM we’ll be meeting in room 3207 of Computer Sciences to hash out the exact wording of the message. The meeting will be majority students, along with a few members of DoIT staff and maybe a representative from the Dean of Students office. We hope that we can craft an effective message for students. ResNet users will all see the message when they return from winter break, possibly along with the wider campus. We do not expect our message will magically convince all students to stop infringing on copyrighted music, but we hope that we get to a point where no student is surprised if they get a pre-settlement notice.

Ron Kraemer, the Vice Provost for Information Technology and Campus Chief Information Officer, and his staff have put together a good page about the RIAA response on campus here. You may also be interested in this article from the Badger Herald about a student who settled with the RIAA.

If you have suggestions for the message, please comment, or come to our Friday morning meeting. (Yes, it’s early, and the last day of classes, but we’re trying to get this done before break)

Campus Transportation Committee Report

At the Campus Transportation Committee meeting last Friday, we mostly discussed the problem of snow removal. I had encouraged people to email me their concerns about the snow, accessibility concerns on sidewalks and with getting on and off buses, and I passed these letters on in advance to the Chairs of both the Bike/Ped Committee and the Campus Transportation Committee. We also talked about concerns brought up at previous meetings regarding Transportation Services over-selling permits in ramps, particularly in Grainger. Michael (my fellow student on the committee) talked about the possibility of doing a study on the efficiency of bus routes 80 and 85 on campus. Michael and I also have concerns with Transportation Services converting Wisconsin Department of Transportation handicapped parking spots to UW Handicapped parking spots where people have to apply and pay for a regular parking spot on campus. This seems to go against creating a welcoming climate for everyone, and it is discriminatory against students because students cannot generally apply for parking on Campus.

Following is a letter I sent this weekend. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know. Thanks, Jo.

Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2007 10:46:26 -0600
To: Robert Meyer <rrm@cs.wisc.edu>, Don Waller <dmwaller@wisc.edu>, "LUNSWAY, Lance" <LLUNSWAY@fpm.wisc.edu>
From: "J. Matzner" <matzner@cae.wisc.edu>
Subject: Regarding Statement on Campus Snow Clearance Efforts
Cc: "INGHAM, STEVEN C" <SCINGHAM@FACSTAFF.WISC.EDU>, "PUDLOSKI, STEPHEN T" <PUDLOSKI@ENGR.WISC.EDU>

Dear Bob, Don, and Lance,

I don't know if you had the opportunity to read the press release on the Wisc.edu homepage that is titled, "Statement on campus snow clearance efforts" that was released yesterday. Here is the link in case you have not seen it. http://www.news.wisc.edu/14544

The article is most disappointing. It is filled with excuses as to why they did not do their job.
As Steve Pudloski said in the Campus Transportation meeting yesterday, the Public Works Commissioner in Milwaukee apologized to their citizens, http://www.jsonline.com/watch/?watch=1&date=12/4/2007&id=32630. Steve also said that the person in charge of streets for Madison apologized as well. Steve spoke to the poor choices made by the people in charge, as he is an engineer with training in this area.

Mr. Harrod does not apologize in his press release. Not once does Mr. Harrod even say that they've learned from this experience or how they will be sure this does not happen again. As many of us felt at the Campus Transportation Committee meeting yesterday, the entire campus has struggled with budget cuts, and budget cuts, along with the other excuses stated in Harrod's press release is not and should not be a plan to keep us safe.

Maybe John Harrod, director of Physical Plant, could be invited to our next Campus Transportation Meeting and we could talk to him before we make recommendations for improvements. We could also invite the Bike/Ped Committee because this committee also has expressed major concerns and should be involved (I know Lance had concerns of overlap between the two committees). Don Waller and I believe that an ombudsman/ombudswoman (or even a couple, as Lance pointed out this is an overwhelming job for one person) is greatly needed on this vast and decentralized campus and could possibly be part of the solution.

Transportation Services encourages everyone on campus to take the bus. Even in our discussions regarding issues for handicapped parking spots, etc, Transportation Services has maintained that handicapped people must pay to park or take the bus just like everyone else. In this current system, though, where people were trudging through and falling numerous times to persevere to their destination, this was not even an option for folks with mobility concerns. It seems that if Transportation Services designs it's solution for campus congestion around bus transportation, then Transportation Services must ensure a better response for all the University community that depends on the bus system. That includes better coordination with all of it's partners, contractors and Madison Metro included.

If this is not possible, then maybe the University will need to close more often in order to handle the snow and give the snow removal crews time to make the campus safe. It is my understanding that the University does not like to close because it must pay everyone for a full day of work, greatly adding to the expense. This may not be the case though. I think this is an option that we did not consider in our meeting yesterday that should have been brought up as a possible option. Since the Chancellor is responsible for determining if, for the safety and welfare of students and staff, classes will be postponed or some services suspended due to inclement weather, I think Chancellor Wiley should also be invited to our next meeting along with Mr. Harrod so we can get a better understanding of the overall picture.

All of what I have discussed above is a very complicated issue, and clearly, the current status quo is unacceptable. I believe this is a situation where the Campus Transportation Committee and the Bike/Ped Committee should intervene and assist other units in coordinating a proper response. We have the Shared Governance authority to oversee this and our effort would be invaluable to campus.

Sincerely,
Jo

Capital Neighborhoods October Meeting

Proposed Light Bulb Ordinance

• This would require all light bulbs to be energy efficient


• Concern that it would cause problems in historis buildings with vintage lighting fixtures


• Decided that those interested shoudl contact their alderperson

CNI will be taking part in the Downtown Plan come April. They want to become a part of it, not just react to it.

Parking Sub-Committee

• They are studying UW's approach to parking


• UW is currently swithching over to more of an "I-Pass" system that Illinios uses. It will conserve over 10,000 gals of gas per year in idling time. They are also switching in flourescent lighting.


• The committee is looking to take UW's approach nd apply it to the city in order to have friendly, multi-use, underground parking ramps.


• Any suggestions or interest in getting involved can be sent to Eugene Devitt at eugenedevitt@msn.com

MEETING WITH THE MAYOR DEC. 18th

• Please e-mail Jess Pavlic (jpavlic@wisc.edu) with any suggestions for relevant topics to be brought up at this meeting.

State/Langdon Report

• Hillel, which is scheduled to renovate next year, ran into difficulties with University Hotel. Hillel will be bringing their concerns to the Plan Commission at their next meeting to resolve the space issue.

Search and Screen for New UW Chancellor

Dear Students,

Today, Chancellor John Wiley announced he will be stepping down from his post as chief executive officer of the University of Wisconsin in September 2008. I congratulate him on a most distinguished career. Despite many fiscal challenges, he helped elevate UW's status as a global leader in research and teaching.

Many students already have contacted ASM Shared Governance inquiring about the search and screen committee for the new chancellor. As per usual, we will hold an open search process for the student appointees. Once we hear from administration, we'll post an announcement here. Stay tuned.

Jeff

WSUM Governance Board Minutes

While these were posted in the minutes of the ASM Shared Gov. Meeting, these are a little more extensive.

First order of business: New Executive Management positions.
- Station Manager: Y Mae Sussman
-Program Director: Eric Moody
-Traffic Directors: Katie Chanba, Ben Taylor, Jessica Underwood
-Music Director: Amanda Bruno
-Promotions Director: Jenny Harris
-Community Outreach: Dan Rebholz
-Production Director: Nick Turco

Still looking for a talk director. For now, they have a provisional appt.

They have also decided to appoint Alex Gaylon as a 40 hr. appt. Traffic Director. This is because most of WSUM's events are 21 and up and none of the current TD's are of age. He'll be there for set-up in these cases. This is simply a redistribution of hours and does not require creation of a whole new position.

2007-8 Budget:

Seem to be on target for spending of segregated fee budget.
-In the first five months of the budgetary period, they've spent a little over a third of their budget
-Trying to hold off on most large item spending until April
-A little over on Computer items, have 7000 budgeted, have already spent around 2,500

WSUM and state of the station:
-During Welcome week, tabled at least 10 events, did Snake on the Lake festival, homecoming, co-sponsored the Eric Michael Dyson event, lots of fundraisers and are holding a King's Club event with canned goods for admission.

At this point, Kevin Helmkamp asked WSUM if they would be interested in being integrated into their Crisis Management System. Everyone agreed it would be a great idea and a necessity if we're not already doing it.

Development Director:
-For those who don't know, WSUM used to have an employee who helped direct underwriting and fundraising for the station. However, he has left and WSUM evaluated whether or not it was feasible and profitable to replace him in that position. Since it was decided that Randy's salary effectively cancelled out the money he brought into the station, the position will not be revived.
-Instead, WSUM has hired a marketing student, Marilynn Johnson, who will direct underwriting based on a 10 percent commission.
-Doug McLeod also brought up the idea of directing J-school to WSUM for marketing internships. WSUM may end up setting up a marketing department as a result of this that could increase fundraising efforts. However, this is in its earliest stages.

Website:
Since there are two WSUM websites right now, and neither of them do everything that we want the station do be able to do (WSUM.org looks nice, but lacks functionality, WSUM.net has archives and blog options, but looks absolutely dreadful), WSUM was meeting with a web hosting company on Wednesday to discuss possibilities for the site.
-It was emphasized by Dave Black that they really want this website to pay for itself through advertising and other means. Profitable return on this investment is of crucial importance.

If you have any comments or questions for Dave Black or management, let me or any other ASM'ers know.

Open Position - Alcohol and Other Drug Task Force

ASM has three open positions for students on the Alcohol and Other Drug Task Force.

By participating in this committee, you can have a significant impact on campus alcohol policy, tailgating policy, and related issues.

More information about the Task Force can be found here:
Alcohol and Other Drug Task Force

To apply, send an email to Travis Weller the Shared Governance Project Assistant and Jeff Wright, Shared Governance Chair with the following information:
1. your name and year in school
2. your phone number
3. a few sentences describing why you would like to represent students on this committee.

Deadline to apply: 5pm, Friday, 12.14.07.

If you have any questions, email Travis Weller.

Thanks!

Shared Governance Meeting

Tuesday, December 4^th 2007

1. Introductions

We did guilty music pleasures.

2. Announcements

1. Director of Student Advocacy and Judicial Affairs Interviews: December 5 at 11:00 am, December 7 at 1:00 pm

1. There are two interview left for tomorrow at 11:00 and Friday 1pm
2. Internship Program
1. Every semester ASM gets hires new inters
2. Good way to learn how to run an org
3. Can get course credit
4. There will be an email sent out. However, it is a rolling admission.
3. First meeting Spring semester: Tuesday, January 29, 2008
1. We get back on the 22^nd
4. Officer roles/process
1. Part of their duties is the check in and support committee members
2. Might receive emails from your committee leader in the coming month
3. It is to help Jeff and Travis organize Shared Gov.
4. Will send out email with the name of your group leader

3. Scheduling Conflicts in Spring 08

1. Ask chair to change meeting time

1. If you have a conflict you can ask the chair to change the time of the meeting. You have that right. However , some committees never change (especially large committees)
2. We learned that some people have conflicts so we may do a committee swap.

4. Blog Tutorial

1. Travis gave an introduction of how to post

2. You must have a gmail account otherwise you might have to use an anonymous post
3. You should put what committee you service on, your name, date, etc
4. Can post minutes, and comments, and any important events or decisions for Shared Gov
5. Travis and Jeff are the blog administrators

5. Committee Reports

1. (My computer froze and I couldn’t remember what committee this was for) (sorry)

1. Halloween is an issue next year because it falls on a Saturday and the city is looking for student input.
2. We brainstormed feedback: Both night were big on previous nights when Halloween fell on a Saturday, there were lots of complaints on the exits and entrances so the city is looking at that problem, the city can’t do anything about the 5 dollars entrance fee
2. WSM
1. Approved management team for next year
2. Doing well on budget
3. Getting an emergency system worked on (campus crisis committee?)
4. They want to update the website, if they should buy a web site
5. Next meeting is in April

3. The Office of financial aid and admission
1. 18,000 students got financial aid this year, which comes to around 1.6 million this year
2. Admissions is behind because we have switched to electronic (as of now we are about 2,000 behind)
3. Hired additional staff members to help problem
4. How does the cutoff point work for admissions? They want around 5,600 freshmen but there is not a capping procedure. (25% of the class can be out of state (we are never close to that number))

4. Book Swap
1. You can sell books for more and buy for less
2. It is taking place on Jan 21^st (Classes start the 22^nd )
3. Want as many student volunteers and we pass around a sign up

5. Diversity over sight committee
1. Want students to take ethnic studies early (in frosh or soph year)and would like them to have hands on experience
2. Diversity forum for LGBT will meet at 7 check TITU

6. Committee on student Organizations
1. This committee needs be to revised and the new changes need to be put into print.
2. The reason we need to do this is to have a 9 member would rule out a tie, however they want it to be as staff member from SOO.
3. The reason behind this change is that it would rule out a tie vote, and the dean of students and SOO were once one and the same. However, they now have very different jobs and are separate groups. For some reason a voting member of SOO has been voting even though he/she didn’t have the right/power to for several years now.
4. All the hearings so far this year, have been unanimous but there have be instances where there has been a tie, so to fix this they want to officially give the SOO power.
5. We have to option to publicize this problem if we like.
6. We brainstormed Ideas: We want the SOO to have a voice, because dean of students and SOO, SOO still answers to the dean of students so it might give the faculty too much power, The SOO has a lot of power over student orgs so we need them to have order, The SOO has been voting for years and it hasn’t hurt anything,
7. We closed debate
8. We Voted in favor of the proposal.

6. Adjournment

Service Learning at UW-Madison

As Conor's post mentions, the UW is offering a certificate in civic engagement. And according to the Morgridge Center for Public Service website, the University has over 50 service learning-related courses. Given UW's leadership in producing life-long volunteers and public servants, my question is a simple one: should service learning be a part of an undergraduate's curriculum?

Morgridge Center for Public Service Advisory Board Meeting

Agenda
Call to Order
Introductions
Welcome New Advisory Board Members
Introduction of New Morgridge Center Staff
Approval of Minutes May 3rd, 2007 Advisory Board Meeting
WUD Committee Reports
Global Connections

• Newest Program to WUD

Alternative Breaks

• 96 Students Applied for Winter Break
• 7 Trips 70 Total Students for Winter Break
• There will be 12 Spring Break trips

Community Services

• Last year: not doing enough programming, not going after general student population
• This year: Increased participation, doing 5 times as many events

Faculty Director Report

Funding Proposal to Morgridge Family

• Asked for Everything they could
• Want 7 more Staff
• Decision for funding proposal will be made Middle of November

Kauffman Grant/Social Entrepreneurship Internship Update

• $100,000 for 5 years
• Program Starts in Summer

Civic Engagement Certificate

• 18 Credit Academic Program started last summer
• Similar to other Certificate Programs
• Open to all Students

S-L/CBR in the Timetable Update

• Big Issue: "What is Service Learning"
• Right now exploring root of problem
• Little uniformity communicating service learning
• The Wisconsin Idea on Campus: quantify it

WUD Advisor Report

• Mini-Grants Program Update
• Feeder Cost Service Project
• Groups do own alternative break trip

Community Service Coordinator Report

Volunteer Transportation Program Update

• Free Taxi Rides through Union Cab for Students who volunteer at least 8 times

Community Outreach Activities

• Morgridge Center 101 November 17th and 18th

Theme Months

• Partnerships with lots of groups, move towards unity

Revised and Updated MC Website

• New Marketing Creation Plan
• "Find yourself through service to others"

Morgridge Center VISTA Report

• Madison Campus Community Collaborative Overview
• MCCC Partnership Updates:
• Urban League
• YWCA
• Centro Hispano

Associate Director Report

• Space Issues: Not enough room, using temporary offices in Memorial Union. Morgridge Family wants it to stay solely in Red Gym
• Many scholarships available.

There is more information if anyone would like it. These are the main items.

Thanks,

Conor

Dean of Students Advisory Board

I am one of the many ASM reps on this Board.
The purpose of this group is to provide a forum for a wide variety of student voices to give feedback on ideas and programs generated by the Offices of the Dean of Students.
To hear from students their ideas and concerns. This group is advisory, not a decision-making body.
Goals:
To have the make-up of this advisory board reflect the campus as a whole, with student representation from all levels: undergraduate, graduate and professional.
To hear from alternative voices other advocacy groups on campus.
To include representatives from each school/college, WUD, UC and UW Housing student staff.

November 20th, 2007 Meeting

We had a discussion about the recent house/apartment fires involving UW Students. If anybody would like details about this subject please ask.
The major issue discussed about Halloween was that lack of police patrolling campus and other areas of the city because of the excessive focus on state street. Many students felt other areas are becoming much more dangerous than State Street. Again if you want more details please comment.
For Football Fan Behavior, we pretty much discussed all of the possible ideas that were brought up at a Shared Governance meeting a few weeks back.
We briefly discussed the Consolidated Seg Fee Policy Paper. Unfortunately we have very little time, to discuss besides an opening from the Dean.

Questions, post a comment.

Thanks,
Conor

Committee on Student Organzations

The Committee on Student Organizations was established in 1994 to do 6 things.
1. Carry out disciplinary process as established by in the Student Organization Handbook.
2. Review disciplinary process and procedures
3. Set policy relevant to RSO's
4. Serve as a bridge from ASM to RSOs
5. Create programs which will better connect and serve RSO
6. Advise the Student Organization

Since most of our meetings are closed door hearings and all of them have been so far. I do not have anything that I am allowed to report.
However there is one issue that the committee would like brought up to the entire Shared Governance Committee.
When the committee was created in 1994 the make up was
4 Members of ASM
1 Member of ASM Student Council
1 appointee of the Faculty Senate
1 appointee of the Dean of Students Office
1 appointee of the Chancellor

When this committee was created the Student Organization Office was part of the Dean of Students Office and therefore the representative from the Dean of Students Office was also the Student Organization Office rep.
The Student Organization Office, has since become separate of the Dean of Students Office, therefore the Dean of Students Rep, cannot also be the SOO rep.
However, it states nowhere in the resolution that the Student Organization Office can have its own voting representative, since the resolution was never updated when the DOS Office and SOO Office split.
The committee therefore has asked me to bring this issue to Shared Governance Committee and have 1 appointee of the Student Organization Office added to the resolution after 1 appointee of the Chancellor
If you have questions about this committee or the proposed change. Please comment or send me an email- cohagan@wisc.edu

Thanks,
Conor

Open Forum - Dr. Seema Kapani - Candidate for Vice Provost of Diversity and Climate

We encourage interested students to attend the open forum for the next candidate for Vice Provost of Diversity and Climate, Dr. Seema Kapani. The student open forum is Tues. Dec. 4 at 4:30 in the On Wisconsin Room of the Red Gym. Students are also invited to the faculty/staff session at 2:45 in Memorial Union, if that time is more convenient.

Any feedback after the sessions should be emailed to provost@provost.wisc.edu.

The third and last candidate, Dr. Kenneth Durgans, will be here next week, Dec. 12.

Academic and Nonacademic Misconduct Board

This committee is a little different than other committees. The non/academic misconduct board acts as the force which places academic sanctions, suspends, and when required, expels students. We only meet when there is a hearing to judge if a student has committed misconduct, and what punishment is required.
Just before break several of us attended a 2hr training seminar, and in the coming weeks I will be taking up my first case. Over the past few days, I have been trying to get ready by reading a HUGE binder full of regulations, which we as students must follow. It will be difficult to bring a report back from these meetings since I am bound not to discuss what took place. However, I will keep trying to post what I can. Feel free to post questions or ask me personally and I try to answer to the best of my ability!
On a related note because I may be involved with this case on Tuesday, I apologize in advance in case I am unable to take notes!!!
Talk to you soon!
Ben

Dean of Students Advisory Board-Campus Safety Communication

This came up at the Dean of Students Advisory Board meeting last week, and I briefly mentioned it at last night's Shared Governance Committee meeting...BUT...

Does anyone have strong opinions regarding a cell phone text-messaging system that would send out details/instructions to students in the case of a campus-wide safety emergency?

The majority of members on the Board seemed to think that the general student body would most likely not sign-up for the service and therefore it would be a waste of time and effort to continue to pursue the initiative.

Personally, I would probably sign-up for it. I bet a significant portion of incoming freshmen would as well if it was part of activating their MyUW account. Sophomores through grads? Not so sure. So, worth continuing to pursue?

Equity & Diversity Advisory Committee - reports for 25 Oct. and 15 Nov.

Click here for general information on the Office of Equity & Diversity Advisory Committee.
The Shared Governance Appointees for 2007-2008 are Noah Theriault and Rachel Witt.

Report for 15 October 2007 meeting:

On Thursday, 15 November 2007, at 12 noon, Rachel Witt and I attended the second meeting of the Office for Equity & Diversity Advisory Committee (OED-AC) for the 2007-2008 academic year. The committee discussed the following issues of relevance to students:

• According to Luis Piñero from the OED, the university is to be audited for Title 9 compliance by the Department of Energy. Given Energy’s focus, the audit will likely focus on hiring practices and gender in the Department of Physics. A committee member mentioned for my and Rachel’s benefit that the Department of Education does auditing for student accessibility compliance.
• The OED is closing the search for the new Data Manager, which is an important position when it comes to working with external auditors. The replacement will be a transfer either from the university or a different state office.
• The Theater for Cultural and Social Awareness (TCSA) will again be joining with OED to perform didactic skits at TA trainings and other OED awareness events. OED is currently working on securing funding for this purpose.
• OED is changing the process for coordinating sexual harassment inquiries and complaints. Up until recently, there was a network of coordinators throughout the campus who were delegated to act as resource people and liaisons with respect to sexual harassment issues among faculty, staff, and potentially students. While the process is being revised, coordinators names will no longer be listed on the website. In the meantime, the hope is that everyone knows they can as always take any sexual harassment issues directly to OED staff. As mentioned at the previous meeting, students are entitled to take their issues of this nature to the OED; however, the agreed upon procedure is for the Dean of Students to handle discrimination issues concerning students.
• The search committee for the new Vice Provost for Diversity and Climate has narrowed the list down to three candidates: Damon Williams, Seema Kapani, and Kenneth Durgans. They will be interviewed on 26 November, 5 December, and 12 December respectively. AC-OED members have been invited and strongly encouraged to attend. Those who are able to do so will consolidate their thoughts at the next committee meeting for submission to the search committee by 17 December. AC-OED will be among several SG committees submitting comments to the search committee as they finalize their review. Open question-and-answer sessions with each candidate will be held for all university affiliates on 26 November (2:30-3:45pm, TITO), 4 December (2:45-4:00pm), and 12 December (2:30-3:45pm). More information on the candidates can be found at http://www.news.wisc.edu/14420. According to the announcement on the university’s website, “The vice provost for diversity and climate serves as the senior diversity officer, working closely with deans, directors and other campus leaders to promote the recruitment and retention of minority faculty, staff and students, as well as providing leadership and fostering a positive environment for living, learning and working.” Climate in this case refers to the socio-cultural milieu of the university, not the climate in a meteorological sense. This position used to be held by appointed members of the faculty, but it will now be filled by a professional administrator.
• An initial draft of a campus-wide survey of Equity & Diversity Committee activities between 2003 and 2006 will be prepared by 1 December. These surveys are supposed to be conducted annually, and the current push is to get the data up to date for a prospective review in 2008 of the policy that established EDCs.
• The next OED-AC meeting is scheduled for 13 December at noon.

Both Rachel and I had to leave the meeting at 1pm in order to attend classes starting at that time. I’ve pasted the remainder of the agenda on the second page. The meeting was scheduled to adjourn at 1:30pm.

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7. PLANS FOR THE YEAR (Discussion)
8. ANNOUNCEMENTS
9. ADJOURN

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__________________________________________

Report for 25 October 2007 meeting:

On Thursday, 25 October 2007, at 12 noon, I attended the first meeting of the Advisory Committee for the Office for Equity & Diversity (AC-OED) for the 2007-2008 academic year. Including me and the other ASM student representative (Rachel Witt), twelve committee members were present, and at least three were absent. The meeting was coordinated by Committee Chair Nelson Balke (Professor, Department of Agronomy) and began with formal introductions, which took in excess of a half-hour to complete. Following the introductions, Committee Member Luis Piñero (Assistant Vice Provost for Workforce Equity and Diversity) gave a presentation summarizing the mission, objectives, and recent news of the OED, and provided a hand-out detailing the OED’s scope and functions. In sum, the OED’s functions fall into two general categories: (1) monitoring the university’s compliance with anti-discrimination laws/policies and investigating complaints related to possible violations of the same; and (2) providing education and outreach that promotes awareness of OED-related issues and compliance and with anti-discrimination laws among students, faculty, and staff. A major component of the latter function is the program of “learning communities” coordinated by the OED. Funding shortages remain a major challenge for OED initiatives, including the learning communities; however, the OED recently scored a “major victory” by persuading the university administration to budget in a new full-time staff person, responsible for coordinating the learning communities and providing other administrative support. This was vital because the OED’s administrative staff and functions have grown significantly in the last ten years without receiving additional administrative support. Also related to funding, the OED will soon finish up and submit a funding proposal to the University Foundation. In other news, it appears that the UW system administrators are currently formulating their vision for the 2008 academic year and have suggested that they will be giving individual universities more leeway in “determining priorities for initiatives.” If strategically leveraged, this change has the potential to increase the importance of the OED in UW affairs throughout the system. Due to my unfamiliarity with the UW system and its administrative machinations, I am unable to be any more specific as to what exactly this particular bit of news means. Following Mr. Piñero’s presentation, Committee Member Stephen Appel (OED’s Assistant Director and Complaint Investigator), noted for my and Rachel’s benefit that the Office of the Dean of Students is responsible for handling students’ complaints against other students. Students are, however, entitled to lodge complaints with OED and with the federal government should they so choose. Both Rachel and I had to leave the meeting at 1pm in order to attend classes starting at that time. I’ve pasted the remainder of the agenda below. The meeting was scheduled to adjourn at 1:30pm.

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3. THE OED ADVISORY COMMITTEE (OED-AC): CHARGE, ROLE & EXPECTATIONS (Balke)
4. REPORT: THE DIVERSITY FORUM
5. STATUS: VICE PROVOST FOR DIVERSITY AND CLIMATE SEARCH
6. SUMMARY OF 2006-2007 COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES (Balke)
a. Equity and Diversity SubCommittee (Lewis/Balke)
b. Learning Communities SubCommittee (Stephens)
c. Awareness SubCommittee (Finster)
7. PLANS FOR THIS YEAR (Discussion)
A. COMPLETE 2003-2006 "EQUITY AND DIVERSITY SURVEY"
B. SUBMIT 2005-2006 COMMITTEE REPORT TO THE FACULTY SENATE
C. ISSUES & SUBCOMMITTEES
a. New issues and subcommittees
D. INVITED GUESTS
E. OTHER
8. ANNOUNCEMENTS
9. ADJOURN

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Health Care Advisory Committee - 11/27/07

The Health Care Advisory Committee (HCAC) is a non-voting group of students, University Health Services administrators, healthcare providers, and faculty. HCAC serves in a discussion/advisory role for UHS, particularly its budget.

Today's meeting covered a series of updates on UHS projects.

1. Budget update.
The budget will be discussed at the next meeting (1/29) for HCAC input before being presented at SSFC in February. The segregated fee threshold this year for UHS is 3.7%; a greater change than that needs to provide additional justification. Most of the changes from last year to this year involve the physical building move and one-time costs associated with that, including IT needs, equipment purchases, personnel additions, etc.

2. UHS Director search update.
The University is close to finalizing a Search-and-Screen committee to find a new Director of UHS. The committee, containing student representation, will be announced in the next few weeks.

3. Administrative Services Manager search.
An official Search-and-Screen will be postponed until after a Director is announced so the new Director has input. Until then, newly-retired former Director Kathleen Poi will serve in this role in an interim part-time capacity.

4. Electronic Health Records.
UHS has bought software to transfer medical records from a paper form into electronic versions, in addition to bringing various services online. It will be going live in part in January 2008 for scheduling, registration, insurance information, billing, and ordering for labwork, radiology, etc. Patient communication and web-based appointments will be coming in the spring, with the full paperless system in place by June (targeted).

5. Construction update.
UHS will be relocating from the west end of campus to the University Square development in winter 2008/2009 (targeted December/January). Currently, staff are planning for the move, selecting furniture, equipment, etc. Many pieces of older equipment and furniture will not be moved to the new building. Those will go to UW SWAP; it was also suggested that medical equipment be donated to programs like Engineering World Health. Questions about parking arose, especially in terms of handicap accessibility nearby to USquare. The University is not purchasing any parking spots in USquare so choices would be the city lot at USquare or other nearby parking ramps. However, the central location should alleviate some of the parking concerns because more people can walk to the facility.

Welcome!

Welcome to the ASM Shared Governance blog!

Appointees may begin posting reports by following the directions in the blog author invite emailed to your wiscmail account. Please label your posts with the name of your committee.