In August 2021, Chancellor Leavitt charged the Strategic Planning Committee to begin the development of UWO’s 2022-2027 strategic plan.

The Strategic Plan Committee is charged with developing strategic goals and relaying to our community the implementation and action steps. The Committee’s work will be informed by input from our University community as well as a recent environmental scan of our University and region conducted by the UWO Customized Center for Research and Services.

The Committee will submit a final report to shared governance and the Chancellor for approval in April 2022. This will include identifying those who will be responsible for that implementation. In spring 2022, the Chancellor will convene a permanent committee that will have responsibility for plan accountability, monitoring progress, making course corrections, reporting on the plan and other facets.

UW Oshkosh Strategic Plan Committee Membership

• Chad Cotti (COB) – faculty, Oshkosh campus, chair
• Jennifer Shuttlefield Christus (COLS) – faculty, Oshkosh campus – vice chair

Committee members: 

• Brooke Berrens – university staff, Oshkosh campus
• Karl Boehler – instructional academic staff, Oshkosh campus
• Teysha Bowser (COEHS) – faculty, Oshkosh campus
• Rocio Cortes – faculty, Oshkosh campus
• Heather Englund (CON) – faculty, Oshkosh campus
• Damira Grady – chief diversity officer, Cabinet, Oshkosh campus
• Toni House – faculty, Oshkosh campus
• Grace Lim – instructional academic staff, Oshkosh campus
• Pam Massey – faculty, Fox Cities campus
• Luiza Nelson – student, Oshkosh campus
• Alayne Peterson – faculty, Fond du Lac campus
• Joe Pirillo – professional academic staff, Oshkosh campus

Strategic Planning Committee Project Team: 

• Elizabeth Hartman – academic staff, Oshkosh campus
• Kim Langolf – academic staff, Oshkosh campus
• Mina Kuss – academic staff, Oshkosh campus

Background: Voting rights for Instructional Academic Staff are outlined in governance policy (GOV 6.1). The Faculty Senate and Senate of Academic Staff have been working together over the past several years to revise this policy. While these joint efforts preceded the work of a Provost task force charged to review policies and procedures related to Instructional Academic Staff, recent proposals voted on by both bodies were informed by the taskforce’s recommendations and reflected the responses to the recommendations that each governance group provided the Provost.  

In spring 2021 Faculty Senate and Senate of Academic Staff agreed to revisions to current policy to clarify eligibility generally and voting rights on college committees. The following changes will take effect June 1 of 2022.  

GOV 6.1.1: Length of Service Criteria for Eligibility for Faculty Voting Rights.  

An academic staff member will be automatically eligible to exercise faculty voting rights in an academic department or equivalent unit (herein defined as departments) if they currently hold an instructional assignment within that academic department averaging at least half-time for the academic year and their instructional assignment in that academic department was:  

1. 1. At least half-time over the previous four consecutive semesters, or 
   2. An annual average of at least half-time over the previous four years.  

These length of service requirements can be shortened. Any such changes should be defined in academic department or college bylaws. 

6.1.3 Conditions Under Which Faculty Voting Rights Are Extended within Colleges. 

Within their college, voting rights granted through this policy for Instructional Academic Staff include: 

1. 1. College policy matters (as defined in college bylaws).  
   2. As a member of college committees (both standing and ad hoc); and, 
   3. As a member of college task forces. 

IAS are prohibited from voting on matters related to faculty evaluation, such as tenure, appointment/reappointment, progression, and promotion. IAS are prohibited from voting on matters related to faculty recruitment unless appointed to a search and screen committee. 

The college can determine whether and to what extent Professional Academic Staff are granted the same voting rights as Instructional Academic Staff.  

Rights listed above cannot be removed. Any additional rights extended should be defined in college bylaws. 

What to expect in 2021-2022: Colleges may need to revise their bylaws and departments may want to review their current practices considering existing governance policy and the revision to eligibility criteria. Further discussion and action pending concern departmental level voting rights as well as procedures for notifying Faculty Senate and colleges of eligible IAS.  

Open Meetings Laws:  Wisconsin’s Open Meetings Law (WOML), embodies the principle that the public is entitled to the greatest possible information about government affairs. The law requires most government bodies to conduct official business in open meetings and to post in advance public notices on our campuses whether a qualifying meeting is held virtually or in person.  Below is information about the UWO process for posting notices provided by UMC. If you have questions about the process, please email umc@uwosh.edu.   

Submit meetings using the form at this link at least 48 hours in advance of your meeting. (Please note: weekends and holidays are not included in this 48-hour period; meetings must be submitted during business hours on weekdays to ensure they are included in the digital posting. Do not send a meeting notice at 8 p.m. Friday for a 10 a.m. Monday meeting; it will not be processed until Monday morning and will not meet state posting requirements.)  

For information on how to meet Wisconsin open meeting notices requirements during COVID-19 restrictions, please visit this post from the Wisconsin Department of Justice.  

As in the past, you must post a hard copy of your meeting notice on a public facing bulletin board near your department or program or as near as practicable to the meeting location at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting; or at least 2 hours in advance of emergency called meetings. Open meeting notices also are automatically sent to the Advance-Titan. UMC will post hard copies as a secondary posting on the first floor of Dempsey hall.  

Meeting notices for the Fond du Lac and Fox Cities campuses must be posted by the sender of the notice on their respective campus at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting. Those meeting notices also will show up on the online listing. 

Once you have completed the online form, click submit and your notice will be sent to University Marketing and Communications (UMC). You will receive an email that your meeting notice has been received. A digital posting of your meeting notice will appear at this link. This posting may be viewed in calendar or list format.  

The Wisconsin Open Meetings Law requires all governmental bodies to provide public notice of their meetings. “Every public notice of a meeting of such a governmental body must set forth the time, date, place and subject matter of the meeting in a form that is reasonably likely to inform members of the public and news media. Any such public notice must also set forth the subject matter of any contemplated closed session.” To determine if your meeting is subject to the Open Meetings Law and for other information, see https://www.wisconsin.edu/general-counsel/legal-topics/open–meetings-law/ 

Other requirements: 

• 1. Include time, date and place 
  2. Include subject matter, including what is intended to be considered at any closed session, and enough explanation so the public will understand what is being considered. 
  3. Submit a separate notice of each meeting. It is not sufficient to provide notice of the dates and times of all planned meetings at the beginning of each year or semester. 
  4. Include information on any matters that may come before the body if the chief presiding officer is aware of them. 
  5. For closed sessions merely quoting from and identifying the statutory exemption does not reasonably identify any subject that might be taken up and is not adequate. 

Wisconsin Open Meetings Law resources: 

https://www.wisconsin.edu/general-counsel/legal-topics/open–meetings-law/ 

https://www.wisconsin.edu/general-counsel/legal-topics/open–meetings-law/frequently-asked-questions-wisconsin-open–meetings-law/ 

https://www.doj.state.wi.us/sites/default/files/office-open-government/Resources/OML-GUIDE.pdf 

If you have questions about this process, please email umc@uwosh.edu. 

Updates regarding your obligations and rights Title IX and the Clery Act are summarized below. This information provided by Amy Anderson, Title IX Coordinator and Co-Clery Coordinator for UWO.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a civil rights law that protects individuals from discrimination based on sex, including gender identity and expression and/or sexual orientation, in any educational program or activity operated by the University. Sexual misconduct is a form of sex discrimination prohibited by Title IX and the UWO Sexual Misconduct Policy GEN 1.2(5). Sexual misconduct includes, sexual harassment, sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual exploitation, and stalking. New federal regulations went into effect on August 14, 2020.

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, codified at 20 USC 1092 (f) (Clery Act) as part of the Higher Education Act of 1965, is a federal (consumer protection) law that requires institutions of higher education to have in place certain security and safety policies, and to disclose certain crime statistics in an Annual Security Report. In October of 2020, the U.S. Department of Education rescinded the Handbook historically used as a guidance document for the regulations and published a new Appendix to guide Clery Act requirements. The regulations remained the same. The Annual Security Report can be found on the UWO Police website.

Important things to know: 

1. We have a NEW Clery Reporting Form. You can use this form to report Clery crimes you observe, experience, or learn about. You can learn more about Clery Act crime reporting requirements, including crime definitions, on the UWO Police Department’s website under the Clery & Safety tab. These reports can be victim anonymous. 

Exceptions: All sexual misconduct incidents or disclosures (e.g., sexual assault, stalking, dating and domestic violence), need to be reported on the Title IX Sexual Misconduct Reporting Form, or directly reported to UWO Title IX personnel. These reports cannot be victim anonymous, except for reports made by university identified Confidential Resources (Student Counseling Center/Employee EAP, Student Health Center, Victim/Survivor Advocate).

2. We have a NEW required 12-minute refresher training that combines the reporting obligations under both these federal laws. As you may know, our federal funding is tied to compliance with our responsibility to provide a safe and equitable campus environment for students and employees. We take these responsibilities seriously, as they not only affect the success and well-being of individuals, but the whole campus community.

• The new training designates most UWO employees as a “Responsible Authority”, either under the Title IX designation as a Responsible Employee and/or under the Clery Act as a Campus Security Authority. Both these federal laws require UWO employees to report certain crimes and sexual misconduct to the University as soon as possible after they observe or learn of an incident (student disclosures).
• Everyone at UWO has an important duty to ensure victims/survivors of crimes and/or sexual misconduct are properly connected to support resources and University personnel who are responsible for promptly responding on behalf of the University to maintain and/or re-establish safety and equal access to programs and activities.
• The training will be delivered to your campus email and is housed in Canvas. If you received this email, you are required to complete the training.
• To be considered completed in your training requirements, you must complete training Module 1 and the short quiz.
• Module 2 contains resource documents, including a document on how to respond to a sexual misconduct incident or disclosure. You may want to save or print this document for quick access in the event of a crime and/or sexual misconduct disclosure by a student.
• Module 3 is information and resources for anyone who hosts minors on campus (e.g., pre-college programs or camps). Please review each document if this information pertains to you or your department.
•  You will continue to receive notifications until you have met the training requirement.

3. To report sexual misconduct, you can use the UWO Title IX Sexual Misconduct Reporting Form, call me (920.424.0835), email me at andersena@uwosh.edu, email the EOEAA Office at afaction@uwosh.edu or stop by the EOEAA Office located in Dempsey 337.

You can learn more about Title IX and sexual misconduct on the Title IX website.

4. To report a Clery crime, you can use the Clery Reporting Form or call UWO Police at 920.424.1212 (911 in emergencies).

You can learn more about the Clery Act on the UWO Police website.

The Faculty and Academic Staff Handbook will be transitioning to a searchable website incorporating all campus policy.  During this academic year, be prepared to look for policy in the existing handbook as well as the policy web page found here:  Policies Under Review or Development

Please review the Annual Policy Notification to Employees when it is shared each year. This document provides a brief summary of 15 university-wide policies which you need to know. In addition to the Annual Policy Notification, please bookmark and review UW Policies so that you are aware of the various policies and governing documents to which all of us are accountable.

For quick access:

• Coronavirus (Covid-19) Interim Policy Resources 
• Wisconsin Administrative Code
• Board of Regent Policy Documents
• UW System Administration Policies

The Faculty Annual Performance Review 11-17-21 is a new policy that meets the obligations outlined in SYS 1254. It falls generally under FAC. 6 of the existing Faculty Handbook. It satisfies the need for a University-level policy provides sufficient autonomy to units/departments to develop and carry out an annual evaluation process based on the three categories of teaching, scholarship, and service consistent with unit-level performance expectations.  

Background  

UW System Administrative Policy 1254 – Performance Management (Nov. 2019) mandates a performance management framework for all UW System employees that requires a performance evaluation to be completed every 12 months. UWS policy defines Performance evaluation as a continual process of identifying, measuring, and developing job-related employee performance. For Faculty, SYS 1254 further mandates that institution level processes incorporate the use of student evaluation of instruction data. 

Faculty Senate leadership participated in a working group put together by the Provost’s office in early 2020 to devise a broad university level policy addressing the requirements of SYS 1254 and considering existing policy and practice on campus. In addition to the collaborative efforts of faculty on the working group, policy development benefited from feedback from college leadership, the Faculty Senate’s Personnel Policies Committee, and floor discussion in the Faculty Senate. A final version was passed by Faculty Senate on November 17, 2020 as: Faculty Annual Performance Review 11-17-21.  

What to expect in 2021  

Annual evaluation produces a rating of solid performer / not solid performer and needs to be conducted early in 2021 to assess performance in calendar year 2020. Given the short time frame in this policy transition year, units may want to rely on their existing process for evaluating solid performance provided in their merit policy.  

Keep in mind the following points:  

Do units need to develop policy? Yes, units need to develop, revise or adjust internal processes to meet basic policy requirements. This is a transition year; a final unit policy is not expected to be in place immediately. 

Who evaluates faculty? Unit policy should specify who is doing the evaluation – for example, a personnel committee.  

Is there a form to submit? Yes, the titular supervisor for the unit (e.g. department chair) will need to submit a very simple “check the box” form electronically in the ePerformance portal (see the appendix to the policy). Faculty have the opportunity to enter a rebuttal to the ratings in a textbox that was created for this purpose. This rebuttal cannot be used to change the rating assigned for solid performance. All faculty materials, internal forms, committee recommendations, etc. remain in the unit – only the simple form goes forward. 

When is it due? The e-form must be submitted before March 1 each year.

What is the relationship between annual evaluation and other personnel processes? There is no necessary relationship between annual review and renewal, tenure, or post tenure review.  Performance evaluation is not subject to grievance procedures in alignment with FAC 9.C.2. 

What is the relationship between annual evaluation and pay plan and/or merit? Annual evaluation provides a summary rating of solid performer or not solid performer. A solid performer rating is required to be “on file” to be eligible for pay plan or merit pay increases. HR uses the e-form as part of the confirmation that faculty members are eligible for pay plan participation. Note that there are other pay plan eligibility requirements, such as being current on all mandatory training. 

What is the time frame covered? Annual evaluation encompasses a calendar year. 

Are SOS results a required part of the annual performance evaluation process? Yes, SYS 1254 requires that student evaluations are part of the annual evaluation. Keep in mind that for 2020 we have incomplete SOS data due to the pandemic.

Isn’t this just one more thing? Yes, but units might consider ways to keep it simple and to build synergy between annual review and existing evaluation or reporting activities (e.g. end of the year reporting, merit, etc.) to reduce redundancy and respect faculty time. 

An online university-wide student opinion survey (SOS) will be administered to all students starting in 2020-2021. 

What to Expect 

Students will receive an email link to a portal where they can access all their course surveys. The university-wide survey replaces the previous paper process. Instructors should plan to ‘administer’ the SOS as they had administered the paper version by setting time aside for introducing the purpose of the SOS and time for completing the survey. 

Information and tips for instructors is available on the SOS website. 

Watch for email updates and information from sos@uwosh.edu; and reach out to Nicholas Ambrose, Director of the Testing Center, with questions at sos@uwosh.edu. 

Keep in mind that new SOS will produce different data from the old SOS. Thus, there will be a transitional phase during which instructors who are utilizing their SOS data for personnel actions will have data from our old system(s), a pandemic related gap, and data produced by the new system. 

New Policies and Faculty Handbook Changes  

To accommodate and administer the new online SOS as well as update institution policy consistent with recent (June 2020) changes to UW Regent student evaluation of instruction policy, Faculty Senate approved three new policies: 

• Faculty Teaching Evaluation Policy
• Improvement of Instruction Policy
• Student Opinion of Instruction Data Collection Policy

These policies separate improvement of instruction from evaluation of teaching, and place administration of SOS in its own policy. The policies supersede Faculty Handbook sections FAC 6.4, 6.5, and 6.6. Personnel committees that use SOS data in personnel decisions should review these policies as well as the Task Force recommendations (see below). 

Additional Information

In Spring 2020, Faculty Senate recommended that the Provost utilize a revised Student Opinion Survey instrument and administrative process to be piloted in the summer and implemented in Fall 2020.  You can find that recommendation here: SOS Resolution March 2020.  Faculty Senate also passed a related Resolution on Implementation Tasks.  SOS is administered by Testing Services. 

An implementation team formed in Spring 2020 has been working through the logistics of implementing the online university-wide survey across all three campuses and modes of instruction. The team includes faculty and academic staff members from the Faculty Senate’s Improvement of Instruction Committee, the Registrar’s office, Canvas, University Services and the Testing center. This team is also helping Testing Services with developing communication and support for instructors including the development the SOS website with resources and FAQs (rolled out in Fall 2020 and updated frequently).

The Faculty Senate’s Improvement of Instruction Committee is also working on a process for departments to add a small number departmental questions to the survey in 2021-2022. Faculty and academic staff had an opportunity to test the survey in September 2020 and to preview a dashboard displaying results. 

Background 

Faculty Senate based its recommendation to the Provost on recommendations of the Faculty Senate’s Improvement of Instruction Committee and in consideration of a white paper produced by a SOS Task Force that was formed in 2019 to examine every aspect of the administration, data collection, data analysis, and interpretation of our Student Opinion Survey (SOS) instrument (known as the Student Survey of Instruction on the Access Campuses) and to make a set of recommendations to the Provost and Faculty Senate. 

Given the needs of new three-campus structure, UWO needed to combine our evaluative instruments and procedures. In 2018-2019, it was decided to use the UWO instrument and paper process to collect SOS data for 2019-2020 as an interim measure. At the same time, it became evident that the Oshkosh campus system (dedicated scanner, custom software and paper administration) would no longer meet our technical needs. It was discontinued in Spring 2020 and a new integrated system for SOS collection and administration had to be functional by summer/fall of 2020. 

The SOS Task Force enjoyed broad membership of faculty and academic staff from all three campuses and included a student representative (see: SOS Task Force background information). The Task Force submitted its white paper detailing recommendations in each of the areas mentioned above to the Provost in January 2020: SOS Task Force Recommendations. 

The recommendations were informed by comments and questions raised in eight open forums across all three campuses, as well as a thorough review of current research and practice, including at the former UW Colleges (which had already revised their student evaluation questions and process). The Task Force solicited substantial feedback on the set of common survey prompts and on draft recommendations regarding SOS administration, data collection and storage, data stewardship, analysis and presentation of SOS results, and the appropriate use of SOS data in personnel matters. This feedback informed policy changes subsequently drafted and discussed by the Faculty Senate. 

Personnel committees interpreting SOS data for personnel decisions may want to review some of the research that informed the Task Force recommendations, in particular Angela Linse “Interpreting and using student ratings data: Guidance for faculty serving as administrators and on evaluation committees” in Studies in Educational Evaluation Vol. 54, September 2017, Pages 94-106. 

The Faculty Senate’s Improvement of Instruction Committee subsequently considered the work of the Task Force carefully and submitted a report to the Faculty Senate in February 2020 recommending action  regarding the improvement of instruction function of the survey. That report is available here: IOI Committee Report on SOS Task Force Recommendations 

In its February and March 2020 meetings, the Faculty Senate entertained discussions on these documents and formulated its recommendation to the Provost. 

During Fall 2020 the Faculty Senate drafted, discussed, revised, and passed new policies to supersede Faculty Handbook sections FAC. 6.4, 6.5 and 6.6.  UW System mandates that we collect student opinion data for use in improving instruction and for assessing faculty and instructional academic staff performance.  Faculty performance assessment must consider student evaluation of instruction data. As a result, the SOS is one of several instruments used in decisions of retention, promotion, tenure, and merit of faculty and instructional staff. 

Overview

UWO will be implementing a new budget model termed the Operating Budget Allocation Model (OBAM). The new model is the result of multiple years of research and development and will be phased in over time (anticipated implementation is for fiscal year 2022). OBAM moves the University away from an incremental budget model and toward an activity-based hybrid model that will allow for greater transparency, discussion and analysis on how we fund campus units. The new model emphasizes allocating resources based on metrics, which align with the University’s mission, values, and goals. More information about the development and operation of OBAM can be found on the Budget website. Shared governance representatives play an important role in OBAM through participation on the Budget Process Committee (BPC). The BPC makes advisory recommendations to the Chancellor concerning the operating features of OBAM. 

Overview

The Provost’s Advisory Committee on University-wide Academic Structure is responsible for making a recommendation to the Provost in early 2020 regarding the Academic College Structure at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh that will position the University of Wisconsin to effectively work towards its Academic Mission. The Advisory Committee may draw on, but is not limited by, the prior work of ASET, the Academic Structure Exploration Team that produced a written report in 2018 discussing several potential academic structures for the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. 

Information about the Advisory Committee, including the membership of the committee and a copy of its charge, is available on the Provost’s website. If the Advisory Committee recommends changing the current academic structure, review and approval of the recommendation would follow the procedures outlined in Article VIII, Section 2, Item C of the Faculty Constitution.  These are the same procedures that are followed if departments request to move from one college to another, to form schools within a college, or chose to reorganize into new colleges. 

The final decision to accept or reject a request to restructure rests with the Provost and Chancellor. Ultimately, changes to our array of schools and colleges requires approval by the UW System Administration and the Board of Regents.