Meeting Minutes, Meetings

May 2021 Meeting Minutes

May 2021 Monthly CAP Meeting
Date: Thursday, May 6, 2021
Time: 1:15 PM
Location: Zoom Recording

Attendees: Mindy Spencer (3), Brent West (1), Allie Arp (2), Brandi Barnes (4), Ann Christine Jones (5), Suzana Palaska-Nicholson (5), Lisa Merrifield (6), Betoel Escobar (7), Nicole DelMastro-Jeffery (7), Brian Brauer (8), William Schlaack (9), Jake Metz (9),  Lisa Bievenue (10),   John Scott (11), Sarah Ashcraft (11)

Absent: Amber Munds (1), John Mahlmeister (2), Tasha Robles (3), Dustin Yocum (4), Doug Gucker (6), Chaya Sandler (10) 

  1. Call to Order – Brian Brauer called the meeting to order at 1:15
  2. Guest Speaker: Nancy Castro and Erin Ciciora, Illinois Humanities Research Institute
    • IHRI is the main campus gateway to research and public engagement in the humanities and related fields. Nancy and Erin discussed the IHRI programs and opportunities.
  3. Public Comment
    • None
  1. Review and Approval of Minutes
    • Minutes for April 2021 approved
  1. Chair’s Remarks
    • Get vaccinate if you are medically able.
    • This is Brian’s last meeting as CAP chair. He thanked the group for the honor and commented about the increase in participation and great collaboration and synergy between APs and campus right now.
  2. Announcements
    • None
  1. Academic Senator Reports
    • Report submitted by Jenny Garner via email
    • The Senate will not meet again until Fall.
    • The majority of classed in the fall will be in person but the covid positivity rate in the community will continue to be monitored.
  2. Academic Senate Committee Reports
    • Admissions: Jeannette Elliott
      1. House bill 796 has passed the house. If passed, the bill will give guaranteed admission to transfer students who wish to attend state schools and who meet certain criteria. There is concern about the increased student load on campus if this bill passes. It is a good problem to have but may impact department admission processes.
    • Campus Operations: Glennys Mensing
      1. The Campus Instructional Facility is scheduled to open soon. It will be the first net carbon neutral building on campus.
      2. 12% of UI electric needs provided by solar farm.
      3. Chrome River will take over as the TEM vendor and will be in place by the end of the year.
      4. Amazon and the University are still in negotiations about campus purchases.
    • Elections and Credentials: Brian Farber, Brent West
      1. A change to AP election process will allow 3 candidates to compete for one senate seat without a run off. If there are 4 candidates, a runoff will be required.
      2. EC 2106 provided guidance on eligibility of APs for Senate seats. Eligibility has historically been determined by departments. A change to the guidelines will determined eligibility based on PAPEs. The process will be discussed with IHR to ensure that it enfranchises the most people possible.
    • Faculty and Academic Staff Benefits: Francis Thomas, Brent West
      1. Benefits choice period is open.
      2. Discussion is ongoing about deferred compensation in 457 plans. Management may move from CMS to SURS.
      3. 403B options are being reduced to make selection easier. More information will come out in early fall.
    • General University Policy: Melissa Madsen
      1. A presentation from University Library regarding open access to federally funded research reports provided recommendations that ensure access while maintain intellectual property for researchers and publishers. Recommendations state that reports in pre-publication and draft form will be available, but once published will be subject to usual subscription requirements.
    • Joint Advisory Committee on Investment, Licensing, and Naming Rights: William Schlaack
      1. A new named center will be announced soon.
    • University Statutes & Senate Procedures (USSP): Brent West & Terri Ciofalo
      1. No updates of significance to APs
  1. CAP Committee Reports
    • Recruitment and Retention: Allie Arp
      1. Because of concerns related to vacation roll over policies during the Covid pandemic, the committee has written a statement to be shared with University administration. The statement has been submitted to the CAP Executive Committee for review. The statement will then be submitted to IHR.
    • Ad Hoc SAC/CAP Common Interest Areas: Brent West
      1. This committee is looking at the AP/CAP conversion process to ensure representation and equity among all employee classes.
      2. The committee has prepared a list of differences between employee classes. The report has been shared with IHR and a meeting is being scheduled to further discuss.
    • Ad Hoc Committee on Bylaws: Jayesh Patel
      1. The committee has completed updates to the bylaws and they have been sent to CAP members. Mindy will share the revisions with IHR for review and comment. CAP will discuss and vote on revisions at the June meeting. The bylaws will then go through IHR to the Chancellor’s office for final approval.
    • Communications Committee: Lisa Bievenue
      1. Last month a communication survey was conducted about how and what CAP should be sharing with APs. 108 APs responded. ½ had never attended a CAP meeting. APs requested continuation of virtual meetings. 22 people also expressed interested in joining committees (9 of those had never been to a CAP meeting). Full results here https://uofi.app.box.com/file/807788517085?s=7xqq3stsz4q8udpz7pexa3jtqjsaec8f
      2. Lisa is seeking members for the communication committee. If interested, contact Lisa.
    • Grievance Officer: John Scott
      1. An informational meeting about a potential grievance will be held next week.
    • Outreach Committee: Allie Arp
      1. June’s speaker: Provost Cangellarius. Send questions to Allie
      2. July’s speaker will be from the Branding and Marketing office
      3. If you have future speaker recommendations, please share them with Allie
    • Officer Nominating Committee: Allie Arp
      1. Elections for CAP officers will be held at the next meeting. Self-nominations are requested
    • Procedures and Elections Committee: Allie Arp
      1. A closed session was held to approve self-nominations and election results
    • Public Safety Advisory Committee: Brian Brauer
      1. Illinois is currently in Phase 4. The bridge phase will go into effect May 14. Expect campus guidance soon. Phase 5, when all capacity limits are lifted, could come as soon as June 11. There may still be masking and distancing requirements because not everyone will be vaccinated.
      2. The committee has reviewed 20 of campus policing policies. This is the first time that campus has offered feedback to the U of I police department. Community police departments are also requesting information about results to improve their policies as well.
    • Racism and Social Injustice: Gio Guerra Perez
      1. The recent call for research proposals to address racial and social injustice on campus received a large number of applications. Projects that have been selected to move to the next round will be announced in the coming days. The hope to award $1.6 million to campus. There is clear campus interest and need.
      2. In the last few months, informally meeting with campus diversity officers have been held. Those will continue in a more formal way in the coming months. Summaries of those conversations will be given at the next meeting.
    • Special Events Advisory Committee: Brian Brauer
      1. This committee continues to meet. The outcome will be a one stop shop for reserving space and getting permit approval is forthcoming.
    • University Professional Personnel Advisory Committee: Brian Brauer
      1. This committee is wrapping up a benefits benchmarking review as part of a project with UIC and UIS. The group has contacted peer universities to compare to our benefits and campus access to theirs.
  1. Academic Human Resources Report Senior Associate Chancellor for Human Resources
    • Pay Equity Project- Robbie Witt or Mindy Spencer
      1. IHR is working on a time to talk with Heidi Johnson about some of the data they collect to inform this discussion.
    • IHR and the Chancellor will be reviewing practices and policies that have been in place since before this Chancellor started to make sure they are still appropriate and efficacious.
    • A mass mailing about domestic travel guidelines was sent out today. Campus is returning to pre-covid approval processes.
    • Regarding the voluntary retirement program, each unit is making decisions about how and when to refill positions. We have the greatest number of people leaving at the end of May through the end of June.
    • Nicole Hemming is leaving IHR and moving to NCSA.
  2. Unfinished Business
  3. New Business
    • Additional Rollover of Vacation Days: Allie Arp/Recruitment & Retention
      1. Will be discussed at the June meeting.
    • Folders for reports from AP representatives: Brent/Brian
      1. A new system is being configured in Box to share reports.
  1. Closed Session was held.
  2. Approval of election results
    • CAP members approved the election of the following representatives to 3 year terms.
      1. District 1 did not receive any nominations and will be re-advertised.
      2. District 1 – Rich Gegg
      3. District 4 – Rashmi Tenneti
      4. District 6 – Lisa Merrifield
      5. District 7 – Tina Rolfe
      6. District 8 – Drew Schlosser
      7. District 10 – Lisa Bievenue
      8. District 11 – Elizabeth Watts Malouchos
  1. Adjournment
    • Meeting concluded at 2:52

 Dates and Locations of CAP Monthly Meetings and CAP-Sponsored Events

Date Location Notes and Other Events
6/3/2021 Zoom Provost Andreas Cangellaris
7/1/2021
8/5/2021
9/2/2021