The Academic Staff Assembly voted Monday to support the implementation of the Human Resources redesign, becoming the first campus governing body to formally accept the plan thus far.
The Assembly’s resolution, which passed by an overwhelming majority, included an addendum specifying that the plan only included enough details to be considered a framework and stating the committee expected to be involved in the future implementation of more concrete specifics.
According to the Academic Staff Executive Committee’s analysis, 52 percent of the plan’s recommendations only provide a framework and will require further action in the future before being fully implemented, including changes to compensation and benefits which will be finalized after a comprehensive study is completed next year.
ASEC Chair Jeff Shokler emphasized that the resolution was only accepted on the condition that the committee would be included in these future decisions.
“In this resolution we’re trying to make it very clear and very explicit that we recognize that this is a general framework,” Shokler said. “We expect to be fully engaged in those issues that have been deferred down the road, we are not blessing everything from this point forward.”
In addition to the stipulation of committee input in future decisions, the addendum also advocates for the plan to include cost-of-living compensation for all employees, among other provisions.
The Assembly’s decision differed from that of the Faculty Senate, which voted last week to postpone making its decision on the plan until its Dec. 3 meeting, hoping details of changes to the plan would be released following campus feedback.
The Associated Students of Madison student government will also vote on a resolution in support of or against the plan in the coming weeks.
The plan will pass to the Board of Regents for a vote Dec. 7 before continuing on to the State Legislature’s Joint Committee on Employment Relations for final review.
