The University of Wisconsin-Madison Faculty Senate approved a resolution in support of the Human Resources redesign project Monday amidst debate over an amendment to give more power to shared governance bodies affected by the plan.
The amendment, which was proposed by Sen. Noah Feinstein, aimed to require affected governance bodies, such as the Academic Staff Assembly and a future university staff governance body, to vote to approve all future results and recommendations of the HR redesign.
“Our job is not yet done,” Feinstein said. “The things in HR design that will have the greatest impact on our lives… things that affect our compensation, our benefits and our role as supervisors, those things are still to come.”
However, the senate ultimately voted not to adopt the amendment, with many senators saying it would be redundant, as shared governance is mentioned throughout the HR plan itself. Others said it could inhibit the plan’s implementation July 1, 2013, from moving forward as scheduled.
Faculty Senate University Committee Chair Mark Cook said since senators elected to postpone a vote on the resolution in November, the HR redesign team met with concerned faculty and staff and added details to address their concerns. The revisions included increased emphasis on job security, such as a 30-day period where staff who accept new positions can return to a former position or its equivalent if their new position is not what was expected.
The senate now joins the Associated Students of Madison, Academic Staff Assembly and Council for Non-represented Classified Staff in supporting the plan, which the Board of Regents will vote on Friday.
