CHAPTER 2 DEPARTMENTS AND UNITS
SECTION 2 UNITS
(To see who has authority to approve changes to this section, please see the Approval of Changes page).
DEFINITION AND COVERAGE
DEFINITION.
“Unit” means a group of academic staff members, or academic staff members and faculty members, recognized by the chancellor of the university as working in the same office or closely related offices and dealing with a common or closely related activity, or having a common or closely related function. In addition, groups of academic staff members who function as a unit for personnel matters, regardless of their formal designation (divisions, service area) shall be covered in all references herein to “unit.”
COVERAGE.
At the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, administrative areas within Finance and Administration and Student Affairs/University Relations are referred to as units
Administrative areas within Academic Affairs primarily involved in classroom instruction are referred to as departments, defined in section 2.1 of this Handbook; other administrative areas are referred to as units.
WORKING ENVIRONMENT
INTERRELATIONSHIPS.
Every unit member has an obligation to establish and maintain productive working relationships with colleagues and to help meet the mission and objectives of the unit, division, and university.
PARTICIPATION IN UNIT GOVERNANCE
PERSONNEL POLICIES.
The university is committed to active unit level participation by academic staff in the development of personnel policies and procedures for academic staff. Academic staff shall be afforded the opportunity for participation in the development of the unit’s personnel policies and procedures.
BROAD PARTICIPATION.
The university encourages academic staff participation in the development and implementation of unit policies, procedures, and operations.
MEMBERS AND VOTING
MEMBERS.
Appointment.
Unclassified appointments to a unit are made by the chancellor, or the provost or an appropriate vice chancellor acting as the chancellor’s designee. All academic staff (or faculty) appointed to a unit by the chancellor or an appropriate designee are members of that unit.
Additional Recommendations.
When recommendations for appointments are submitted to the chancellor by the provost/vice chancellor for academic affairs or other vice chancellor, the provost or vice chancellor normally also makes recommendations regarding the appointments.
Recommendations submitted to the provost acting as designee are made through the dean of the appropriate college, while recommendations submitted to the vice chancellor for Finance and Administration or student affairs acting as designee are made through the appropriate executive director; each also normally makes recommendations regarding the appointments. In areas having no executive director, recommendations are submitted directly to the appropriate vice chancellor.
Joint Appointments.
Academic Staff.
Joint appointments of academic staff members may be made between units or between units and departments (e.g., Financial Aid and Conference and Reservations, Admissions and Physics). These appointments are made only if the academic staff member and the involved units/departments agree upon the desirability of such an arrangement. Joint appointments may be terminated at the end of a contractual period upon the request of any of the involved individuals or units/departments.
Unit/Departmental Responsibilities.
Letters of appointment for academic staff members with joint appointments shall clearly delineate the percentages in each unit/department, the salary responsibilities of each unit/department, the titles for each position, and the appointment type (fixed term, probationary, or indefinite) in each position.
Operational Areas. An academic staff appointment is limited to an operational area specified at the time of the appointment and does not carry rights beyond that limitation. An academic staff appointment might be to an operational area as broad as Safety and Loss Control or as narrow as Risk Management, one of the subunits within Safety and Loss Control.
Governance Rights.
Academic staff with joint appointments will be eligible to participate in both units/departments in meetings, appropriate committees, and other activities under each area’s policies and procedures. Such participation will depend upon prior agreement of the involved areas.
Faculty.
Academic joint appointments of faculty members may be made between units and departments. These appointments are made only if the faculty member and the involved units/departments agree upon the desirability of such an arrangement. Joint appointments may be terminated at the end of a contractual period upon the request of any of the involved individuals or units/departments.
Home Department.
Faculty members with joint appointments will have a home department which will be responsible for the person’s salary, tenure, and rank.
Governance Rights.
Faculty with joint appointments will be eligible to participate in units/departments in meetings, appropriate committees, research, and teaching. Such participation will depend upon prior agreement of the involved units/departments.
VOTING.
Where units have provided for academic staff participation through voting by the academic staff, the academic staff of each unit determine which academic staff members may vote. Normally, all academic staff members are voting members for all matters other than personnel decisions.
Restricted Voting.
Alternative Assignments.
Persons assigned to or holding an indefinite appointment in a particular unit but not presently serving in the unit are usually excluded from voting while they are serving in the alternative assignment.
Other Considerations.
Units may wish to consider other situations in which academic staff members of the unit might logically be excluded from voting, e.g., persons less than half-time, persons serving less than 50% of their appointment in the unit, or persons not on campus for at least 50% of their appointment (on leave, Semester Abroad, etc.).
Methods of Voting.
Methods of voting shall be in accordance with the Open Meetings Law. Absentee ballots are not permitted.
STUDENT REPRESENTATION
Some units may find student participation appropriate. Students may participate and vote in unit meetings and unit committee meetings to the extent determined by the unit but students may neither vote on any personnel decisions nor attend closed meetings on personnel matters unless specifically called by one of the parties involved.
COMPLAINTS
Students, other staff members, or members of the community occasionally bring complaints or contemplate bringing complaints against academic staff members. These individuals, particularly students, are often vulnerable to retaliation or believe themselves to be vulnerable to retaliation.
Protecting Rights.
Every unit has an obligation to protect the rights of its members; every unit also has an obligation to protect the rights of individuals making or considering a complaint. It is essential that unit supervisors and other unit members who are approached by individuals for advice about making complaints inform those individuals of the policies and procedures related to complaints (see 4A.2, Chapter UWSP 6 Complaints and Grievances).
Potential Risks.
It is also essential for unit personnel to discuss candidly with those individuals the potential risks of filing a complaint. However, members of the unit must be equally candid in pointing out that inappropriate behavior cannot be changed unless someone assumes the risk and responsibility for bringing these matters to the attention of the unit and allows the unit to act on the information.
PERSONNEL POLICY DEVELOPMENT
RESPONSIBILITIES.
Academic Staff Members.
Each unit’s academic staff members have primary responsibility for the development of policies and procedures. In addition, they participate in the evaluation of academic staff for personnel recommendations to the degree specified in those policies and procedures.
Director or Other Supervisor.
The director (or other equivalent supervisor) of each unit with personnel having academic staff appointments has the primary role in evaluation, particularly for:
• developing performance objectives;
• assessing effectiveness in meeting performance objectives; and
• recommendations for:
o appointment;
o promotion;
o merit; and
o indefinite appointment.
In addition, the director shall provide for:
• the opportunity for participation in the development of the unit’s personnel policies and procedures by the unit’s academic staff members; and
• the approval of personnel policies and procedures by the academic staff of the unit.
ACADEMIC STAFF ORGANIZATION.
For the purpose of participation in the development of personnel policies and procedures, academic staff within units may organize as their needs dictate and the academic staff members consider appropriate.
REQUIRED POLICIES.
Institutional Policies and Procedures.
Personnel decisions shall be made in accordance with institutional policies and procedures found in chapter 4B.3 and 4B.4, of this Handbook. These policies and procedures derive from local personnel rules (chapter 4A.2), which in turn derive from system rules (chapter 4A.1). Wherever a unit is required to develop personnel policies or procedures, those policies or procedures must conform to system and institutional rules and procedures.
NOTE. In the consideration of providing for policies and procedures at the unit level, academic staff who so desire may be able to defer to and use the institutional policies without modification or further explication.
Unit Policies and Procedures.
Units with academic staff members are required to develop policies and procedures related to:
• recruiting of academic staff;
• expectations in fulfilling performance objectives;
• procedures and criteria for granting indefinite appointment;
• promotion and changes of title; and
• merit assessment
Additional Policies.
Unit policies and procedures must also provide for the:
• implementation of institutional rules and policies on fixed term and probationary appointments for academic staff;
• implementation of institutional procedures and criteria for the reappointment of fixed term or probationary academic staff;
• implementation of institutional policies and procedures on nonrenewal or failure to reappoint; and
• implementation of institutional procedures for reconsideration of decisions not to reappoint or not to grant indefinite appointment.
Division Policies or Policies Developed by a Group of Units Acceptable.
Academic staff may choose to develop personnel policies and procedures at the division level rather than at the unit level, adapting sections as necessary for individual units, or as a collaboration among a group of units.
Unit Approval Required.
Policies may be developed by a group of units or at the division level provided that the academic staff members of each unit
• approve such a process of policy development; and
• approve the completed policies and procedures.
Initial Decision.
Wherever UWSP personnel rules, policies, or procedures provide for the development of unit personnel policies and procedures, the academic staff of each unit shall
• give careful consideration to whether they wish to develop unit-level personnel policies beyond those at the institutional level;
• discuss the issues in a unit meeting;
• vote on the whether they wish to develop unit-level policies; and
• if so, vote on the appropriate method for the development of personnel policies and procedures.
Alternatives.
If the academic staff within the unit decide not to defer exclusively to institutional policies and procedures, they shall determine whether
• policies and procedures shall be developed at the unit or division level or in collaboration with a group of units; and
o if at the unit level, whether
• all eligible academic staff members of the unit shall have the opportunity to participate, either in some committee structure or as a committee of the whole; or
• policies and procedures are to be developed by the unit’s supervisor; or
• the unit’s supervisor and a committee of or from among the academic staff shall develop policies and procedures; or
• some other process shall be used for the development of personnel policies and procedures; or
o if at the division level, whether
• all eligible academic staff members of the division shall have the opportunity to participate, either in some committee structure or as a committee of the whole; or
• policies and procedures are to be developed by the vice chancellor; or
• the vice chancellor and a committee of or from among the academic staff shall develop policies and procedures; or
• some other process shall be used for the development of personnel policies and procedures; or
o if among a group of units, whether
• all eligible academic staff members from among the units shall have the opportunity to participate, either in some committee structure or as a committee of the whole; or
• policies and procedures are to be developed by the supervisor(s) of the units; or
• the unit supervisors and a committee of or from among the academic staff of the units shall develop policies and procedures; or
• some other process shall be used for the development of personnel policies and procedures.
Unit Adaptations.
Any policies and procedures developed at the division level or among a group of units shall specifically provide which parts may be adapted at the unit level to meet specific unit needs.
Individual Adaptations.
Policies and procedures developed at all levels shall specifically provide which parts may be adapted to meet specific unit needs for individual members of the unit. Such individualization shall occur in consultation between the unit supervisor and the individuals concerned.
APPROVAL.
Unit.
Regardless of the method chosen for the development of personnel policies and procedures, the completed policies and procedures shall require a majority vote of the unit’s eligible academic staff members for adoption and implementation.
Administrative.
Wherever UWSP personnel rules, policies, or procedures provide for the development of unit policies and procedures and the approval of those policies or procedures by the chancellor or provost, approval has been delegated to designees:
• for units reporting to a dean, the designee is the dean;
• for units reporting to the vice chancellor of Finance and Administration or student affairs, the designee is the vice chancellor; and
• for units reporting directly to the provost, the designee is the provost.
EVALUATION.
The primary responsibility for evaluation of academic staff for purposes of retention, change of title or promotion, merit, indefinite appointment, and salary is that of the unit in which the individual holds an academic staff appointment. All academic staff to be evaluated and all academic staff who do evaluations shall have completed appropriate orientation and training provided through Human Resources.
Requirements.
Procedures for evaluation of academic staff are delineated in chapter 4B.4 of this Handbook. These procedures require
• annual evaluation of all fixed term, probationary, and indefinite term academic staff;
• an interim evaluation meeting between each academic staff member and the member’s supervisor; and
• a supplemental, broader-than-unit evaluation in the 2nd and 5th years of service.
Roles.
Unit policies and procedures shall specifically define the role of the unit’s academic staff in evaluations and determinations of recommendations for individual personnel action in all areas.
NOTE. It is important to remember that under institutional rules approved by the Common Council (Resolution 1992-1993-160), academic staff may not vote on decisions on the hiring, retention, promotion, or granting of tenure for individual faculty.
MEETINGS
MEETINGS.
Units are expected to hold regular meetings with sufficiently well-planned agendas to ensure that important matters will be taken up and considered carefully.
PUBLIC NOTICE.
Public notice of all unit meetings and any unit committee meetings shall be provided in accordance with the provisions of the Open Meetings Law and institutional procedures.
OPEN MEETINGS REQUIRED.
Unit meetings and meetings of unit committees shall be open, except that when appropriate, meetings may be closed under one of the exemptions in 19.85 Wis. Stats.
NOTE. Units of the university are “formally constituted subunits” of a governmental agency and therefore subject to the provisions of the Wisconsin Open Meetings Law (19.81-19.98, Wis. Stats., 1991-1992).
Attendance and Speaking.
An open meeting means anyone may attend. However, the right to speak is restricted to members of the body unless the chairperson or body extends an invitation to speak.
Presence at Meetings.
No Exclusions.
Under the provisions of 19.89 of the Open Meetings Law, no member of a governmental body may be excluded from any meeting of the body. In addition, no member may be excluded from meetings of the body’s subunits unless the rules of the body specifically state otherwise.
Local Application.
No unclassified staff member of a unit may be excluded from a unit meeting even if the meeting is moved into closed session. No unclassified staff member of a unit may be excluded from any unit committee meeting unless unit rules specifically state to the contrary.
Attendance at Meetings.
To be absolutely certain that there is no possibility for confusion as to who is eligible to attend meetings under the provisions of the Open Meetings Law (chapter 4B.5), units are encouraged to specify in writing the membership of any committee and to specify in writing which unit members and others may attend meetings.
Right to Open Meeting.
UWSP 10.03
Under the provisions of UWSP 10,03 (2)(a)(5), a probationary academic staff member has the right to request and receive an open meeting for any meeting of a unit or subunit involving consideration of indefinite appointment for that individual.
Unit Policies.
Normally, unit policies will require a written request for an open meeting reasonably in advance of the meeting.
CLOSED MEETINGS.
Attendance.
Meetings which are closed may be attended by members of the unit, any representative of any member of the unit, and persons specifically invited by the body, except as may otherwise be specifically provided for in unit policies.
Speaking Rights.
The right to speak is restricted to members of the body unless the chairperson or body extends an invitation to speak.
MINUTES
Written minutes shall be taken of every unit meeting and every unit committee meeting at least to the extent required by the Open Meetings Law.
The motions and roll call votes of each meeting of a governmental body shall be recorded, preserved and open to public inspection to the extent prescribed in subch. II of ch. 19.
19.35 Access to records; fees.
1. Right to inspection.
a. Except as otherwise provided by law, any requester has a right to inspect any record…
b. Except as otherwise provided by law, any requester has a right to inspect a record and to make or receive a copy of a record which appears in written form.