[media-credit name=’BRYAN FAUST/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]A special Board of Regents committee met Monday in its latest stride toward revising the current faculty disciplinary policy.

The Committee on Faculty and Academic Staff Disciplinary Process voted to approve amendments to its drafted revisions of the policy, which were introduced at its last meeting just two weeks ago.

"I think now we've got this laid out in a way that … is serviceable and reflects our intent," University of Wisconsin System General Counsel Patricia Brady said of a portion of the revisions.

One of the changes made to the committee's draft Monday had to do with conditions under which faculty members originally suspended and later exonerated would be eligible for back pay.

The approved revision provides for a "time-served" clause, under which a faculty member's suspension already served while his or her case was being reviewed would be considered as part of a later disciplinary suspension.

Another revision dealt with faculty members charged with a felony — and therefore not subject to the expedited disciplinary process but rather the standard Chapter 4 process. According to the revision, decisions regarding reprimand of a faculty member charged with a felony are relevant only after designated reviews and fact-finding procedures are conducted.

Other changes dealt with conditions under which faculty members subject to the expedited disciplinary process could request an alternative investigator, and also the placement of the phrase "public trust" in the policy's declaration paragraph.

UW professor and committee member Walter Dickey also addressed some comments from meeting spectators, saying some tenets of the revised policy involve discretionary measures.

"I think … the decisions that have to be made by the chancellor and others call for the exercise of discretion," Dickey said. "And we can dress it up any way we want, but 'poses a substantial risk to safety,' 'impairs the university's ability,' etcetera all call for discretionary judgment, and so does 'public trust.'"

Discussions continued regarding the role of university officials in the process and the importance of the maintenance of public trust to the policy changes.

"I think the public trust issue is a difficult one," Regent President David Walsh said. "We did suffer in the public mind with our inability to fulfill our mission when we can't respond to felons."

The policy revision process came about in response to a series of highly publicized cases last year in which three UW faculty members convicted of felonies remained on the payroll.

After intense public outcry, Walsh appointed the special committee to review the current policy and propose revisions that would expedite the dismissal process for felonious faculty.

Prolonged discussions regarding specific wording and substantive issues, along with disagreement between the committee and some faculty governance groups across the state, have continued to extend the revision process.

The committee is slated to produce a draft to be submitted to the Board of Regents for its November meetings.

— Tom Schalmo contributed to this report.