The committee appointed to investigate the University of Wisconsin's employee dismissal policy held its second meeting Friday to continue discussing ways to improve the disciplinary process.
Friday's meeting sought to establish specifics as to what merits an investigation and how to conduct the investigation itself.
"We have a little problem in selecting which of the crimes we are really concerned about," said General Counsel Patricia Brady, one of six committee members.
The committee discussed what kinds of charges and crimes would trigger a dismissal investigation and how the university would become aware of such charges.
"How do we learn that there may be [or] have been some kind of criminal conduct that has allegedly occurred?" Regent Michael Spector, chair of the committee, said.
After discussing this issue, the committee considered a policy to require faculty and staff to report the accusation or conviction of certain egregious crimes. The applicable crimes will be determined by the committee at their next meeting.
"I think specifics [are] a good idea," Spector said in regard to a list of crimes. "Why don't we take a crack at making a list of [crimes] specifically, not in value-laden words, not in generalities?"
UW-Madison law professor Walter Dickey highlighted his desire to keep a separation between minor and major infractions in drafting their new policy.
"Maybe what we should be thinking about is a separate rule to address egregious situations," Dickey said.
The committee emphasized that any investigation conducted by the university because of an egregious crime committed by an employee would be expeditious, and would follow due process rules already established by the university.
"Whatever we do will be drafted and acted upon in a way that's consistent with what exists in the way of process," Spector said. "All the processes are going to stay the same and work."
Part of the controversy surrounding the employee disciplinary process in place in the UW system is its inability to suspend the pay of employees being investigated by the university.
"We should only suspend without pay if we have the level of confidence that [there is a] substantial likelihood of conviction," Dickey said.
The committee also touched on the issue of what determines "just cause" in such a disciplinary case, specifically how the university would define what would constitute the suspension of pay or the dismissal of employees.
"[This issue] absolutely needs attention." Dickey said. "This is a tough problem."
Regent President David Walsh announced the formation of the committee in testimony before the Joint Legislative Audit Committee last month, addressing recent controversy surrounding the university's inability to fire employees convicted of felonies.
The committee will conduct further meetings to prepare for a hearing in front of the full board Dec. 8, during which they will make their recommendations as to how to go about reforming the disciplinary process.
