Union Council, 9 December 2010

Union Council held its last meeting of the fall semester on Thursday, 9 December 2010.

Budget Update: As of the end of October, the Union is still ahead of budget, but this does not account for the anticipated expenditure increases associated with the opening of Union South.

WUD Presentations: All of the directors of the Wisconsin Union Directorate Committees attended the meeting and provided updates about what events they organized over the past semester and what they are planning for the remainder of the academic year. Each of the directors also addressed the structural and programming changes that they are pursuing in relation to the opening of Union South. The Music Committee in particular is facing the exciting but daunting challenge of continuing to coordinate events for the Memorial Union, at the same time that they harness the expanded venue possibilities of The Sett at Union South. Although the WUD budget would normally be approved at this time of the year, Union Council has deferred any formal budgetary resolution due to uncertainty about how the current political climate will play out with regard to Union finances. WUD has therefore developed a tentative budget incorporating increases that would sustain their current level of activity, as well as a contingency plan for a 0% increase in the event of state budget cuts.

Committee Updates: The Dining Services Committee is currently reviewing data related to bottled water purchases from Union vending machines and food outlets, an issue that WISPIRG to the Union’s attention as part of an environmental campaign encouraging students to use reusable bottles. Union Council will review the relevant information and provide recommendations about how to proceed at its next meeting in February. The Programs Committee discussed the position description for a new Games Coordinator who will research current campus trends regarding all types of games and will develop programming suggestions based on those findings. In addition, the committee reviewed WUD Music’s proposal for two new venue managers – one for Der Rathskeller and one for The Sett – who would be responsible for supervising logistics at each venue. The Facilities Committee considered complaints about chewing tobacco and decided that the problem was not critical enough to justify changing the Union’s status from a smoke-free to a tobacco-free building. Council suggested that the Facilities Committee undertake further research into the status of other campus buildings before it decides whether or not the Union should consider becoming tobacco-free.

Building Updates: Union South is still on schedule for its grand opening date of April 15. The Memorial Union Reinvestment Project is proceeding apace, as several ideas for building improvements begin to take more concrete shape. For example, project managers hope to secure additional outside funding in order to create an Alumni Park where Parking Lot 1 is currently located. However, Lot 1 currently doubles as the loading dock for all supplies coming into the Union, so converting the lot into a park would require that the loading dock be moved underground. Designers came up with the creative idea of installing a huge “turntable” that would rotate incoming semi-trucks, enabling them to drop off their shipments while maneuvering in a more confined space. Another major proposal is to close the Park Street entrance and open a new west entrance onto Langdon Street. As currently envisioned, this entrance would funnel Union patrons along a corridor leading directly to the theater, thereby solving many accessibility issues associated with the current senseless array of staircases in that wing of the building. For more information and ways to get involved with the Memorial Union Reinvestment, go to http://unionreinvestment.wisc.edu/index.html.

Action Items: Union Council approved definitions for the space designations of Policy FM1-3, as well as a motion to appoint Council members Cindy Rivard and Jeff Waupt to the selection committee for next year’s Union officers.

-Claire Lynch

Union Council-Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Reports

President- Mr. Callan has been busy with the Union South and Memorial Reinvestment projects.

VP Program Administration- Miss Helling has been working on NUGO (New Union Grand Opening) committee. Projects include events on the 15th of every month until the grand opening of Union South on April 15. There will be no January of March events due to breaks.

VP Public Relations- Miss Kleinschmidt will be working on recruitment and marketing for the directorate.

VP Leadership Development- Miss Fischer has been working on putting together the Now You for emerging leaders conference as well as the WUD retreat.

Secretary- Mr. Guthier informed us that the Union is still searching for an outdoors program coordinator. Mr. Guthier also confirmed that Babcock dairy will be providing ice cream for WID (Wisconsin Institute for Discovery) on the public side. The historic structure report was also discussed, and it was revealed that “some things are not sticking like they should,” and that is the reason for all the recent construction in and around the building. Mr. Guthier ensured everyone that the building is safe, but the construction will help preserve the building as well as make certain things more efficient.

Treasurer- Mr. Walter discussed that the Union is still under budget because of the great summer and fall seasons, but things will get a little tighter with the winter season.

Committee Updates

Administration- Miss Kleinschmidt discussed that they will be meeting on December 6 to discuss the WUD budget, and dive right into the Union budget.

Facilities- Mr. Callan informed everyone that Halloween was a success with very few problems!

Dining Services- Miss Fischer reported that she has a very active committee that has been discussing Union South restaurants as well as attitudes in dining services at Memorial Union.

Program and Leadership- Miss Helling reported that her commitee is working on simplifying the budget process and reviewing position descriptions.

Building Updates

Union South- Mr. Guthier reports that the building is still on schedule and on budget. He informed us that we hope to move the food unit staff in the middle of February with a complete turnover in March.

Memorial Reinvestment- Mr. Callan discussed possible play circle changes, and that they are leaning toward a black box theme.

Action Items

Policy Chamge FMI-3- Council moved to add 3 more classification spaces to help Central Reservations better regulate room reservations and room purposes. The 3 new classifications include Large Event Spaces, Lounge Spaces, and Deck or outdoor seating areas. Council also moved to have this policy go back to the Facilities subcommittee for descriptions for all 11 space designations which include:

1. Support space
2. Wisconsin Union revenue space- non-food
3. Wisconsin Union revenue space- food
4. Wisconsin Union office space
5. Meeting Rooms
6. General Use Space
7. Rental space- revenue producing (concessionaires)
8. Large Event Space
9. Lounge Space
10. Deck or outdoor seating area

Union South Space Designations- Council approved a document that used the newly approve Policy FMI-3 to classify each space in the new Union South.

Water Bottle Discussion- Union Council moved to have the dining services subcommittee research and discuss the possibility of eliminating bottled water in the Union. Miss Fischer will come back with her committees findings at the January meeting.

-Cindy Rivard

Union Council, October 28

Union Council Meeting of October 28, 2010

Sub-Committee Updates

Ms. Kleinschmidt, VP Public Relations, gave updates the Administration Committee which will be discussing topics including but not limited to the Union’s website, branding, and graphics standards. The Administration Committee deals with the Union’s operating budget, technology, membership, Wiscard, human resources and accounting.

Mr. Callan, President, gave updates on the Facilities Committee, which will be discussing topics including but not limited to building hours, space designation, space allocation, and building usage. The Facilities Committee focuses on areas of the Union including Central Reservations, Buildings and Grounds, and the Hotel.

Ms. Fischer, VP Leadership Development, gave updates on the Dining Services Committee, which will be discussing topics that include but are not limited to sustainability, nutrition and labeling, and food options at Union South. The Dining Services Committee represents the Union’s dining units including cafes, markets, restaurants, catering, as well as, indoor recreation.

Ms. Helling, VP Program Administration, gave updates on the Program and Leadership Committee, which will be discussing topics including but not limited to programming in Union South, mini course student discounts, WUD budget process, and committee evaluation. The Program and Leadership Committee represents the Program areas including the Theater, Mini Courses and Craftshop, Outdoor Recreation, and Wisconsin Union Directorate/Hoofers.

Mr. Callan encouraged all Council members to serve on at least one committee, and asks to ask other potentially interested students and faculty members to join these committees.

Contact Patrick Callan at pcallan@wisc.edu to find out more information on any of the above-mentioned committees.

Budget Updates

Mr. Guthier and Mr. Walter discussed the summer’s budget and how the good weather and entertainment on the Terrace has put us under budget at about $290,000 as of August 31. We will review this again at the next meeting, as this report that we looked at does not include any checks that have not been cleared or invoices that have not been billed and filed from the summer season.

Memorial Union Reinvestment Project

Mr. Davidsavor and Julie Grove from the Design Committee gave a detailed presentation on the Memorial Union Renovation Project. Their presentation included 3 sections including background information, purpose and scope of the project, and building usage. Union Council unanimously approved the following sections of the project.

Background Information

Below is the approved information highlighted by Mr. Davidsavor in his presentation. There will be significantly more discussion on this topic in meetings to come with additional more detailed updates. This is just the brief unfinished overview presented to Council.

Mission and Vision Statements

• Mission- “Making lifetime connections on the campus, one person at a time.”
• Vision- “To be the heart and soul of this great University.”
• Vision Statement for the Project- “The revitalized west wing of the Memorial Union inspires students and the larger campus community to attend, participate and encourage in recreation and the arts, provides a strong sense of place that is alive and inviting, and fully integrates unique campus resources through easy accessibility with the overall facility.”
• The idea of the project is to have two buildings, one Union.
• Both Union’s should compliment each other

Project Background

• Memorial Union was completed in 1928
• In 1939, the West Wing was added to house the Theater, Craftshop, and Hoofers
• Memorial Union is the second in number of out-of-town visitors in Madison only to the State Capital
• Over 21,000 meetings and function are held each year at Memorial Union
• WUD produces of 1,000 student programs and events
• Mini courses are offered through the Union
• The Terrace connects the Union to Lake Mendota and is the most popular spot on campus

Project Overview

• The aging process has caused considerable damage to the building resulting in less desirable space for programs and functions to take place
  • This was recognized by the students in 2006, which increase segregated fees by $96 per semester for the next 30 years
• Architects will be working on ADA issues, infrastructure upgrades, building code compliances, allocation of space, and historic preservation.
• Parking Lot 1 will eventually be replaces with a park funded by Alumni that will be called Alumni Park. This will be an expansion of East Campus Mall with the goals of connecting Lake Mendota and the Southeast edge of campus.

Project Team

• Department of State Facilities (DSF), Same Calvin, Project Manager
• Seven member team that represents the State, the University, the Wisconsin Union and the Wisconsin Historical Society, as well as two architectural firms of Uihlein Wilson Associate and Moody^.Nolan.

Process

• There is no definitive timeline at this point
• The design team attended a series of six multi-day workshops to figure the needs of the stakeholders in the Memorial Union project
• 49 focus groups met
• Public meeting have been held
• Much review is still to be done before complete approval is sought out

Purpose and Scope of the Project

Phase I and II

• Project will be complete in stages
• Phase I-preparation of the Program Statement and 15% for the entire Memorial Union
• Phase II- developing the West Wing design
• Later phases will be bases on 15% design and will complete the total preservation and renovation of the building

Union Theater

• Improved access to the theater
• Renovation to Auditorium and Stage
• Improved technology

Theater Lobby Improvements

• Increased lobby size-having is serve as a student lounge when not in use
• Making more use out the Winkler Lounge
• Improvements the Theater Gallery as it has not been successfully controlling overflow or serving as a proper place for artwork display

Frederick March Play Circle Theater

• Dysfunctional currently
• Historical issues are being discusses to make this a useful performance space as Union South will have a designated area for displaying movies

Hoofers

• Lack of space is a safety issue
• Needs better lack access for loading and staging
• A multi-purpose “club house” room is in the works

Craftshop

• Serious lack of visibility
• Accessibility issues

Phase III

• Resolved through only 15% design
• Will complete preservation and renovation for the central core and East Wing

Games Room

• Old games room was flooded 3 time in one summer and needed to be removed
• Looking to add a new games room
• Looking to visible from Rathskeller/Stiftskeller

Food Service

• Circulation needs to be improved
• Identities need to be better enumerated
• Food preparation should be done where the food is served
• Peet’s visibility needs to be improved
• The Lakefront on Langdon needs to be better connected to the Terrace
• Information function needs to be removed from Essential
• Grab and Go needs to be removed from Daily Scoop
• An additional food stand is required on the Terrace
• Catering needs to be more accessible for meetings and functions
• The loading dock needs to be expanded and coordinated with Alumni Park

Meeting Rooms

• There is a need for additional meeting rooms
• Rooms need to be more flexible
• Technology in the rooms needs to be improved

Directorate (WUD)

• Needs more visibility
• More space
• Needs it’s own meeting room

Guest Rooms

• Needs to be a more Bed and Breakfast than a hotel set-up
• Guest reception needs to differ from Essentials

Art Galleries and Collection

• Porter Butts Gallery and adjoining Class of 1925 Gallery need to sustain themselves in a better location
• Better support, spaces, including proper storage and a work room
• Too much light
• Lack of student traffic
• Needs a way to display 3 dimensional artwork

Staff Needs

• Consolidate administrative staff
• Office sizes need to be evaluated
• Improved break room for all staff

Facility Operations

• Shops need to be better organized and modernized
• Ceiling heights are an issue (too low in some areas in the basement)
• Storage has been proved hazardous in some areas
• Elevator access needs to be improved
• New freight/service elevator is required

In addition to these sections of the project the Terrace and Retail Areas need to be reviewed and approved on a future date.

Occupants and Users

As of Fall Semester 2010

Student Enrollment: 42,598

Undergraduate Enrollment: 28,900

Graduate Students: 9,369

Professional Students: 2,682

Special Students: 1,682

Percent of total by gender:

Male: 48.6%

Female: 51.4$

Race/Ethnicity or International Status

White: 74.3%

African American: 3.0%

Hispanic: 3.7%

Asian: 5.0%

Native American: 0.9%

Native Hawaiian: 0.2%

International 9.8%

Unknown: 3.0%

-Cindy Rivard

Union Council, September 30

Hello one and all! Welcome to play-by-play coverage of UW-Madison’s Union Council, the governing board for the Wisconsin Union.  For the sake of accountability I’ll state that this post was written by Tyler Junger, Shared Gov appointee to the Union Council for 2010-2011.  This is the second year I’m serving on Union Council; I was the Chair of ASM last year, and as such an automatic appointee to the board.  Before I get going on the post proper, I’d like to let you know that I understand the issues readers face with jargon when dealing with the university and its oodles of governing bodies.  Because of this, I’ll be using a footnote system to explain terms and relationships whenever I think there may be vocabulary that’s very topic-specific.  These notes will be marked by a bolded number in parentheses (example), and the terms will be clarified in a separate section at the bottom of the post.  Now, onto our exciting play-by-play.

The meeting on the 30th was the first overseen by Union President (1) and UW student Patrick Callan, who also served on Union Council last year and was active within the Wisconsin Union Directorate (2).  The meeting was structured more as a training for new members of Council; it included ice breakers (what was your nickname as a child?) background on the Council itself (more on this later) and updates from the various Union committees.  We also got update/review on the new Union South building project (3).

We also got an update about the Memorial Union reinvestment, a second part of the Union building project which is going to serve to make Memorial Union more handicapped accessible, update a lot of the utilities, and expand the workable space in the building.  In conjunction with this project, the state prepared a historic structures report; this report makes recommendations as to which parts of the building  are “historic” and thus shouldn’t be altered.  Surprising to me: the murals in Der Rathskellar(4) are considered historic, but the ones in the Stiftskellar aren’t.

Part of the discussion we had during the night was focused on the role of the Union Council within the Union itself.  Since this role isn’t defined in the Union’s governing documents, a working definition had to be found.  At present, the Union Council serves in a rather philosophical role in the organization, leaving much of the day-to-day operations to staff.  I’d like to ask readers what you think of this, and whether you think Union Council should retain its more philosophical role (deciding the overall direction of the organization) or involve itself in the nitty-gritty of  Union operations.

‘Til next time, loyal fans.  Be sure to check out the useful resources at the bottom of this post.  Included are the agenda and all the other materials handed out to members of the Council at the meeting (except for name placards, but you really don’t need one of those.)

t

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Footnotes:

1: Each year the Union Council elects a student president whose job duties include: presiding over Union Council meetings; serving on the Executive Committee (which actually does most of the meat-and-potatoes governing work of the Union); serving on the Wisconsin Union Directorate; making appointments to various Union committees and boards.  These duties were culled from the Union Constitution and Bylaws, and speaking as an individual whose job description didn’t begin to match up to the real duties of the office, I imagine this list is far from exhaustive.

2: Wisconsin Union Directorate is, in brief, the student board responsible for programming at the Union.  It is divided into many smaller bodies, each focusing on a different area of programming.  The charge of these committees ranges from Music to Film to the Distinguished Lecture Series, with many other points between those.

3: Union South is under the process of being rebuilt; students are paying $96 each per semester until 2040 to fund this building and the overhaul of Memorial Union, so you’d best go use them! The name Union South was held over from the old building to the new as a result of a student vote held through cooperation between ASM and the Union in Spring of 2010.  Other options included Varsity Union, Randall Union, and Discovery Union; students voted overwhelmingly to keep it classy with the name Union South.

4: When I was out in DC this summer we encountered a place called the Rathskellar, which prompted me to look up the etymology of this word.  It means “council chamber,” and refers to a sub-street level meeting place – basically the stereotypical “smoke-filled back room” in my opinion.  The more you know…

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Resources:

Agenda

Overview of Organizational Relations within the Union and UW

Union Council Subcommittees

Union Spreadsheet on 36.09(5) (note: this doesn’t cite all of 36.09(5), and I think some of the missing parts are important)

June 2010 Union budget snapshot

Wisconsin Union Constitution

Wisconsin Union Bylaws