For the record

For the Record

Policies and procedures

New Immigration Legislation
President Clinton signed an immigration law in October 2000 that benefits the academic community. The cap on H-1B temporary workers will no longer be a problem, and there are other changes in immigration law that will have a significant impact on the university. The following is a summary of the relevant sections of the law, which went into effect immediately upon the date of Clinton’s signature.

American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act of 2000
H-1B Temporary Workers

The Act temporarily raises the H-1B cap for 1999 through 2003.

The most significant changes for the university:

Permanently exempts from the cap H-1B workers who are employed by, or have received an offer of employment from, a college or university, or a related or affiliated nonprofit entity, or a governmental or a nonprofit research organization. Also included in the exemption are physicians who have received a waiver of the two-year home residence requirement based on a request from an interested state or federal government agency.
Continues to exempt academic institutions from the additional filing fee of $500 (raised by separate legislation to $1,000).
Authorizes an individual who is in lawful H-1B status to begin employment with a new employer on the date the new employer files the form I-129 with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Under current law, the employee must wait until the INS approves the petition, which can mean a wait of several months. This only applies to individuals who are in valid H-1B status.

The new employer must file the petition prior to the expiration date of the H-1B’s previously authorized stay, and the H-1B must not have worked without authorization before the filing of the petition. This does not apply to individuals who are outside the United States and need an H-1B visa to enter the country nor to those who are in the United States in another status and need a change of status to H-1B. If the INS denies the petition, employment authorization with the new employer terminates. This section is effective for petitions filed on, before or after the date of enactment.

NOTE: This provision of the law may prove difficult to implement until INS clarifies which document(s) can be used for I-9 employment eligibility verification. Until this issue has been resolved, UW–Madison will continue to require an INS Notice of Approval I-797 before a person in H-1B status can begin new employment at UW–Madison.

Applicants for Permanent Residence
The significant changes for the university:

Eliminates per country limit, provided that the total number of available employment based immigrant visas for a calendar quarter has not been used up. Under current law, no more than 7 percent of the employment-based immigrants each year can be from a single country. Since the limit has not been reached in recent years, it is likely that the per-country limits will be effectively eliminated. This will particularly benefit those individuals who were born in India and the People’s Republic of China, as these countries recently have experienced significant backlogs in immigrant visa availability. It is important to realize that the per-country limits relate to the country in which the person was born, not the one of which they are currently a citizen.
Authorizes the attorney general to allow beneficiaries of approved employment-based preference petitions to remain in H-1B status beyond the current six-year limit when they have been prevented from applying for adjustment of status to permanent resident due to the per country limitation.
The six-year limit on H-1B status no longer applies to those who have pending I-140 employment based immigrant petitions or I-485 adjustment of status applications, provided a year or more has passed since the filing of either the Labor Certification to the Department of Labor or I-140 petition to INS. Their H-1B status can be extended in one-year increments until INS makes a final decision on the application for permanent residence. This provides relief to those who are caught in the lengthy backlogs in INS processing of permanent residence petitions. All other H-1Bs are still subject to the six-year limit.
Eliminates the need for adjustment-of-status applicants to start the entire permanent residence process over if they change jobs while the application is pending. This provides more flexibility for individuals whose I-485 application for adjustment of status has been pending for six months or more. An applicant can change jobs and/or employers, provided the new job is in the same or a similar occupational classification as the job for which the original petition was filed.
Creates a new fund designed to reduce INS processing times for all cases to less than 180 days and eliminate backlogs of pending cases. INS will need to provide Congress with a plan for eliminating backlogs and an estimate of the funds necessary to do so within 90 days of passage of the law. The backlogs are to be eliminated within one year of enactment and processing times should remain within the 180-day limit in the future. H, L, O and P petitions should be processed within 30 days. If INS is able to successfully implement this section of the act, the lengthy processing times we have been experiencing will be reduced. It remains to be seen if the INS will be successful and we do not expect any immediate relief from the long delays.

Grants and fellowships

Humanities Grant Recipients
The Center for the Humanities is pleased to announce the five workshops in the humanities chosen to receive funding with support from the Mellon Foundation. They are:

Conflicting Cultures and the Invention of Modernity in Africa
Disability Studies in the Humanities
The Ritual(s) of Everyday Life: A Material Culture Workshop
Visual Culture Studies
The Early Modern Study Group

University faculty, staff and students are invited to attend workshop meetings, which will bring together members of the humanities community from different departments and disciplines to read and discuss texts and other materials, recent scholarship and present their own work in progress.

Descriptions of the workshops are available at: http://www.humanities.wisc.edu/Mellon.html#top2 or http://www.humanities.wisc.edu.

The Mellon Foundation awarded the center $50,000 to establish the interdisciplinary workshops in the humanities. Five workshops will be funded during the next two academic years. Each workshop will receive $5,000 for materials and speakers.

Named Professorships
Nominations are invited for Hilldale, Vilas and Evjue-Bascom (Humanities) professorships, as well as for the new William T. Evjue Distinguished Chair for the Wisconsin Idea. There is one vacancy in each category. Nominations should include six copies of:

a curriculum vitae
a letter of nomination indicating department endorsement and any other kind of professional support from within UW–Madison
at least three external letters of recommendation

All departmental nominations are due in the appropriate dean’s office by Friday, Dec. 8. The deans should forward all nominations by Friday, Jan. 5, for review by a standing faculty committee appointed by the chancellor from current holders of named professorships. The chancellor and provost will review nominations prior to submission to the Board of Regents for final approval. These appointments will be effective July 1. Any questions regarding this competition may be directed to Cherie Krenke, 262-8072; krenke@bascom.wisc.edu.

Meiklejohn-Powell Fellowship
The Integrated Liberal Studies Program has received a substantial grant to be directed toward establishing the Meiklejohn-Powell Fellowship. Each year over the next 10 years, a $5,000 fellowship will be awarded to a faculty member to develop and teach a new class, workshop or lecture series that reflects the work or concerns of Alexander Meiklejohn.

Application deadline: Nov. 15 for spring 2001 and May 15 for the 2001-02 academic year. Contact: Booth Fowler, 262-9067; fowler@polisci.wisc.edu.

Teaching Academy Nominations
The Teaching Academy invites nominations for membership. Nominees may be any members of the faculty or academic staff involved in undergraduate, graduate or outreach teaching. Nominees should be outstanding university educators concerned about teaching and enriching the learning environment at this university. The academy particularly welcomes individuals who have demonstrated excellence through classroom innovation, program development, grant funding, publications, presentations or committee work related to teaching or learning. Details: http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/teaching-academy.

Application deadline: Feb. 16.

Toxicology Pilot Projects
The Environmental Health Sciences Center for Developmental and Molecular Toxicology has funding for one-year pilot project proposals addressing molecular mechanisms of toxicity and/or developmental disruption. Pilot project funding is provided through a federal grant with a budget of $90,000 for the 2001 grant period. Proposals from individual investigators requesting up to $15,000 will be considered. The pilot project committee has high expectations that these funds will be leveraged into future extramural grant support and is particularly interested in receiving collaborative proposals involving two investigators from separate laboratories. Joint proposals between two investigators requesting up to $30,000 will be considered. Application deadline: Nov. 15. For proposal format and eligibility guidelines: 263-5556; ehsadmin@ehscenter.wisc.edu.

Teaching Enhancement Grants
The Provost’s Office is pleased to announce the third year of the teaching and learning initiative for undergraduate education called the Teaching Enhancement Grants. The chancellor has allocated $50,000 a year for three years from the resources available for innovative programs at the UW Foundation. In the past two years, we were able to fully fund 12 proposals and partially fund two proposals.

TEGs assist in implementing innovations in undergraduate education that would otherwise not be funded. They focus on undergraduate students’ active participation in their education (in-classroom and out-of-classroom experiences, service learning, etc.), through a variety of means (freshman seminars, field trips, meetings with visiting guests, etc.), with additional benefits (Comm-B credits, interdisciplinary endeavors, etc.).

Applications should be sent to the office of Associate Vice Chancellor Bob Skloot, 117 Bascom, by Wednesday, Nov. 22. Information and applications: Chris Carlson-Dakes, 263-4259; cgcarlso@facstaff.wisc.edu. A list of winners from last year is also available upon request.

Center For Jewish Studies Grant
The Center for Jewish Studies is pleased to announce a grant for course development. Faculty are invited to submit proposals to develop a new course to be cross-listed between their home department and Jewish Studies, which would contribute to the core curriculum of Jewish Studies and be offered for the first time in Fall 2002 and thereafter on a regular basis, i.e., at least every two years.

The center is especially interested in encouraging the development of courses appropriate to freshmen and sophomores, including Capstone Courses and Comm B courses.

The grant will provide a member of the faculty with up to $4,000. A one-page proposal should be submitted that discusses the course’s theme, its intended student audience, the disciplinary needs of Jewish Studies it will serve, and its appropriateness to the new Jewish studies major (in place May 2001). More information: 265-4763.

Proposals should be submitted to: Course Incentive Grant, Center for Jewish Studies, 308 Ingraham.

Closing Date: March 9. Announcement of grant: May 4, 2001.

Position Vacancies

Administrative

038107: Assoc Outreach Spec,
Ag&Lsc/Dept of Biological Systems Engineering (100). Apply by November 30.

038353: Acad Program Director,
L&S/Lafollette School of Public Affairs (100). Apply by December 1.

038398: Assistant Dean,
Med Sc/Administration (100). Apply by December 1.

038451: Assoc Outreach Spec/Sr Outreach Spec,
Bus/School of Business (100). Apply by December 13.

Clinical / Health Sciences

035587: Clinical Asst Prof,
Med Sc/Medicine (100). Apply by December 1.

038394: Clinical Instructor/Clinical Asst Prof,
Nur/Academic Affairs (50). Apply by November 21.

Communications

038134: Asst Dir, Unspec (8),
G Serv/University Communications (100). Apply by November 14.

038556: Univ Relations Spec,
L&S/Computer Sciences (50% ). Apply by November 14.

Computer / Information Processing

038435: Assoc Inf Proc Conslt/ Inform Process Conslt,
Med Sc/Medicine (100). Apply by November 14.

Executive

038398: Assistant Dean (L),
Med Sc/Administration (100). Apply by December 1.

Instruction

038446: Lecturer,
L&S/Computer Sciences (50% ). Apply by March 9.

038502: Assoc Lecturer/Lecturer,
Educ/Art (50). Apply by November 17.

038532: Lecturer,
Educ/Rehabilitation Psychology& Special Educ (10% ). Apply by November 24.

038546: Lecturer,
L&S/Communication Arts (50). Apply by November 14.

038547: Faculty Assistant,
L&S/Communication Arts (25% ). Apply by November 14.

038548: Lecturer,
L&S/School of Music (40% ). Apply by November 27.

038549: Instructional Spec,
Ag&Lsc/Food Science (100). Apply by January 1.

038561: Faculty Assistant,
L&S/Psychology (50% ). Apply by November 24.

038564: Assoc Lecturer/Lecturer,
Educ/Kinesiology (50). Apply by November 30.

038565: Clinical Instructor,
Vet M/Pathobiological Sciences (100). Apply by November 15.

Library Services

038407: Assoc Spec Librarian/Special Librarian,
Grad/Primate Research Center (100). Apply by November 15.

038462: Assoc Acad Librarian/ Academic Librarian,
Educ/Cntr – Instructional Matls & Computing (100). Apply by November 15.

Other Academic Staff

Director of Development and Publications (100)
UW-Extension PVL#: A01005

Contact: Wisconsin Humanities Council, 608-262-0706
Apply by December 15

Program Officer (100)
UW-Extension PVL#:

Contact: Wisconsin Humanities Council, 608-262-0706
Apply by December 15

Research

037688: Assistant Scientist/Associate Scientist,
Med Sc/Medicine (100). Apply by December 1.

038253: Research Prog Mgr II,
Med Sc/Biostatistics And Medical Informatics (100). Apply by November 17.

038382: Research Prog Mgr II,
Ag&Lsc/Animal Science (100). Apply by January 2.

038389: Assoc Instrument Tech/ Instrumentation Tech/Sr Instrument Tech,
Engr/Engineering Shops (100). Apply by November 29.

038464: Assistant Scientist/Associate Scientist,
Med Sc/Surgery (33% ). Apply by November 20.

038484: Assistant Scientist/ Associate Scientist/Senior Scientist,
Engr/Engineering Experiment Station (50% ). Apply by November 21.

038519: Assoc Research Spec/ Research Specialist/Sr Research Spec,
Ag&Lsc/Plant Pathology (100). Apply by November 30.

038541: Assoc Research Spec/Research Specialist,
Med Sc/Human Oncology (50% ). Apply by November 14.

038542: Assoc Research Spec/Research Specialist,
Grad/Primate Research Center (100). Apply by November 14.

038543: Asst Researcher/Assoc Researcher,
Med Sc/Pediatrics (100). Apply by November 14.

038550: Asst Researcher/ Assoc Researcher/Researcher,
Ag&Lsc/Biochemistry (100). Apply by November 14.

038557: Assistant Scientist,
Ag&Lsc/Biochemistry (100). Apply by November 14.

Student Services

038283: Student Services Spec/ Sr Student Serv Spec,
U Hsg/University Apartment offices (100). Apply by November 24.

038367: Psychologist/Sr Psychologist/ Sr Counselor,
UHS/Student Programs (100). Apply by November 15.

038384: Advisor/Sr Advisor,
Con St/Administration (65). Apply by November 17.

038539: Student Services Coord,
L&S/Administration:Student Academic Affairs (50). Apply by November 15.

UW–Madison is an Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action employer.