Category: The national context

Election Update from PROFS

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Last week, Michael Bernard Donals, President of PROFS, and Jack O’Meara, PROFS’ lobbyist, sent an email to all faculty with an update on the federal and state elections. The text of that message is below:

Hello UW-Madison Faculty Member:

With the election a few days behind us, we wanted to get in touch to summarize what happened and where we see things going in the days and months ahead. We particularly want to make sure you are aware of the results in the state legislative elections.

On Election Night, Wisconsin–long a battleground state–gave former President Donald Trump the electoral college votes he needed to declare victory. Trump won the state by roughly 30,000 votes.

We can expect major changes in higher education policy under President Trump. Here are some articles on that topic:

Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin won a close election, defeating her opponent, Eric Hovde, by about 29,000 votes for a third term in the Senate. Our longtime local congressman, Democrat Mark Pocan, was also re-elected. PROFS has strong relationships with Senator Baldwin and Congressman Pocan, dating to their times in the Wisconsin Legislature, and we look forward to working with them and their staffs in 2025.

Because of Democratic losses in other states, control of the U.S. Senate will shift to the Republicans. Control of the U.S. House of Representatives has yet to be determined, as many races, particularly on the West Coast, have not been called. This will be a significant factor in whether President Trump will be able to fully advance his agenda.

The balance of power in the Wisconsin Legislature will be much closer in January following a lawsuit over gerrymandering that resulted in new, more competitive legislative maps. Democrats, however, were not able to take control of the State Assembly, as they had hoped. Given that only half the Senate is up for election every two years, it was not realistic for the Democrats to take back the Senate, but it is noteworthy that the Democrats won all of the most competitive races on the Senate side.

Democrats picked up 10 seats in the State Assembly and four seats in the State Senate. This means there will be 54 Republicans and 45 Democrats in the Assembly, and 18 Republicans and 15 Democrats in the Senate. In the previous legislative session, the balance was 64-35 and 22-11, meaning the Republicans had a supermajority in the Senate and a near-supermajority in the Assembly. Legislators can override vetoes from Democratic Governor Tony Evers with supermajorities.

Some of the notable new faces in the Legislature include Democratic Representative-elect Renuka Mayadev, who will serve in the newly-created district that represents UW-Madison and many areas where UW employees live. Rep.-elect Mayadev currently works at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. Also of note, Democratic Senator-elect Jamie Wall, a business consultant in Green Bay, was a Rhodes Scholar after receiving his bachelor’s degree from UW-Madison. Senator Kelda Helen Roys (D-Madison), a strong advocate for the faculty and UW-Madison, was also re-elected.

Legislators are beginning to elect their leadership. Senator Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) was elected by her caucus to serve as Senate President. Senator Felzkowski is a long-time member of the Joint Finance Committee. Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) will continue to serve as leader. More leadership votes will take place next week, and committee memberships will be announced in the coming weeks.

The 2025-27 state budget, including funding for UW-Madison and the Universities of Wisconsin, will be at the top of the agenda for the new Legislature when they take office in January. Following the recommendation of UW System President Jay Rothman, the UW Board of Regents has requested $855 million in new funding for the universities.

Last week, the Legislative Council Study Committee on the Future of the UW System endorsed the idea of a separate board and separate funding for UW-Madison, along with bonding authority for the university, plus other suggestions. PROFS will monitor developments and advocate for the best possible result for UW-Madison and its faculty.

As always, let us know if you have concerns, suggestions, or questions.

Sincerely,

Michael Bernard-Donals, English & Jewish Studies
PROFS President

Jack O’Meara
PROFS Lobbyist

PROFS Forum on the Future of Flagship Universities

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States from coast to coast are considering or have already announced plans to drastically cut public higher education funding. At the same time, many state legislatures are introducing bills that limit or ban DEI efforts, dictate curriculum, and eliminate tenure.

Where does that leave the flagship university, once the crown jewel of public higher education?

PROFS will host a public forum on April 24 to discuss national trends, how UW-Madison compares to our flagship peers, and what that might mean for Wisconsin.

PROFS President Michael Bernard-Donals will moderate our panel:

The forum will be held in the Wisconsin Idea Room (Room 159) in the Education Building. Refreshments will be served.

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Wrecked: State Politics and the Deinstitutionalization of Public Higher Education

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Wrecked by Barrett J. Taylor

The Havens Wright Center for Social Justice is sponsoring an online event featuring University of North Texas Counseling & Higher Education Professor Barrett J. Taylor. Taylor will discuss his most recent book, Wrecked: State Politics and the Deinstitutionalization of Public Higher Education, via Zoom at noon, Thursday, February 29. Pre-registration is required to attend.

From the publisher:

Higher education is a central institution in U.S. democracy. In the 2010s, however, many states that spent previous decades building up their higher education systems began to tear them down.

Growing hostility toward higher education reflected changing social forces that remade the politics of U.S. higher education. The political Right became increasingly reliant on angry white voters as higher education became more racially diverse. The Republican party became more closely connected to extremely wealthy donors as higher education became more costly.

In Wrecked, Barrett J. Taylor shows how these social changes set a collision course for the Right and higher education. These attacks fed a policy agenda of deinstitutionalization, which encompassed stark divestment from higher education but was primarily characterized by an attack on the institution’s social foundation of public trust.

In response to these attacks, higher education officials have offered a series of partial defenses that helped higher education to cope in the short-term but did nothing to defend the institution itself against the long-term threat of declining public trust. The failure to address underlying issues of mistrust allowed conflict to escalate to the point at which many states are now wrecking their public higher education systems.

Wrecked offers a unique and compelling perspective linking higher education policymaking to broader social and political forces acting in the twenty-first century.

 

PROFS Statement on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health

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Last Friday, the United States Supreme Court voted 6-3 to overturn Roe v. Wade. PROFS is deeply concerned about the negative effects this will have on Wisconsin citizens, but also on the University of Wisconsin-Madison and its School of Medicine and Public Health. Our statement is below:

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Statements on Supreme Court Decision

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The University of Wisconsin System, UW-Madison, and the UW School of Medicine and Public Health all released statements last Friday following the United States Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

UW System President Jay Rothman:

We know that abortion remains a highly contentious issue that directly affects our students. We are reviewing the U.S. Supreme Court decision to determine what impact it may have on our universities. Like others, we will monitor the legal process surrounding this issue and will adhere to the law as it continues to evolve.

UW-Madison Interim Chancellor John Karl Scholz:

This morning, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision on Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health that overturns the precedent set by Roe v Wade almost 50 years ago. We recognize the decision evokes a wide range of feelings in our community as it alters long-standing federal protections and allows states to regulate abortion without federal constitutional standards.

While UW–Madison will continue to meet all applicable legal requirements, we are facing a period of uncertainty as the new legal status for abortion access in Wisconsin is interpreted and challenged. We know this uncertainty may affect some members of our community more than others.

We are concerned about the decision’s implications for patient care and clinical training of obstetrics and gynecology residents. We will continue to work to understand the full impact of the Supreme Court’s decision and assess its implications for the campus community.

We encourage you to seek support and community in ways that feel right to you. Campus resources are also available to anyone seeking assistance in processing change and uncertainty:

Students may contact University Health Services by calling 608-265-5600 (option 9) or schedule an appointment through MyUHS.Employees may access services through the Employee Assistance Office.

Employees may access services through the Employee Assistance Office.

University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Dean Robert N. Golden, MD:

The decision by the Supreme Court of the United States on Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health to overturn the abortion access precedent set by Roe v Wade has significant implications for the patients and populations we serve. The ruling is directly relevant to the relationship between women and their health care professionals, and we are assessing how it may impact clinical training.

We remain completely dedicated to our patients, and will provide the best care possible and trustworthy, accurate medical information. We will continue to provide outstanding, comprehensive obstetrics and gynecology residency training. And we will continue to advance health equity by identifying ways to support marginalized populations that are disproportionally affected by barriers to accessing reproductive healthcare.

We will continue to meet all applicable legal requirements. While there may be some uncertainties regarding legal interpretations of state statutes, we will continue to comply with laws related to reproductive health care.

 

Regent Tracey Klein Added to College Affordability Panel

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UW System Regent Tracey Klein

PROFS is pleased to announce that University of Wisconsin System Regent Tracey Klein will serve as the third panelist at the upcoming forum on affordability and public higher education on Thursday, October 24.

Klein, a health care attorney for more than 30 years, was named to the Board of Regents by Governor Scott Walker in 2016. She is a chairs the Regent Education Committee and is also a member of the Executive Committee.

The forum will focus on the cost of delivering education, why it rises, and the implication of rising expenses – pressure on the state to subsidize the cost, students to pay higher tuition and the university to raise funds and pursue partnerships.

It will be held in the De Luca Forum in the Discovery Building at 4 pm on Thursday, October 24. Klein will be joined by UW-Madison professor Nicholas Hillman (moderater) and panelists David Feldman (professor, William & Mary) and UW-Madison Vice Chancellor Laurent Heller.

Save the Date: PROFS Forum on the Cost of Higher Education

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PROFS is pleased to announce a campus forum on the cost of higher education on Thursday, October 24. This event will be held at 4 pm in the De Luca Forum in the Discovery Building, 330 North Orchard Street, and is open to the public.

Nicholas Hillman

The forum, moderated by UW-Madison Education Professor Nicholas Hillman, will examine college cost, in particular why costs have risen so dramatically in recent years and the implications of rising expenses. We will look at the the resulting pressure on the state to increase funding and students to pay higher tuition, along with pressure on the university to raise funds and pursue partnerships.

Our panel includes William & Mary Economics Professor David Feldman and UW-Madison Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Laurent Heller. A third panelist will be named soon.

David Feldman

David Feldman received his A.B. from Kenyon College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Duke University. Before joining the faculty at William and Mary in 1989, he taught at Duke and Colgate University. His current research examines college cost, the demand for higher education, and the role of federal and state policy toward higher education. He has published two books on the cost of higher education with his faculty colleague Robert Archibald, The Road Ahead for America’s Colleges and Universities and Why Does College Cost So Much?

Laurent Heller

Laurent Heller began his appointment as the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration in August, 2016. Heller has extensive experience in budgeting and finance, higher education strategy and business operations, having served as Vice Chancellor, Financial Planning and Analysis at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley.

UW-Madison’s Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership is a cosponsor of this event.

Shared Governance Forum

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PROFS is pleased to sponsor a public forum on shared governance at 3 pm, Thursday, May 3 in the Wisconsin Idea Room in the Education Building.

Public higher education has faced enormous challenges in recent years — massive funding cuts, declining student enrollment, shifting perception on the value of a degree. Many legislative leaders have called for the University of Wisconsin System, and UW-Madison in particular, to operate more like a business, often citing shared governance as a major impediment to institutional efficiency.

Our panel of nationally known experts will guide our discussion.

  • Gary Rhoades, University of Arizona Professor, Director of the Center for the Study of Higher Education, former General Secretary AAUP
  • David Maxwell, Drake University President Emeritus, Association of Governing Boards Senior Consultant
  • Regina Millner, University of Wisconsin System Regent, Board President Emeritus
  • Thomas Harnisch, American Association of State Colleges and Universities Director of State Relations and Policy Analysis

Karen Herzog, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel higher education reporter, will moderate.

This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.