The Senate Committee on Universities, Technical Colleges, Children and Families held a hearing on an appointment and several bills yesterday, including Senate Bill 403, legislation relating to campus speech. PROFS is registered against this bill and strongly opposes its passage.
The following statement was shared with the committee yesterday.
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The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents will meet at UW-Whitewater Thursday and Friday, December 5 and 6. All meetings take place in the James R. Connor University Center, 228 Wyman Mall. Livestream coverage of the full board portions of the meeting is here.
Regents meet in committee Thursday morning:
The full board meets Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. Thursday, UW System President Ray Cross and UW-Whitewater Chancellor Dwight Watson will speak before the board moves into closed session. Friday, the board will hear a report from Regent President Andrew Petersen, including updates on chancellor searches at UW-Green Bay and UW-Stout and the UW System president search.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Faculty Senate voted unanimously yesterday to pass a resolution (below) objecting to the composition of the Search and Screen Committee for the new UW System President. The resolution also called for the Board of Regents to add faculty, staff and students to the committee. Similar resolutions have passed at every comprehensive and doctoral campus within UW System.
Regent President Andrew Petersen named members of the search committee in early November, drawing criticism from governance groups and legislators. The letter PROFS sent to Petersen urging him to include governance groups on the committee is here.
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This legislative update was distributed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Faculty Senate meeting today. The senate meets the first Monday of every month at 3:30 pm in Room 272 Bascom Hall during the academic year, October through May, except in January.
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Governor Tony Evers signed Assembly Bill 38 into law last Thursday, November 21. The legislation, named after the late UW-Madison Animal Science professor Mark Cook, streamlines the process by which University of Wisconsin faculty members can enter into research contracts involving the university and an organization with which the same faculty members are connected.
This bipartisan legislation was a top priority for PROFS and was the result of the work of the PROFS Entrepreneurial Work Group, which was led by Cook before his untimely passing.
UW System President Ray Cross said “This law will help accelerate the critical research UW System does to benefit Wisconsin and the world. We’re grateful to the Legislature and Gov. Evers for their bipartisan support of this new law.”
Thanks to Governor Evers for signing the bill and to Representatives Dave Murphy (R-Greenville) and Shelia Stubbs (D-Madison) and Senators Dan Feyen (R-Fond du Lac) and Fred Risser (D-Madison) for authoring the bill.
State Representatives Dave Murphy (R-Greenville) and Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) recently appeared on WISN’s UpFront to discuss UW System campus speech rules and proposed legislation.
Murphy, chair of the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities, told WISN’s Adrienne Pedersen that “conservative students are telling me that they feel that their ideas and their thoughts are being oppressed. They feel like they are really a minority on campus, and they feel like they need some protections like other minorities might have.”
Neubauer pointed out that “chancellors right now have the ability to determine appropriate action if they feel someone’s free speech has been violated. We do not need to mandate that, and we do not need the Legislature pushing that idea. We should allow chancellors to maintain their discretion.”
The following legislative update will be distributed to faculty participating in the New Faculty Orientation Monday, August 26.
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Nine members of the university community testified at a University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents public hearing Tuesday on a proposal that would outline punishment for students that disrupt speaking events on UW System campuses.
Three members of the PROFS Steering Committee offered their testimony on the proposal to the UW System staff members present: Law professor Steph Tai, Pathobiological Sciences professor Eric Sandgren and English professor Tim Yu. Yu’s statement is below. Sandgren spoke on behalf of AAUP and his statement is on their website.
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The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents will hold a public hearing at 3 pm this afternoon on rules related to a policy that calls for suspending and expelling students who disrupt campus speaking events.
Members of the university community and general public are welcome to offer testimony from 3 to 5 pm today at UW-Madison’s Gordon Dining and Event Center, 770 West Dayton Street or online until August 20.
In October 2017, Regents adopted a policy that mandates suspension when a student disrupts others’ free speech twice and expulsion after the third offense. Regents voted last month to hold today’s hearing on the scope statement for permanent rules (below).
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Badgers United, a new advocacy group started by University of Wisconsin-Madison alumni, is hosting a public forum on the importance of UW-Madison to the state’s economy on Wednesday, July 24. More information is below:
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