PROFS President Dorothy Farrar Edwards presented the PROFS Annual Report for 2018-19 at the Faculty Senate yesterday (below). The report outlines the governance structure of PROFS and describes the legislative and outreach efforts undertaken last year.
Category: UW
February Legislative Update
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 during the academic year, October through May, except in January. This semester, the senate will meet in Room B10 Ingraham Hall.
Useful links:
- AB 444/SB 403, Campus Speech Bills
- PROFS statement on campus speech legislation
- AB 627/SB 563, Extension Funding
- AB 556/SB 497, Extension Hours
- PROFS letter to UW System Board of Regents
PROFS Statement on Campus Speech Legislation
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.
December Board of Regents Meeting

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 Audit and Business and Finance Committees will meet jointly to discuss the annual external audit and the Legislative Audit Bureau Report on Personnel Systems Recommendations.
- The Audit Committee will hear a presentation on key risks in higher education and discuss the internal audit and internal controls and enterprise risk management.
- The Capital Planning and Budget Committee will hear a presentation from UW-Whitewater on deferred maintenance and consider several capital projects and lease agreements throughout UW System.
- The Research, Economic Development and Innovation Committee will preview the Regent Scholar Grant Program and hear presentations on transforming communities through data and high tech food production.
- The Business and Finance Committee will hear reports on compensation, faculty turnover, operational excellence and trust funds and consider several contractual agreements, including six at UW-Madison.
- The Education Committee will consider several new degree programs and hear reports on UW-Madison enrollment, the Wisconsin Partnership Program, and the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin.
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.
Faculty Senate Resolution on UW System President Search Committee
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.
December Legislative Update
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.
Mark Cook Bill Signed Into Law
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.


WISN’s UpFront on Campus Speech Legislation
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.”
Legislative Update
The following legislative update will be distributed to faculty participating in the New Faculty Orientation Monday, August 26.
Regent Public Hearing Update
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.
