Category: UW

Joint Committee on Employment Relations to Discuss UW-Madison’s HR Plan

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The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Employment Relations (JCOER) will meet tomorrow, Wednesday, April 23, at 9:30 am to discuss UW-Madison’s new personnel system. UW System’s proposed personnel system is also on the agenda. The committee may take executive action on the plans after the public hearing, which will be held in Room 412 East, State Capitol.

The legislature directed UW-Madison and UW System to develop and implement their own personnel systems as part of the Act 32, the 2011-13 biennial budget, but the plans were never approved. JCOER held a public hearing last April, but did not vote on the plans, citing concern over UW System’s financial reserves. 

UW-Madison’s personnel plan is here.

Senate Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges to Vote on Classified Research Bill

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Inside CapitolThe Senate Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges will hold an executive session today to vote on Senate Bill 578, a proposal that would allow classified research on University of Wisconsin System campuses. A System administrative policy currently prohibits such research.

The bill will go to the Senate on April 1 if approved today. An amended version of companion bill (AB 729) passed the Assembly February 20. The original bill included language that would allow exemptions to the state’s open records law, but that language was removed after Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee Chair Representative Stephen Nass (R-Whitewater) said he would not schedule a vote on proposal if it included the exemption.

PROFS worked with the authors of the legislation and is registered in favor of the bill. This statement was given to the senate committee at a public hearing on March 5.

The committee will also vote on several appointments to the UW System Board of Regents and Wisconsin Technical System Board. Governor Scott Walker announced three regent appointments last week and named UW-Madison student Nicolas Harsy to a two-year term as the non-traditional student regent yesterday.

Sifting and Winnowing: Reframing the Conversation About Tuition

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Sifting and Winnowing, an independent blog for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, offers a new view on tuition today. The  anonymous writer of the blog post argues that resident tuition could be viewed as nothing more than state-subsidized non-resident tuition. When viewed this way, changes in state support will directly and more transparently affect the cost of tuition:

1. Let the overall budgetary needs of the University, constrained by market considerations (e.g., comparisons to peer universities) and/or a voluntary growth cap, objectively determine out-of-state tuition.

2. Let the state subsidy to the University, divided among the number of in-state students, objectively determine the reduction in in-state tuition relative to the out-of-state cost.

With tuition decisions framed in this way, reductions in state GPR will no longer destabilize overall university finances as they have for the past decade, but they will be much more visibly linked to reductions in affordability and/or access for in-state students.

Senate Committee to Discuss Bill Allowing Classified Research on Campus

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The Senate Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges will meet at 11 am tomorrow, Wednesday, March 5 in Room 400 Southeast of the State Capitol to discuss legislation (SB 578 and AB 729) that would allow classified research on University of Wisconsin System campuses. A UW System administrative policy currently prohibits such research.

The original bills included language that would allow exemptions to the state’s open records law, but that language was removed after Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee Chair Representative Stephen Nass (R-Whitewater) said he would not schedule a vote on proposal if it included the exemption. The open records provision was removed and an amended version of AB 729 passed the Assembly on February 20.

PROFS worked with the authors of the legislation and is registered in support of the bill. PROFS supports the legislation because it ensures faculty will have a say in any decisions regarding classified research on campus and some faculty have expressed interest in doing classified research.

Legislative Committee to Vote on Bill Allowing Classified Research on Campus

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The Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee will meet at 9 am Tuesday, February 18 in Room 328 Northwest of the of the State Capitol to vote on three bills, including one that would allow classified research on University of Wisconsin System campuses. A UW System administrative policy currently prohibits such research.

A public hearing on Assembly Bill 729 was held last week. Committee chair Representative Stephen Nass (R-Whitewater) expressed concern over the portion of the bill that would allow exemptions to the state’s open records law and said he would not schedule a vote on the bill until the provision was removed.

Representative Mike Kuglitsch (R-New Berlin), the bill’s primary sponsor, agreed to remove the provision (Assembly Amendment 1 to AB 729), and the committee will vote on the amended bill tomorrow.

PROFS worked with the authors of the legislation and is registered in support of the bill. PROFS supports the legislation because it ensures faculty will have a say in any decisions regarding classified research. Additionally, some faculty have expressed an interest in doing more classified research. 

ETA 2/18/14: The amended bill was approved by the committee with little discussion.

Bill Would Allow Classified Research on Campus; Public Hearing Today

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Assembly Bill 729, a bipartisan proposal to allow classified research on University of Wisconsin System campuses, was introduced last week and referred to the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities.

The bill, authored by State Representative Mike Kuglitsch (R-New Berlin), would limit classified research contracts to those related to national security issues. Additional criteria would also have to be met for the research to take place and each chancellor would have authority over the processes to approve such research. The bill also requires the chancellor to consult with faculty when approving those processes.

A UW System administrative policy relating to the publication of sponsored research currently limits classified research:

No agreement shall be entered into with any extramural sponsor which prohibits the right of a University employe to publish the results of the project. The University and its employes have an obligation to assure that project results are made known to the general public.

PROFS has been actively involved in conversations about AB 729, meeting with several legislators and industry leaders to discuss the proposal as it was developed. Others in the community have also indicated their support.

Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council and the Wisconsin Innovation Network, wrote in favor of the bill in yesterday’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Still cites increased research and development funding and partnerships and the expansion of the cybersecurity industry in the state as strong reasons to support the bill.

A public hearing on the bill will be held at 11:05 am today, February 10, in Room 417 North of the State Capitol. PROFS is registered in favor of the bill.

ETA: Livestream coverage of the hearing is available on WisconsinEye.

 

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on UW-Madison’s Entrepreneurial Efforts

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Kathleen Gallagher of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote about UW-Madison’s economic development efforts and the launch of Discovery to Product (D2P) yesterday.

The front page article noted that Chancellor Rebecca Blank has the opportunity to fill three high profile director positions — University Research Park, the Office of Corporate Relations and D2P are all hiring.

UW-Madison attracts more than $1 billion annually in research funding, ranking third among research universities in 2010. The university lags, however, when it comes to attracting research spending from business and commercializing research through partnerships with industry.

Today, the Journal Sentinel editorial board lauded the university’s efforts, D2P in particular:

Entrepreneurs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison soon will have a new advocate on campus that should boost the number of ideas that are commercialized, which we think should, in turn, give the state’s economy a boost over time.

Kiplinger: UW-Madison 8th Best Value Among Public Universities

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UW-Madison ranks eighth among public universities according to Kiplinger Magazine’s most recent rankings of colleges and universities, up two place from last year. The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill ranked first. Sixth-ranked University of Michigan was the only Big Ten school ranked higher than UW-Madison.

Kiplinger cites access to political jobs in the capitol and numerous tech start-ups as a reason why students choose to attend UW-Madison. The magazine also notes that the average cost for in-state students after need-based aid is applied fell by more than $800 this year.

Regent Meeting Update

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The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents met in Madison last Thursday and Friday, December 5 and 6. Governor Scott Walker addressed the full board Thursday afternoon. Walker told the Regents that he continues to support plans to offer the…

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Reminder! Congressman Mark Pocan on Campus Tuesday

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Congressman Mark Pocan

Congressman Mark Pocan

Join Congressman Mark Pocan in a conversation about current events in Washington, the effects of Sequestration, and the changing landscape of public higher education at 11:30 am, Tuesday, November 26.

“PROFS is excited to welcome Congressman Pocan to UW-Madison. The university receives more than 30 percent of its budget from federal funding, and faculty are concerned about the future consequences of the federal sequestration,” said agronomy professor Bill Tracy, President of PROFS.

The event will be held in the Wisconsin Idea Room on the first floor of the Education Building, 1000 Bascom Mall. It is free and open to the public.

Congressman Pocan was elected to represent Wisconsin’s Second Congressional District in 2012 after serving 14 years in the Wisconsin Legislature. He currently serves on the House Budget Committee and was recently named to the House Education and Workforce Committee. Pocan graduated from UW-Madison with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1986.