This legislative update was shared with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Faculty Senate. The senate meets the first Monday of every month at 3:30 pm during the academic year, October through May, except in January. Guests are welcome to attend meetings, which are held in Room 272 Bascom Hall, 500 Lincoln Drive.
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University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank delivered her final address to the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents last Thursday, February 10. Her remarks were part of the board’s two-day February meeting which was hosted by UW-Madison at Union South. Chancellor Blank is leaving UW-Madison at the end of the spring semester to become president of Northwestern University.
The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents will meet in Madison on Thursday and Friday, February 10 and 11. UW-Madison is hosting the meeting, which will be held in Union South’s Varsity Hall, 1308 West Dayton Street. Registration for the Webex videoconference of the meeting is here.
Regents are invited to a site visit and reception at the College of Engineering Wednesday evening. Regent business will not be conducted during this informational visit. A new building on the Engineering campus is top priority of UW-Madison, and Governor Tony Evers recently signed bipartisan legislation providing $1 million to plan and design the building.
Regents begin the two-day meeting with committee work on Thursday morning:
The Audit Committee will discuss several reports and consider a new policy relating to youth programs on UW System campuses.
The Capital Planning and Budget Committee will hear a presentation by UW-Madison on future facilities planning and consider granting authority for UW-Madison to sell two parcels of land to University Research Park and design and renovate two lab spaces.
The Research, Economic Development and Innovation Committee will hear a report from UW-Madison on recent biotechnology research and discuss corporate research and clinical trial contracting processes.
The Business and Finance Committee will hear a report from UW-Madison on strategic investments and consider approval of several agreements at UW-Madison and UW System. They will also hear updates on the budget and gifts, grants, and contracts.
The Education Committee will consider approval of a realignment of academic units at UW-Milwaukee, a transfer agreement between UW-Stevens Point and North Central Technical College, and ten new degree programs, including three at UW-Madison. Committee members will also discuss a change to the class audit policy and application fees waivers and reductions. UW-Madison will also host a presentation on student academic success.
The full board meeting Thursday afternoon includes updates from Regent President Edmund Manydeeds and a presentation from UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank. The Regents will move into closed session to discuss compensation agreements for three UW-Madison football coaches, an employee who earns more than 75% of the UW System President’s salary, and UW System chancellors and president. The Regents will also discuss crime prevention and detection strategies.
On Friday, the Regents will hear an update from outgoing UW System Interim President Tommy Thompson. Thompson has served as interim president since June 2020 and will step down March 18. Last month, Regents named Milwaukee attorney Jay Rothman as UW System President. Rothman begins his duties June 1 and former Regent President Michael Falbo will serve as interim president from March 18 until Rothman takes office.
The Regents have cancelled their one-day meeting on March 10.
The Wisconsin Legislature continues to propose legislation and hold public meetings, and PROFS is lobbying on and monitoring several pieces of legislation:
UW System Presidential Search and UW-Madison Chancellor Search
The UW System Presidential Search Committee met in closed session last week to discuss and interview semi-finalist candidates. Regents have said they hope to announce a new president in early 2022.
Last month, the Board of Regents voted to approve changes to Regent Policy Document 6.4, which outlines President and Chancellor searches. PROFS worked with UW System Interim President Tommy Thompson and the Regents, and successfully advocated for the changes which will allow for greater representation of shared governance groups on search committees. The UW-Madison Chancellor Search Committee was announced last Thursday. A list of committee members is on the PROFS website.
The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents will meet in Madison on Thursday and Friday, December 9 and 10. The meeting will be held in the Gordon Dining and Event Center, 770 West Dayton Street. Webex coverage of the meeting is also available by registering here.
Regents are meeting in committee Thursday morning:
The Business and Finance Committee has many agenda items that relate to UW-Madison — a proposal to increase out-of-state tuition rates by 2%, generating an additional $8 million for the university; the approval of several agreements and contracts; the annual faculty turnover report; and a presentation that outlines a possible real estate strategy that would benefit the university economically.
The Education Committee will hear several reports, consider approval of 4 new degree programs at UW-Milwaukee, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Stevens Point and UW-River Falls, and discuss extending the temporary suspension of the requirement for ACT or SAT requirements for admission to UW System institutions through 2024-25,
The Audit Committee will hear several updates and reports on compliance and annual audits.
The Capital Planning & Budget Committee will consider granting approval to plan or revise several building projects, including the new Data Sciences and Engineering buildings. The committee will also hear a number of reports, including a presentation on UW-Madison’s proposed real estate strategy for future economic growth for the institution (mentioned above).
The Research, Economic Development & Innovation Committee will hear updates on UW-Madison’s biotechnology research and university-industry partnerships that could grow Midwestern technology hubs.
The full board will meet at 1 pm Thursday. Regent President Ed Manydeeds will provide an update on the UW System Presidential search and the UW-Madison Chancellor search. UW System Interim President Tommy Thompson will also provide an update on winter commencement and legislative and staffing issues before the board moves into closed session.
The board will meet at 8:45 am Friday morning and vote on committee action from Thursday. The board will also recognize the service of Regent Emerita Olivia Woodmansee. An optional closed session rounds out the agenda.
Last week, University of Wisconsin Board of Regents President Ed Manydeeds announced the UW-Madison Chancellor Search Committee. The 21-member committee will be chaired by Regent Vice President Karen Walsh, and Electrical & Computer Engineering Professor Susan Hagness will serve as vice chair. In addition to Hagness, the committee includes Professors Jon Eckhardt (Business), Adena Rissman (Forest & Wildlife Ecology), Ananth Seshadri (Economics) and Anja Wanner (English).
Last month, the Regents voted to approve changes to Regent Policy Document 6.4, which outlines President and Chancellor searches. PROFS worked with UW System Interim President Tommy Thompson and the Regents, and successfully advocated for the changes which allows for greater representation of shared governance groups on search committees.
The full committee:
The University Committee, which also serves as the PROFS board of Directors, released a statement today on how they worked with UW-Madison administration as Fall 2021 COVID-19 policies were developed. The statement is below.
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University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank appeared on PBS Wisconsin’s Here and Now last week to discuss the university’s plans for in-person learning this fall. Classes begin September 8 with a majority of courses offered in-person. While UW-Madison does not have a vaccine mandate, any student, faculty member or staff person who is unvaccinated must test weekly.
State Representative Adam Neylon (R-Pewaukee) appeared on WISN’s UPFRONT yesterday to discuss recent action by the Legislature’s Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules (JCRAR) that would require UW System to promulgate emergency rules for COVID-19 related policies within 30 days. The committee, which is co-chaired by Neylon and State Senator Steve Nass (R-Whitewater), would then approve or suspend the proposed rules.
Neylon told host Adrienne Pedersen the committee’s intent is to prevent overreach by the university:
“Too often, we’ve allowed agencies, the administration, the UW System, to circumvent the legislative process in doing these unilateral rules that have the same impact as law, without going through the legal legislative process.”
PROFS is strongly opposed to the action of the JCRAR. Our statement is here.
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