Category: UW

UW-Madison Chancellor Search Committee Named

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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:

  • Chair Karen Walsh, Regent
  • Vice-Chair Susan Hagness, Professor and Department Chair, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
  • Amy Blumenfeld Bogost, Regent
  • Jon Eckhardt, Associate Professor, School of Business
  • Ndemazea Fonkem, Student
  • Gail Ford, Director, PEOPLE Program, Division of Diversity, Equity, and Educational Achievement
  • Robert Golden, Dean, School of Medicine and Public Health
  • Luis Gonzalez-Quizhpe, Student
  • Erik Iverson, Chief Executive Officer, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
  • Mike Jones, Regent
  • Tracey L. Klein, Regent
  • Aerin Leigh Lammers, Student
  • Edmund Manydeeds III, Regent President
  • John W. Miller, Regent
  • Adena Rissman, Professor, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology
  • Ananth Seshadri, Professor and Department Chair, Department of Economics
  • Jack Salzwedel, Community Representative
  • Mike Shannon, Community Representative
  • Samantha Skenandore, Community Representative
  • Lisa Walters, Administrative Manager, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration
  • Anja Wanner, Professor and Department Chair, Department of English

UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank Discusses Plans for Combating Covid-19 as In-Person Learning Resume

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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 Rep. Adam Neylon on Committee Oversight of UW COVID-19 Policies

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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.

 

PROFS Asks Joint Finance Committee for Strong Pay Plan for UW Faculty and Staff

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PROFS has a strong record of advocating for the best possible pay plans for University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty and staff and our work during 2021-23 budget process is no different. The Joint Finance Committee is scheduled to vote on a pay plan for state employees, including those at UW-Madison Thursday. This is the letter we shared with committee members earlier today.

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PROFS Statement on AJR 32, Declaring April to be Freedom of Expression Month

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Tomorrow, the Wisconsin State Assembly is scheduled to vote on Assembly Joint Resolution 32, legislation that would declare April to be Freedom of Expression Month across Wisconsin. The resolution was introduced last week by State Representative Dave Murphy (R-Greenville) and State Senator André Jacque (R-De Pere). Murphy chairs the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities.

While PROFS is committed to the principles of free expression, it finds this resolution to be an attack on the state’s colleges and universities:

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PROFS Testimony on AB 77, Providing Funding for Extension Services

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Emeritus Professor Steve Ventura

On Wednesday, Emeritus Professor Steve Ventura (Soil Science) testified at a public hearing of the Assembly Agriculture Committee in favor of Assembly Bill 77, legislation that provides $1 million per year in funding for state specialists in extension services at UW-Madison’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. The funding is to aid in applied agricultural research.

PROFS submitted the testimony below and Ventura, a former PROFS Steering Committee member, spoke about the importance of such funding.

In an executive session yesterday, the committee unanimously recommended passage of the bill. The next step is for the bill to be scheduled for a vote in the full Assembly.

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PROFS President Michael Bernard-Donals’ Statement on Campus Free Speech

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Yesterday, PROFS President Michael Bernard-Donals was invited to speak on behalf of PROFS about campus free speech at an informational hearing of the Senate Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges. His remarks are below.

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Governor Evers’ Proposed Capital Budget Includes Several UW-Madison Projects

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Earlier this week, Governor Tony Evers announced his nearly $2.4 billion 2021-23 capital budget proposal. His plan includes about $1 billion for UW System, including four major projects at UW-Madison:

  • A new College of Letters and Science building to replace the aging Mosse Humanities Building, $88 million
  • The first phase of a new College of Engineering building to replace the 82-year-old Computer Aided Engineering Center, $150 million
  • Restoration of the 140-year-old Music Hall on Bascom Hill, $26 million
  • Underground utility work on the Engineering campus, an area prone to damaging floods, $73 million

WKOW-TV has more on the UW-Madison portion of the capital budget proposal: