Category: The state

University Committee Chair’s Message to Faculty on UW System Tenure Task Force

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The following message was sent to UW-Madison faculty on Friday, October 23:

Dear UW-Madison faculty,

I know many of you have seen the letter that UW System President Ray Cross sent to the faculty representatives earlier this week. You may have also heard about some of the conversations that were held at the System tenure task force yesterday afternoon. I want to assure you that none of this changes our approach to developing tenure policies for this campus. Before Act 55, the state had a single statute that allowed campuses to develop and implement their own faculty policies and procedures. It has always been our assumption that the policy that will be developed by the Regents in response to Act 55 would similarly allow variations from campus to campus.

The documents that will be submitted to the Senate in November reflect input from the faculty listening sessions, as well as the written revisions submitted after the October Senate reading. We believe that our proposed policies are very strong. We have always been clear that we would draft UW-Madison policies that reflect the language in Act 55 and that are congruent with AAUP standards and our policies of shared governance and strong tenure protections.

I want to make it completely clear that nothing has changed in our approach and we look forward to discussing our proposals with you on November 2nd at the Faculty Senate.

Sincerely,

Beth Meyerand, University Committee Chair

PROFS Statement on Concealed Carry on Campus

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The University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department and University of Wisconsin System issued statements on concealed carry Tuesday:

UW-Madison Police Department Statement

Recent school shootings have elevated discussions across the country about gun safety, protecting the rights of citizens, and protecting the safety of our schools. This is a serious issue and there are many questions to consider.

The UW-Madison Police Department and the University of Wisconsin-Madison support existing state law, which appropriately balances individual rights with community safety. We oppose any legislation that would allow citizens to legally carry concealed weapons inside university buildings.  Current policies at UW-Madison allow concealed carry on university lands – but not in buildings.

To us, as law enforcement professionals at UWPD, the evidence does not support the idea that our campus would be safer if concealed firearms are allowed in our buildings. In states that allow concealed carry, these mass shooting tragedies have still occurred. According to 2014 FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) numbers, you are less likely to become a victim of a violent crime at UW-Madison – which currently does not allow concealed weapons in buildings – than you are in the state of Wisconsin as a whole.

Allowing concealed weapons inside a building like Camp Randall Stadium, filled with 80,000 people, creates a major security issue. The training required to obtain a concealed carry permit is minimal.

We urge our legislators not to change the existing law. Doing so would put the safety of our students, faculty, staff, and guests at risk.

UW System Statement

We take the safety of our campus communities very seriously and know that our legislative partners do as well. We have significant concerns and questions with this proposal and cannot currently support it. We are, however, actively engaged in a dialogue with the legislative authors, Regents, and campus police professionals to ensure our concerns are addressed.

UW-Madison Proposal on Faculty Layoff Policy

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The University of Wisconsin-Madison University Committee approved a proposal outlining faculty layoff policies Monday. The policy, written by an ad hoc faculty committee, replaces Faculty Policies and Procedures (FPP) Chapter 10 and is consistent with American Association of University Professors (AAUP) guidelines. The committee was formed in July after tenure protections were removed from state statutes as part of the 2015-17 state budget.

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The proposal will be presented to the Faculty Senate on October 5. A second reading and possible vote could be scheduled as early as the November 2 senate meeting. The proposal must also be approved by the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents.

Three campus listening sessions for faculty have been scheduled:

September Board of Regents Meeting

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The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater will host the UW System Board of Regents today and tomorrow, Thursday and Friday, September 10 and 11. All meetings take place in the James R. Connor University Center, 228 Wyman Mall.

Regent committees meet Thursday morning, while the full board meets Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. Livestream coverage of the full board meeting is available here.

The Education Committee will discuss possible changes to the mission statement of UW-Extension that would allow UW-Extension to award credit-bearing certificates, associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in business and management. The request and supporting materials are here:

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The Business and Finance Committee, Capital Planning and Budget Committee, Research, Economic Development, and Innovation Committee, and Audit Committee also meet Thursday morning.

The full board will discuss a new accountability dashboard Thursday afternoon. The dashboard allows users to view accountability measures for UW System and individual campuses on the following topics:

  • Access (enrollment)
  • Progress & Completion (graduation and retention rates)
  • Cost & Efficiency (time to degree)
  • Undergraduate Experience
  • Faculty & Staff (workload, turnover)
  • Economic Development (research funding, STEM degrees)

The full board continues its meeting Friday. Items of note on the agenda:

Updates from Board President Regina Millner on the Tenure Policy and Tuition-setting Policy Task Forces and a discussion of recent legislation on research involving fetal tissue. A resolution on fetal tissue legislation is possible.

Chancellor Cathy Sandeen will discuss budget reductions at UW Colleges and provide an update on the Flex Option degree program.

Legislative Update

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PROFS welcomes faculty back to campus as the new semester begins. For those unfamiliar, PROFS is a non-profit membership organization that represents UW-Madison faculty to the Wisconsin Legislature and Congress.

We are proud of our past achievements. During the most recent budget process, PROFS played a key role in securing $86 million in state-supported bonding for the UW-Madison Chemistry Building Project.

In 2011, PROFS led the successful fight to ensure retirement contributions are taken pre-tax, saving the average faculty member about $1,800 per year. Before that, PROFS successfully lobbied for domestic partner benefits and first-day health coverage for faculty and staff. Recent activities at the state level are listed below.

2015-17 Biennial Budget

PROFS met with more than two dozen legislators and staff throughout the budget process, lobbying for decreased cuts in state funding and the preservation of strong tenure and shared governance for faculty. While the final budget was still much worse than the faculty would have liked, it did include $50 million more for the UW System than the governor had proposed and the attacks on tenure and shared governance, while harsh, were not as punitive as some key legislators wanted them to be.

PROFS took strong stands on these harmful actions. Please see previous posts for statements on budget cuts, tenure, and shared governance. Going forward, PROFS is closely following the work of UW System’s Tenure Policy Task Force and making the case that tenure policy at UW-Madison must meet the standards of the AAUP and peer institutions.

Assembly Bill 305, Limits on Scientific Research

PROFS officially registered and delivered testimony (below) against AB 305, a proposal that would make it illegal to provide or use for experimentation fetal body parts. If passed, the bill would criminalize the use of scientific material previously derived from fetal tissue, which includes cell lines that have been in use for more than 30 years.

PROFS will continue to vigorously oppose the proposal, which has far-reaching negative consequences on campus.

The Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety will meet in executive session to vote on the bill on Wednesday, September 9.

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Possible Merger of UW Colleges and the Wisconsin Technical College System

PROFS is deeply concerned about the private discussion among Assembly Republicans on the possible realignment of the University of Wisconsin Colleges and Extension and the Wisconsin Technical College System. PROFS shared its concerns in a letter to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester):

“The faculty at UW-Madison urge you and other legislative leaders to reconsider this strategy and instead create a transparent and inclusive process for any review of public higher education in the state”

“UW-Madison faculty welcome an open and consultative discussion on the future of higher education in Wisconsin. We hope to be “at the table,” along with many other stakeholders across the state, as this discussion continues.”

PROFS is funded entirely by faculty contributions. Please consider joining PROFS if you are not a member.

PROFS Asks Speaker Vos for Transparency and Inclusive Process on UW Colleges/Wisconsin Technical College System Discussion

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PROFS is deeply concerned about the private discussion among Assembly Republicans on the possible realignment of the University of Wisconsin Colleges and Extension and the Wisconsin Technical College System.

The following letter was hand delivered to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) today.

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PROFS Opposes Bill That Limits Scientific Research on Campus

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stem_cell_cultures2_01PROFS has officially registered against Assembly Bill 305. The bill, introduced by Representative André Jacque (R-De Pere), would make it illegal to provide or use for experimentation fetal body parts. A public hearing on the bill will be held at 10 am today, Tuesday, August 11, in Room 225 Northwest, State Capitol.

The proposal is the same as one opposed by PROFS in 2011. If passed, AB 305 would criminalize the use of scientific material previously derived from fetal tissue, which includes stem cell lines that have been in use for more than 30 years.

“PROFS has consistently opposed legislation that limits potentially life-saving research on campus,” said Judith Burstyn, PROFS president. “UW-Madison is an international leader in stem cell research, and this legislation could bring that research to a devastating halt.”

Robert Golden, dean of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and John Raymond, president and CEO of the Medical College of Wisconsin, wrote in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the legislation has far-reaching consequences:

“This proposed law only will ensure that promising lines of research will be shut down in Wisconsin. It will cut off work in our state on diseases that cripple and kill children and adults . . .  Some of our best researchers and private companies may be forced to leave Wisconsin in order to continue their work without criminal penalties, and this will have an absolutely chilling effect on the creation of new biotech companies in our state.”

Federal law allows for the use of fetal tissue research, and all research on this campus meets federal guidelines. UW officials believe as many as 100 researchers could be affected by the proposal.

Cures for Tomorrow, an non-partisan advocacy group, released a video (below) in 2013 in opposition to the legislation, noting that the “legislation would criminalize the current development of cures and treatments for the following conditions and diseases: spontaneous pregnancy loss and recurrent miscarriages; Down’s syndrome; infertility; maternal diseases of pregnancy, including preeclampsia, and other such conditions which limit human fertility and reproductive success, and prevent couples from having healthy babies; cancer treatments for diseases like childhood leukemia; improved transplant outcomes; new and more effective vaccines for flu, tuberculosis or typhoid fever or against multi drug resistance bacteria (so called “flesh eating” bacteria); and heart attacks and sudden cardiac death.”

 

Irwin Goldman: UW Will Continue to Serve

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Irwin Goldman

Irwin Goldman

Horticulture Professor Irwin Goldman offered a forward-looking view on the University of Wisconsin in the July 26 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Goldman is chair of the Horticulture department and has served on the PROFS Steering Committee since 2011. The letter is printed here with his permission.

Groucho Marx once said that politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.

As we entered 2015, Gov. Scott Walker and members of the Wisconsin Legislature found trouble with the University of Wisconsin System, attempting to reduce its mission statement to workforce development, separate it from state agency status, remove a large chunk of its budget and eliminate long-standing statutory provisions for shared governance and tenure; all under the guise of “helping” make us be more efficient, like a corporation. There were moments when those overtures made the Wisconsin winter seem even darker and longer than usual.

But, thankfully, universities are stewards of knowledge that transcends the vagaries of the market and the political ambitions of candidates. Our university has been serving people with extraordinary success for 167 years and will still be turning out creative, productive citizens after the ballots from scores of elections are counted, composted and returned to the soil. In fact, the current political climate in our state suggests an imperative for the professoriate: our job is perhaps more urgent than at any time in recent history.

Wisconsin has entrusted us with a critical role in collecting, analyzing and sharing the knowledge upon which its civil society depends. Nelson Mandela said that “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,” and hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin citizens use this life-changing experience every year to carve out their own future and secure the future of our state. Educators and educational institutions are therefore deputized to carry out a sacred duty; one that we embrace no matter who is in office and no matter which ephemeral ideas find political currency.

This fall, our students will return and we will pick up the mantle of teaching and learning once again, finding tremendous meaning and joy in a profession that focuses on helping people acquire knowledge. And politicians will take to the road, looking for trouble and finding it everywhere.