Twenty Democratic legislators wrote to University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross last week (letter below), sharing their concern over the recently announced UW restructuring plan and urging him to include stakeholders, including administrators, faculty, staff, students and members of the community in the process. The Board of Regents will discuss the plan November, 9.
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Last week, the University of Wisconsin System proposed a sweeping merger plan that would align its 13 two-year campuses with seven of its 13 four-year institutions nearby:
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Details from UW System are here. Representatives from UW System will request approval from the Board of Regents to proceed with implementation of the plan, which would go into effect July 1, 2018.
Remarks from UW System President Ray Cross:
Change often produces uncertainty, but we cannot be afraid to pursue needed reforms. We must restructure these two organizations given the state’s demographic challenges, budgetary constraints, and the need for closer alignment between research and practice. We want to leverage the strength of our four-year institutions at a time when overall enrollments at UW Colleges are declining.
Our goal is to expand access and provide more educational opportunities for more students, while ensuring our faculty are appropriately organized and supported. We are committed to making the transition as smooth as possible for students, faculty, and staff.
UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank offered this statement:
We are pleased to welcome Cooperative Extension and Extension Conference Centers to UW–Madison. The roots of Cooperative Extension are intertwined with those of the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the state of Wisconsin itself. Cooperative Extension is personally important to me because both of my parents served as extension agents.
Extension embodies the outreach mission of the university, spanning all 72 counties of the state. Indeed, many UW–Madison faculty are partially funded by Cooperative Extension.
We share a similar mission, inspired by the Wisconsin Idea.
There are many details of this proposal yet to be resolved which we’ll be addressing in the coming months. We look forward to working with UW Cooperative Extension leadership, President Cross, and UW System to integrate these programs into UW–Madison.
In an email to The Chronicle of Higher Education, UW-Madison University Committee Chair Anja Wanner expressed concern about the lack of communication about the plan:
We are very much aware of the demographic developments that have led to the restructuring plan, of course but, as far as I can tell, nobody was informed of the plan itself until it was a done deal, which I find troubling.
Cross also appeared on UpFront with Mike Gousha Sunday, October 15 to discuss the plan:
The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents will meet Thursday and Friday, October 5 and 6 at UW-Stout. The full-board portions of the meeting Thursday afternoon and Friday morning will be livestreamed.
The Regents meet in committee Thursday morning:
Thursday afternoon, the full board will discuss the report and consider recommendations (below) from the Administrative Hiring Workgroup. This group, chaired by Regent Drew Petersen, began meeting in August to consider changes in the hiring requirements for the UW System President and UW Chancellors, Provosts and Vice Chancellors.
The group did not include representation from UW-Madison, but accepted input from an ad hoc committee of three UW-Madison faculty members appointed by the University Committee. Their response to the Regent workgroup is here.
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Friday morning, the full board will hear reports from the UW System President Cross and Regent President John Behling. They will also consider a proposed policy on freedom of expression. The board previously adopted statements on freedom of expression in December, 2015 and July, 2017.
The proposed policy codifies the previous statements and outlines the punishment for students who disrupt the expressive rights of others:
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State Budget
After an almost three-month delay, Governor Scott Walker signed the $76 billion 2017-19 state budget into law on September 20. He made 98 partial vetoes that went unchallenged by the Legislature. PROFS joined other campus advocates in successfully advocating for new state funding – including funding for faculty and staff pay raises – in many years.
At the same time, PROFS is very concerned about two provisions added to a wrap-up omnibus motion without discussion:
Faculty workload: This provision requires the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents to create a policy that monitors faculty and instructional academic staff teaching loads. Each institution is also required to develop a policy to reward those that exceed standard (not defined) workloads. Chancellor Blank has indicated she thinks it is important to report all aspects of workload: research, outreach and teaching.
UW Chancellor and President qualifications: The wrap-up motion modified language previously passed by the Joint Finance Committee. The final language prohibits individual institutions from having a policy that requires chancellors to hold a tenured faculty position. UW-Madison Faculty Polices and Procedures (FP&P) currently requires the Chancellor and Provost to have tenure.
Budget highlights:
PROFS had deep concerns about policy items in the budget and asked the co-chairs of the finance committee and the governor to remove language relating to the qualifications for UW System President and Chancellor candidates and to amend the language creating the Thompson Center to eliminate the leadership board, allow for the creation of an advisory committee, and ensure the Thompson Center is subject to university governance. The full letter is here.
Regent Administrative Hiring Workgroup
A workgroup created by UW System Board of Regents President John Behling was tasked with review of UW System Chancellor and other top administrative positions (see above). Behling told fellow Regents earlier this year he would like UW System institutions to recruit non-academic candidates and “streamline” the hiring process for top administrative positions.
The group, which does not include a member from UW-Madison, is examining hiring practices and discussing expanding the search process to include non-traditional candidates from outside academia. The workgroup’s draft findings were released last week and Regents are expected to vote on the documents at their October meeting. PROFS met with Regent Drew Petersen, chair of the workgroup, earlier this summer to share UW-Madison faculty concerns. Peterson told PROFS he welcomes input from an ad hoc UW-Madison committee and will work with PROFS on strategy related to working with legislators and the governor on this topic.
AB 299, relating to campus speech
This bill, which passed the Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee on a partisan vote, requires the Board of Regents to adopt a policy on free expression for all campuses. Under this bill, university administrators would be required to punish students who disrupt campus speakers. The bill would also require campuses to remain neutral on public policy issues. PROFS is registered in opposition to the legislation. Our statement on the bill is on the here.
Campus Carry
Supporters of campus carry have said they intend to introduce legislation allowing concealed weapons on campus, but nothing has been introduced to date. PROFS is opposed to campus carry and continues to carefully monitor the issue.
Fetal Tissue
Republicans who control the legislature appear to be split on legislation relating to the use of fetal tissue in scientific research. Two different bills have been introduced, one that follows existing federal law forbidding the sale of fetal tissue, but not research that uses it, and one that bans research using fetal tissue from abortions performed after January 1, 2017 and imposes hefty fines on anyone who uses the material. PROFS has assembled a working group comprised of faculty and industry representatives to advise us on this issue.
Foxconn
In July, Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn and Governor Scott Walker announced Foxconn’s intention to build a liquid crystal display manufacturing plant in Wisconsin. Wisconsin would provide $3 billion in state incentives over 15 years to Foxconn. The plant could ultimately provide 13,000 Foxconn jobs and thousands of related jobs. Legislation authorizing a financial package was signed into law September 18. Chancellor Rebecca Blank met with leaders of Foxconn prior to the announcement to discuss the advantages of locating such a facility near a major research institution like UW-Madison. Her statement on Foxconn is on the UW here.
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