Month: February 2018

Video from La Follette WRS Seminar

PROFS cosponsored a La Follette Seminar featuring Gary Gates, former Secretary of the Department of Employee Trust Funds. Gates spoke to faculty, staff and others about the history of the Wisconsin Retirement System on Wednesday, February 21 in Union South.

PROFS Registers in Favor of Senate Bills 823 and 824

PROFS registered in favor of two recently introduced Senate bills. Senate Bill 823 restores tenure to state statutes and Senate Bill 824 restores university shared governance to state statutes. Both provisions had been in state law but were removed in 2015 as part of Act 55, the 2015-17 biennial budget. State Senator Fred Risser (D-Madison) and State Representative Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) are lead authors of the legislation (below).

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2017-18 Budget in Brief

UW-Madison recently released the 2017-18 Budget in Brief, a publication designed to help people, including legislators and other government officials, better understand the university’s budget. PROFS encourages faculty and other university stakeholder to take a look and become more familiar with UW-Madison budget details.

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La Follette School Seminar on WRS

PROFS is pleased to cosponsor a seminar on the Wisconsin Retirement System with the La Follette School of Public Affairs.

Gary Gates, former Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds will provide a history of WRS and share why it remains one of the strongest pension systems in the country. In 2016, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel provided an in-depth look at Gates and the pension system he crafted.

The seminar is at 12:30 pm, Wednesday, February 21 in Union South and is open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

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Legislative Update

The Legislature is in the final weeks of the 2018 session and PROFS is closely monitoring several bills that could that could seriously affect UW-Madison:

  • “Mark Cook Bills” to Assist Faculty Entrepreneurship, Assembly Bill 758 and Senate Bill 671  Directed by faculty experts, PROFS worked with a bipartisan group of legislators to introduce legislation related to University of Wisconsin research contracts. The faculty group, led by the late Mark Cook (Animal Science), identified the need to change state statutes that regulate how the university contracts with companies in which faculty or other university employees have a financial interest. Both bills have passed through committee and PROFS expects them to be scheduled for a floor vote sometime this month.
  • Bills Limiting Scientific Research, Assembly Bills 83 & 549 and Senate Bills 422 & 423  PROFS is carefully monitoring two bills that would limit the use of fetal tissue in scientific research and is registered against Senate Bill 423. Our statement is on the PROFS website and Facebook page.
  • Bill Limiting University of Wisconsin OB/GYN Training, Assembly Bill 206  PROFS is also registered against AB 206, a bill that would restrict abortion-related activities of UW System and UW Hospitals and Clinics employees. UW School of Medicine and Public Health Dean Robert Golden testified in July the bill would seriously hamper student training in obstetrics and gynecology and could possibly jeopardize the medical school’s accreditation.
  • 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.

Wisconsin Retirement System Seminar

PROFS is cosponsoring a La Follette School of Public Affairs seminar on the history of the Wisconsin Retirement System at 12:30 pm on Wednesday, February 21 in Union South. Wisconsin’s pension system is regarded as one of the best, and Gary Gates, the first secretary of the Department of Employee Trust Funds, will explain how the system was created and why Wisconsin has not experienced shortfalls like many other states.

Spring Primary

The Wisconsin Spring Primary is Tuesday, February 20. The only statewide race on the ballot is for Wisconsin Supreme Court where three candidates are vying for two spots on the April 3 general election ballot. More information on voting in Wisconsin is here.

Federal Relations

PROFS Steering Committee member Judith Burstyn recently met with Congressman Mark Pocan as a member of his Higher Education Advisory Group. Pocan gave the group an update on Congressional action related to higher-education policy and federally funded research.

February Board of Regents Meeting

The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents will meet in Madison Thursday and Friday, February 8 and 9. UW-Madison is hosting the meeting in Union South, 1308 West Dayton Street. The full board portion will be streamed live here.

Regents meet in committee Thursday morning:

The Education Committee will discuss several new degree programs and charter school contracts in Milwaukee.

The Business and Finance and Audit Committees will meet jointly in closed session to discuss the findings of an information security audit.

The Business and Finance Committee will hear reports on UW-Madison’s financial performance, UW System financial management, and gifts, grants and contracts. The committee will also consider proposals to raise non-resident undergraduate tuition at UW-Eau Claire and non-resident graduate tuition at UW-Milwaukee and UW-Stout.

The Capital Planning and Budget Committee will hear a reports from UW-Madison on deferred maintenance and UW Colleges on city and county financial support. The committee will consider approval of the remainder of two building projects at UW-Madison.

The Research, Economic Development, and Innovation Committee will host a discussion on successful student preparation led by UW-Madison College of Letters and Science Dean Karl Scholz. Regent Eve Hall will lead a discussion on UW System diversity and inclusion.

The Audit Committee will discuss several recently issued audit reports and consider approval of a new Regent policy document on ethics and conflict of interest.

The full board portion of the meeting begins at approximately 1:15 pm Thursday. Regents will hear an update on UW System restructuring and UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank will discuss UW-Madison’s partnership with the state. The board will also meet in closed session to discuss items including UW-Madison several coaching salaries and issues related to the UW-Oshkosh Foundation.

On Friday, the board will hear reports from UW System President Ray Cross and UW System Board of Regents President John Behling. UW-Madison will also present its annual NCAA Division I Athletics Report. The board will also present its 2018 Diversity Awards.