Chancellor's Office
Chancellor's Communiqués
To: All UW Colleges and UW-Extension Faculty, Academic Staff and Classified Staff Fr: Interim Chancellor Marv Van Kekerix
In this Message:
- Board Meets Incoming UW Colleges/UW-Extension Chancellor David Wilson
- Lower Nonresident Tuition Rates Approved
- UW "Growth Agenda" Will Expand Access
- Regents Review Streamlined Disciplinary Process
- UW System Releases Waukesha County Report
- March 8 Videoconference to Focus on Work-Life Integration
- Program Innovation Fund Proposals Due April 14
- Next All-Employee WisLine Scheduled for Mar. 2
Colleagues:
Following last week's meeting of the UW System Board of Regents, here are a few notes about major actions by the Board, as well as information about other current issues.
You'll note that Chancellor-Designate David Wilson was here to address the Regents. He also took time during this visit to meet with our Administrative Integration Steering Committee and the newly appointed Transition Team. Both conversations were very productive.
This is only the second "FYI" that is being sent to all 2,000 UW Colleges and UW-Extension people statewide. That's a big audience, including not only employees of our two institutions, but also integrated faculty and staff members who are directly employed by the other UW campuses.
We will continue to use this monthly e-mail as a way to connect that increasingly large and diverse audience to important issues and activities. If you have suggestions related to the content or format of this bulletin, please share those ideas with me at any time.
1. Board Meets Incoming UW Colleges/UW-Extension Chancellor David Wilson
On Friday morning, the full Board of Regents had its first opportunity to hear from Chancellor-Designate David Wilson.
In his brief remarks to the Regents, David reflected on his personal history as it relates to his views on the importance of educational access. He described his pursuit of a college degree, and the opportunity to pursue a world-class education from very humble beginnings. He also recalled his family's many interactions with Alabama extension agents, and how access to university research was so important to the family farm.
Listen to David Wilson's remarks to the Regents: http://www.uwex.edu/ics/stream/uwex/integration/20060210_drwilsonspeech_ArchiveRM.ram Please note that a written transcript of these remarks will be available soon.
See the interview with David in "Extension News and Ideas:" http://www.uwex.edu/ni/documents/010306ni.pdf
Learn more about David's professional experience:
http://uwex.uwc.edu/chancellor/
2. Lower Nonresident Tuition Rates Approved
The Regents last week approved a plan to reduce nonresident tuition rates at all UW campuses except for UW-Madison, effective in the 2006-07 academic year. The plan will not displace any Wisconsin students. Rather, the move is expected to attract more students from out of state, who pay more in tuition to subsidize costs for resident students, according to Freda Harris, UW System assistant vice president for budget and planning.
The Board approved this plan on Friday by a 14-1 vote, with several Regents pointing out that the UW System will need to launch an intensive communication effort to help Wisconsin residents understand how this push will not have a negative impact on Wisconsin residents.
The new rate would place nonresident tuition at approximately three times the resident tuition rate. This amount will require out-of-state students to cover the full cost of their education, and to pay the equivalent of the average state support for a resident undergraduate student. If it is implemented next fall, it would save undergraduate out-of-state students about $2,000 on their current average cost of about $14,300.
3. UW "Growth Agenda" Will Expand Access
UW System President Kevin Reilly on Thursday proposed a "growth agenda" for the university and the state, saying "we are at a defining moment in the evolution of the UW." President Reilly re-articulated his vision of the UW System's mission, as "the state's premier developer of advanced human potential, of the jobs that employ that potential, and of the communities that sustain it."
He highlighted examples of "new approaches to doing business in an era of constrained state support," including the Central Wisconsin Connection, which has UW-Marathon County, UW-Marshfield/Wood County and UW-Stevens Point working together to enable more students to get a four-year degree while matriculating at a two-year campus.
Following President Reilly's presentation, the UW System Board of Regents launched into an enthusiastic discussion of how to implement a potential cornerstone for increasing access for financially disadvantaged students. The discussion focused on how to implement a proposal offered by Gov. Jim Doyle in his State of the State Address to provide tuition and fees funding for students from Wisconsin's poorest families if they meet academic standards and other eligibility requirements. The "Wisconsin Covenant" program would target 7th and 8th graders in state schools. Under potential eligibility components offered up for discussion on Thursday, middle school students who pledge in the fall of 2007 to meet the Covenant could begin to arrive on UW System campuses in 2012.
Read President Reilly's Remarks:
http://www.wisconsin.edu/news/2006/r060209.htm
View a presentation on the Wisconsin Covenant:
http://www.wisconsin.edu/news/2006/02-2006/feb09_wisconsin-covenant.pdf
4. Regents Review Streamlined Disciplinary Process
The Regents on Friday approved action to forward a new administrative code chapter to institutional governance groups for comment. "Procedures for Dismissal of Faculty in Special Cases" is the work product of a special committee, appointed after fallout from three recent cases in which UW faculty members were convicted of felonies, but were not quickly terminated because of due-process policies and statutory protections.
The proposed policy would affect "serious criminal misconduct" in which a faculty member engages in behavior that constitutes a felony that poses a substantial risk to the safety of others; seriously impairs the public trust in the university, or seriously impairs the faculty member's ability to fulfill his or her contractual obligations.
Each institution's provost would be required to launch an immediate investigation on learning of a violation to determine if the faculty member should be terminated, and the faculty member under investigation could be suspended without pay. The expedited investigation process would take less than 60 days. Unlike other personnel matters, the full Board of Regents would review the chancellor's recommendation on disciplinary action.
Regents noted that this change is not intended as "a back door around academic freedom," and were careful to exempt conduct, expressions or beliefs that are constitutionally protected, or that are principles of academic freedom. The Board will take governance group and other comments through April and consider a revised procedure in May. It then will be sent to the Wisconsin Legislature for review.
5. UW System Releases Waukesha County Report
Expanding higher educational opportunities for the benefit of students and the Waukesha-area economy is the focus of a report issued Feb. 3 by a UW System steering group.
The initial report provides a summary of the process and topics involved in the steering group's review of the higher education needs and opportunities identified in the Waukesha and greater Milwaukee areas.
The full report is available at:
http://www.wisconsin.edu/waukesha/WaukeshaStudyReport.pdf
Additional background information at:
http://www.wisconsin.edu/waukesha/index.htm
6. March 8 Videoconference to Focus on Work-Life Integration
All UW System classified staff, academic staff and faculty members are invited to participate in an interactive videoconference on transforming the workplace to support the sometimes-conflicting needs of employees.
Ellen Bravo, UW-Milwaukee professor and former executive director of 9to5, the National Association of Working Women, will present "Tear Down the Maternal Wall by Redesigning the Building" from noon to 1 p.m. on March 8 in a free, statewide videoconference open to all UW System employees. A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation.
You can participate live at The Pyle Center in Madison or at videoconference sites around the state. No registration is required. Locations and other details will be available soon at http://www.uwex.edu/women.
7. Program Innovation Fund Proposals Due April 14
Approximately $150,000 is available to support FY 2006-07 innovative projects which foster greater collaborations among and between the UW-Extension divisions, the UW Colleges, and other UW institutions and/or community partners. Eligible applicants are: a) at least two UW-Extension divisions, or b) UW Colleges campus(es) and at least one UW-Extension division. Proposal guidelines are posted at: http://www.uwex.edu/provost/proginnov. For more information, contact Patricia Takemoto at pat.takemoto@uwex.edu.
8. Next All-Employee WisLine Scheduled for Mar. 2
I hope that you'll join me for another Brown Bag WisLine conference call on Thursday, March 2 at 3pm, to discuss the UW Colleges/UW-Extension Administrative Integration and other transition issues. As we have done during past conversations, I will provide a brief update on recent activities and answer your questions. I'll also ask David Giroux and Teri Venker, co-chairs of David Wilson's Transition Team, to provide an update on that group's work.
If you have a specific question or discussion topic that you want us to address during the March 2 conversation, please submit that information in advance of the conference call, by sending an e-mail to Teri Venker, teri.venker@uwc.edu.
Please note that we have shifted the time for this call, in an effort to accommodate people who regularly teach, work or attend classes during the noon hour. Look for an additional e-mail with dial-in instructions and room locations very soon.
Listen to audio archives from previous WisLine events: http://www.uwex.edu/ics/stream/uwex/chancellor/brownbag/index.htm
We'll do our best to keep you informed of news that affects either of our institutions. Even if some of these issues don't directly affect your department or campus, please take the opportunity to learn about each other and the unique interests of our respective students and clients.
Earlier this month, I joined more than 100 Cooperative Extension colleagues at a regional staff meeting at the UW-Barron County campus in Rice Lake. They used that visit as a chance to learn more about the campus and issues that are especially important to the UW Colleges. Representatives from the campus also learned more about UW-Extension's network of community-based educators. This is only one example of many local efforts now underway that will help us understand and explore common interests across our two institutions.
Thanks for your attention to this message. Again, please let me know if you have any suggestions for improving the flow of information to and from our employees statewide.
Marv Van Kekerix
Interim Chancellor
UW Colleges & UW-Extension
cc:
UW-Extension Board of Visitors
UW Colleges Board of Visitors
Chancellor-Designate David Wilson
President Kevin Reilly
This message is being distributed to all UW-Extension faculty, academic staff and classified staff, as well as integrated and collaborative faculty and staff at UW campuses and other locations who do Extension-related work.