Chancellor's Office
Chancellor's Communiqués
December 2007
Dear Colleagues,
Happy Holidays! As the 2007 calendar year draws to a close, I thought I would take the opportunity to report on the progress we have made in integrating the central administrative functions of our institutions. Therefore, this Chancellor's Communiqu is entirely devoted to the integration to keep you informed.
Background
Without going into all of the background details here, in a nutshell, UW System President Kevin Reilly advanced the idea of integrating the central administrative operations of the UW Colleges and UW-Extension to the Board of Regents in September 2004 as a way to cut costs given the state fiscal environment Ð and, simply, because our institutions had at least three things in common: 1) both have headquarters in Madison; 2) both have access as their core mission; and 3) both are statewide institutions in terms of physical presence. And, at that time, both institutions had interim chancellors and had not begun searches for new chancellors. For additional background see Chancellor's Website.
Other Reasons to Integrate our Institutions
There were also other reasons proffered for integrating the administrations of our institutions. First, the UW Colleges and UW-Extension represent the UW System's two connections to county and local governments. The 13 counties where campuses are located fund the physical facilities of the UW Colleges campuses, and in all 72 counties where we have a UW Extension office, those counties support forty percent of the salaries of professional Cooperative Extension faculty/staff. Those counties also pay one hundred percent of salaries for support personnel and provide other in-kind support for local offices, such as space and technology infrastructure. This is a unique partnership in our state, and the desire to strengthen these community partnerships will help the university respond more effectively to emerging local needs.
Second, both UW-Extension and the UW Colleges have strong partnerships with the UW System's 11 comprehensive and two doctoral campuses. All of the doctoral and comprehensive campuses have credit transfer agreements with the UW Colleges, which also host baccalaureate degree programs. UW-Extension's Division of Continuing Education, Outreach, and E-Learning (CEOEL) supports campus-based continuing education courses and programs at all 26 UW campuses and, on all 13 four-year campuses, UW-Extension funds and supports the work of Small Business Development Centers, and four campuses (UW Madison, UW Platteville, UW Stevens Point and UW River Falls) host Cooperative Extension specialists (research faculty) who support the work of county-based educators.
In partnership with the Educational Communications Board, UW-Extension also oversees the statewide networks of Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Television. Therefore, taken together, the Colleges and Extension truly embody the Wisconsin Idea-extending the university to every possible corner of our state.
Origin of the Administrative Integration Steering Committee (AISC)
The UW System Board of Regents approved Kevin Reilly's request to appoint a single chancellor to lead both UW Colleges and UW-Extension in February 2005 -- the most significant structural change to the UW System since its creation in 1971. Beyond the chancellor's office, the Board of Regents also directed the two institutions to explore other opportunities for integrating specific administrative functions, namely administrative services, information technology, university relations, government affairs and human resources.
It was at that point that former Interim Chancellors Marv Van Kekerix (UWEX) and Margaret Cleek (UWC) created the Administrative Integration Steering Committee (AISC) with 14 administrative leaders, seven from each institution, to move the integration forward.
AISC Dialogue and Evaluative Reports
The AISC began by sharing information about the structure and functions of each institution and realized that while many cultural similarities existed, some institutional differences were also apparent. The AISC established processes that allowed for broad input from faculty, staff and external stakeholders.
The AISC set up various work groups and subcommittees to study and make recommendations regarding greater efficiencies and greater value that could be achieved by integrating functional areas. As mentioned, the areas studied were Information Technology, Human Resources, Administrative Services, and University Relations. The key was finding similar services provided in these functional areas to target for greater efficiency and value.
When I became chancellor in May 2006, I continued the integration process, focusing on identifying those functions within the institutions where integration would possibly lead to greater efficiencies.
Functional Work Group Reports
At this writing, most functional area work groups have submitted final reports to me. After much discussion with senior colleagues and governance groups, I have approved several of the recommendations included in these reports, and I am happy to say that we are moving forward with implementing them. See final reports.
During the last year and a half, we have consciously streamlined our administrative structure. In so doing, we have:
- one chancellor instead of two
- one chief information officer instead of two
- one chief human resources officer instead of two
- one Office of Workforce Development director instead of two
We gave careful attention to the type of central administrative structure we would need in order to create efficiency without negatively affecting the quality of service that our campuses and extension divisions have come to expect from the central administration. See organization chart. Our institutions are complex, and the complexity is even greater as we try to integrate them further; yet I believe the structure we now have in place is an efficient structure for us and will enhance the way central services are delivered to our campuses, county offices and other units.
For example, I have approved the Human Resources Work Group's recommended model and structure that centralize Human Resources services common to the institutions and the divisions within the institutions. These shared services are provided under the direction of a chief human resources officer (CHRO), David Prucha, who reports to me and is always available to institutional leaders, employees, and Human Resources staff in units to respond to particular needs. HR staff that provides unit-specific support and consultative services remains within each of the operating units. They report to the leader of the division or institution, or his or her designee, while maintaining collaborative ties with the CHRO. Brad Krause is in charge of institutional benefits. We are also in the final stage of hiring a new Colleges-specific HR professional, and I anticipate that this individual will begin on or about January 1, 2008.
Co-Location of Offices
In order to achieve greater efficiency within many of the units that are integrating their operations, various AISC subcommittees recommended co-locating some of the offices. Because of the limited space we now have in Madison, implementing these recommendations has been quite challenging. It is essential, for example, that areas such as the UW Colleges Financial Aid, Bursar and Registrar's offices be kept together to gain increased efficiency. Therefore, these offices will remain on Regent Street. I have, however, approved a plan to co-locate all of our IT staff together at Regent Street. Other areas not currently co-located will need to be co-located to be further integrated, and we will continue to explore this possibility.
New Program Collaborations between UWC and UWEX
Serving Adult Students
Although the Board of Regents did not merge the academic programs and faculty of the Colleges with those of Extension-just our administrative operations-we are making some significant strides in developing more collaborative programs between the institutions. Collaborations are taking place between our faculties and staff around the state. There is no greater collaboration or a more important one for our state than the Adult Student Initiative. The Adult Student Initiative (ASI) is a collaboration between the UW Colleges and UW-Extension to enroll more adults across the state in degree programs leading to the bachelor's degree. We are elated that the state has funded this initiative in the '07-Ô09 budget for $2.5 million. This initiative includes a statewide advising network, credit for prior learning assessment activities, more courses and degrees converted to an online format-all intended to bring more adults onto the path to earning their baccalaureate degrees, which will give them the credentials needed for better jobs and, in so doing, grow Wisconsin's economy and ensure Wisconsin's place in the global community.
Other Collaborations
Currently, programmatic collaborations between our campuses, broadcasting and media innovation (BAMI), continuing education, and county Extension offices enhance civic life, break down barriers to baccalaureate degrees, combat global warming, grow food, develop understanding, give nonprofit organizations an edge through workshops, help build Wisconsin's economy, and provide learning without boundaries. Some of these collaborations will be the focus of the 2007 joint annual report due in 2008.
PreCollege and 4-H youth development discussions see early and potential opportunities, as do service learning collaborations. Conversations continue across the UW Colleges and UW-Extension to determine where we might bring service learning together regionally. I am really excited with these developments.
We are constantly seeking better approaches to continue these kinds of conversations for collaborations. I am convinced that colleagues, when brought together, will begin to understand each other's work more and collaborative and cross-discipline programs will result. Getting faculty and staff together by topic or region has been suggested, and we will explore this strategy further. I will work with Steve Wildeck and Sue Schymanski to try and find resources to support day-long seminars around topics, once these topics have been selected. I know a great deal of enthusiasm exists across our two institutions for these discussions.
Joint Shared Governance?
I am also pleased to report that discussions are under way with our governance groups to better understand the different governance structures within the institutions. A work group has been formed with six people from Extension and six people from Colleges to explore the potential for joint governance. The UW-Extension Academic Staff, UW-Extension Faculty Senate, and the UW Colleges Senate have passed resolutions and guidelines for the work group. As I mentioned earlier in this Communiqu, one joint governance meeting will be held in January at UW-Waukesha, and another in April.
What's Integrated Now?
In sum, the following central departments/functions across the Colleges and Extension have been integrated and are expected to serve the administrative needs of both institutions:
- Chancellor's Office
- Administrative Services
- Human Resources
- University Relations
- Workforce Development
- Information Technology
- Government Affairs
The following units remain as Colleges-only or Extension-only units:
- Academic Affairs
- Academic Staff Governance
- Faculty Governance
It is not my goal to integrate Academic Affairs at this point in our history, given the differences that currently exist within academic cultures in the Colleges and in Extension. I will continue to promote more dialogue within the faculty and academic staff groups focusing on areas of programmatic collaboration that will help our state prosper. In that connection, I gained approval from the UW System Board of Regents this month to commence the search for a new Extension provost and vice chancellor. It is also my intent to begin the search for a permanent UW Colleges provost for Academic Affairs in late fall 2008.
If you have any specific questions about the integration, please send them to me at david.wilson@uwex.uwc.edu.
As always, I value the contribution each of you gives to make our institutions the premier access institutions to UW resources for the people of Wisconsin.
Best regards,
David Wilson
Chancellor