Archive for October, 2009

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Thoughts on Restructuring Research

Sunday, October 4th, 2009

There are certain things that make us who we are. To me, these include the Wisconsin Idea, the Union terrace, faculty governance and the strong administrative tie between research and graduate education. Changes in any of these fundamental characteristics affect who we are as an institute and a community.

Change is appropriate when it addresses real problems or better aligns us with a new vision for the university. To address some stated problems, the Chancellor and Provost are proposing a new structure of research administration, one that aligns more with the structure of the Chancellor’s previous institution, Cornell, than with our history as a successful research campus. This plan implements directions from above, and is not grounded in new ideas and directions from our faculty and researchers. Top down leadership breeds good followers; we want to build good initiators. The proposed new structure changes who we are as an institute. (more…)

Posted in Restructuring proposal, The UW-Madison Campus | 5 Comments »

Collective bargaining at UW – the next chapter

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009

The issue of collective bargaining rights for Wisconsin academics — from graduate research assistants to tenured faculty — percolated for years (at least partly “under the radar” for many campus citizens) and finally came to a head over the summer. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), which has been a major force behind the push, summarized the situation (as they see it) in this article that appeared very shortly after the legislation was signed on June 29, 2009.

There are stories within stories here, and most readers are blissfully unaware of how a very few individuals on both sides of the issue played a disproportionate role in shaping the outcome, especially for UW RAs, who came within a hair’s breadth of being absorbed into an existing union without their knowledge or consent.  These are stories for another time.

The important point is that every affected group now has the choice (a) whether to unionize and (b) if so, who should represent them. (more…)

Posted in Collective bargaining, The University System, The UW-Madison Campus | 9 Comments »

Another skeptical take on restructuring

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009

(This contribution originally appeared as a Reader Reply on October 1, 2009 and was subsequently upgraded to an Article. – Ed.)

I also attended the “town meetings” in Science Hall on 30 September and in the Health Sciences Learning Center on 1 October. On each occasion, the Provost made a presentation and responded to questions and comments from the floor about his proposal to create a new office of research headed by a vice chancellor and to eliminate almost all research functions from the Graduate School. This would mean that the Dean of the Graduate School would no longer have the second function and working title of Vice Chancellor for Research. I agree fully with the previous post, “A skeptical audience for restructuring.”

There is pretty good evidence — from earlier presentations that were later retracted — that the Provost made an effort to push a reorganization through with no written plan and no faculty input by the end of September. Early in October he would have gone straight to UW System to get permission for his new Vice Chancellor for Research position. At that point the game would have been up.

(more…)

Posted in Graduate School, Restructuring proposal, The University System, The UW-Madison Campus | 3 Comments »

Putting things in perspective – and a cautionary tale

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009

For all of the passion that the current restructuring issue has been arousing recently (at least among those of us who are following it), we can be thankful that the overall environment at UW-Madison remains relatively congenial, mutually respectful, and universally dedicated to the goal of maintaining the best-possible research and educational programs even in the face of challenges both internal and external.   In order to preserve those qualities, it is essential that there never be a breach of trust and respect between the faculty, staff, and administration of the type that has  afflicted a few of our peer institutions.   In particular, we draw our readers’ attention to the following website, which superficially has a similar function to this one but which apparently emerged from a far more dysfunctional and distrustful environment:  the University of Arizona’s UA Defender.

It is our sincere belief and hope that wiser heads will always prevail at UW-Madison and that both the administration and the faculty and staff will always choose productive collaboration over destructive confrontation.

- the Editors

Posted in Graduate School, Restructuring proposal, The UW-Madison Campus | 1 Comment »

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