Archive for February, 2011
Monday, February 28th, 2011
As our campus conversations on the New Badger Partnership have been heating up over the recent weeks, a fable from the story-telling traditions of India has repeatedly crossed my mind.
The fable is about a flock of pigeons that got trapped in a net laid by a hunter in the middle of a forest, having been enticed by the food-grains sprinkled on the net. The flock had ignored and ridiculed all the warnings from their chief Chitragriva to exercise caution in light of the mysterious appearance of food-grains in the middle of the forest. However, faced with the crisis, Chitragriva joined the flock in the entangled net and directed them to dislodge the net away by fluttering together in unison. They managed to flee together and got help from a friendly mouse who freed them by cutting the cords of the net. (more…)
Posted in State-University Relations, The University System, The UW-Madison Campus | No Comments »
Monday, February 28th, 2011
The following message is being widely circulated via email and contains an alarming perspective on Governor Scott Walker’s intentions with respect to the Pension Fund. S&W cannot independently corroborate any of the claims at this time, but we urge any readers who know more to speak up. Because we don’t (yet) have explicit permission from the author to repost his message here, we are redacting identifying personal information. – S&W
Dear Fellow Retirees or Soon to Be,
Obviously you know about the ruckus going on at the capitol. What you may not know is the plans that Governor Walker has for the Pension Fund. (more…)
Posted in Compensation, State-University Relations, The University System | 2 Comments »
Monday, February 28th, 2011
The following message was broadcast yesterday by Chancellor Biddy Martin and is reproduced here in its entirety.
Dear Members of the Community,
As many of you know, we believe the governor’s budget will include a proposal that achieves the overall goals of the New Badger Partnership by proposing that UW-Madison be made a public authority. After many years of trying to get more flexibility, more budgetary authority and less red tape for the university, this proposal presents the first real opportunity to achieve those goals. (more…)
Posted in Shared governance, State-University Relations, The University Budget, The University System, The UW-Madison Campus | No Comments »
Friday, February 25th, 2011
S&W has obtained a copy of an email sent to numerous recipients by Chancellor Ray Cross (UW Colleges and UW-Extension). It is reprinted here in its entirety.
Dear Colleagues:
Below are the remarks I delivered to the UW System Board of Regents today when they took up the topic of UW-Madison’s possible separation from the UW System. UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin addressed the Regents, took questions for about an hour, and then each chancellor addressed the Regents. No resolutions or actions were taken. (more…)
Posted in State-University Relations, The University System, The UW-Madison Campus | 1 Comment »
Friday, February 25th, 2011
When you wake up one morning and find yourself somehow stranded in the middle of a trestle bridge with a speeding locomotive bearing down on you, you may be tempted to ask yourself how you stupidly came to be there in the first place. And you may be inclined to debate the relative merits of diving off the bridge into the river below versus making a run for the far end. Both instincts are consistent with the Wisconsin spirit of scholarly inquiry and reasoned debate. And both instincts have the decided drawback of encouraging hesitation in a situation where hesitation is fatal. (more…)
Posted in Shared governance, State-University Relations, The University Budget, The University System, The UW-Madison Campus | 3 Comments »
Friday, February 25th, 2011
Editor’s note: This open letter first appeared on Mr. Verb. It is being reposted here with permission of the author.
Many of us have been called to publicly defend our Chancellor and the merits of the New Badger Partnership, its Public Authority model and the UW-Madison’s potential split from the UW System to the UW Board of Regents in advance of today’s Special Meeting. I have seen more than a few letters of support for the Chancellor and the current proposal in circulation. However, I cannot support the Chancellor or her vision at this time for the following reasons: (more…)
Posted in Shared governance, State-University Relations, The University Budget, The University System, The UW-Madison Campus | No Comments »
Thursday, February 24th, 2011
There’s something paradoxical about a creature called a ‘budget repair bill’ wreaking massive damage on the state, but that’s where we’re at. The previous poster here at S&W raised the key issue of what BESIDES collective bargaining is in the budget bill, giving the specific example of the complete loss of benefits for limited-term employees (LTEs), including those who aren’t even paid out of state funds!
In addition to that egregious example, here are two more that show how destructive and miserably crafted this bill is: (more…)
Posted in Collective bargaining, State-University Relations, The University Budget, The University System, The UW-Madison Campus | No Comments »