Archive for August, 2011

Invitation to planning discussion: Building an effective organization for faculty and staff.

Monday, August 29th, 2011

The following event is likely to be of interest to S&W readers – Ed.

Save the date!

Saturday, Sept 24 — 10 AM- 3 PM

Building an Effective Organization for Faculty and Staff

If you read Sifting and Winnowing then you recognize that the events of last semester underscore the need for a viable organization of University staff and faculty. The Wisconsin University Union (WUU) invites you to a planning discussion about what that might look like. We’d like to hear from campus employees what they’d like that organization to focus on and do.

What issues should this organization prioritize? (more…)

Posted in Academic freedom, Collective bargaining, Compensation, Shared governance, State worker benefits, State-University Relations, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Can we really trust the outcomes of the recall elections?

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

If there’s anything we’ve learned over the past six months, it’s that the University of Wisconsin-Madison cannot ignore or escape the political storm that has been buffeting Wisconsin.   Regardless of one’s political leanings, one cannot fail to recognize that the outcomes of the November 2010 elections and the recall elections last Tuesday (with two more next Tuesday) all have groundshaking consequences for this campus and, of course, for the entire state.

Many will be surprised and disappointed by last Tuesday’s results; many others will be encouraged by them.  But too few will ask the question, “Can we even trust the reported outcomes?”

“Sifting and winnowing” is partly about challenging comfortable assumptions in the search for truth and insight.  With that goal in mind, I urge you to read this October 2010  interview with Jonathan Simon, a leading expert on election integrity.

I cannot ethically quote the entire interview here, so here is a short excerpt that, I hope, will be sufficient to compel you to read the entire interview:
(more…)

Posted in Uncategorized | 11 Comments »