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One week ago, a group of concerned faculty, staff, and students organized a forum at UW-Madison to discuss shared governance: what it is, how it's been challenged in the past, and what current risks it's currently facing.  The forum, held at 5 pm on the Monday before Thanksgiving, drew more than fifty people to the Wisconsin Idea Room in the School of Education. Speakers included former chair of the University Committee, Judith Burstyn , Professor Emeritus of History Jim Donnolly , Professor of Political Science Don Downs , David Ahrens of the Wisconsin University Union, and C had Goldberg , Professor of Sociology. There was a robust conversation about the precedent set by the famed Spoto case in establishing the importance of joint decision-making  in shared governance, a process that in the University of Wisconsin System goes well beyond simply advice and input.  The key takeaway: when faced with an impasse   between faculty and administration on an issue over wh...

The Chancellor just released the revised HR Design plan. Lest anyone wonder "Why did we postpone the vote at Faculty Senate," here's your answer. The red-lined version of the Plan and the list of changes should be read in full.  But there is clear evidence on the pages as to why a strong pushback at Senate was smart and appropriate.  For example: p. 4  and 41 Mandatory placement of laid off employees has been restored! p. 42 Right of return has been restored (for up 30 days)! p.10 A commitment to using HR to achieve excellence in all  disciplines and to emphasize learning is now included p.25 and 26 Internal equity is now explicitly included as a factor continuing to affect compensation (see Strategic Plan Components #1 and the following paragraph on p. 26) p. 28 Living wage for contracted employees is officially under consideration again But the language on shared governance is still too weak. This is ironic given tonight's forum (which I'll write about tomorrow...

With a headline like that, I bet you're assuming this is going to be one scathing post! The last time Scott Walker had ideas for Wisconsin public higher education, they involved separating UW-Madison from the rest of System. Or at least, so Biddy Martin told us. This time, the issue is performance funding for higher education. Walker recently declared his interest in the model, and many people are naturally on the defensive. The common list of concerns is already being circulated (e.g. it will fail to distinguish between institutions with different missions and student bodies, intrude on institutional autonomy, and excuse cuts in regular state funding of higher education), but this is my favorite:  Senate Minority Leader Chris Larson, a Democrat, said that W alker's plan sounds like "social engineering" that would force students to study "what industry wants" rather than what students want . Ouch!  Sounds godawful.   But here's the thing-- this is not ...

Since last week's Faculty Senate meeting, my email inbox has grown cluttered with letters from faculty, staff, and students who are experiencing violations of shared governance at UW-Madison.  All are afraid to speak out with their names included, fearful of responses from the Administration.  I can't tell you how upsetting this is, especially given my own Biddy battles during the term I was up for tenure. In any case, one brave soul has decided to allow me to quote from his letter.  I hope you'll consider his words (below) and then decide to join us next week for a discussion of the past and future of shared governance at Madison. There will be a FORUM on these issues held on Monday November 19 from 5-630 pm in the Wisconsin Idea Room of the School of Education. Sponsors include WUU, TAA, WISCAPE, and UFAS.  You can rsvp here . ****** Hi Sara, The biggest issue for me now is the apparent demolition of faculty governance. Wisconsin has a long history of egalitarian d...

The following is a guest posting by Robin Rogers, associate professor of sociology at Queens College and the Graduate Center at the City University of New York (CUNY). Robin authored the popular  " Billionaire Education Policy ." She can be reached via email at robinrogers99@gmail.com Follow her on Twitter: @Robin_Rogers The City University of New York (CUNY) is in the middle of a clash over budget-driven higher education reform that could rival the Chicago Public School strike , and that is bad for everyone. The epicenter of the crisis right now is in the small, unassuming English department of Queensborough Community College (QCC).  At issue is CUNY’s implementation of a new program known as Pathways that aims to make transferring among CUNY colleges, particularly from the community colleges to the senior colleges, easier and to improve graduation rates. It is also an attempt to make the CUNY system more cost-effective. All of this seems very rational. In fact, w...

This ran in today's Capital Times.  Stay tuned... more to come. 

" Mitt Romney will LOSE this election," says CNN.... We worked hard for this moment. Now, let's make it worthwhile. Agenda #1:  This is not a post-racial era. This is a highly racist era. It's time to deal with it. Agenda #2:  Education is not a business, and teachers are not mid-level managers.  Treat them like their partners in raising the nation's children. They deserve it. Agenda #3:  Families can't succeed if they can't work. Raise taxes dramatically on the Romneys of the world and provide tax breaks only if they create significant numbers of good jobs paying living wages to Americans. Agenda #4: End housing segregation, now. Poverty isn't quite so detrimental when it isn't concentrated. Agenda #5: Make college affordable by recognizing our democracy's need for postsecondary education. Two quality years for free-- minimum. Now. That's just a start.  ON.