The following piece by Christopher Newfield, Professor of English at the University of California at Santa Barbara, is re-posted with permission from his Remaking the University blog. Somewhere Michael Lewis tells the story about what the boss of a trading floor–perhaps John Meriwether–would do when a trader hung on too long to a losing position,…
Writing for WiscNews, Nicco Savidge attempts to provide an overview and a gauge of “the Extent of Scott Walker’s Impact on UW.” Here is the opening section of Savidge’s article: “Gov. Scott Walker has had a bigger impact on Wisconsin’s public universities than any governor in decades, and he is among the most aggressive governors…
BY RACHEL BUFF POST-ACT 55 WISCONSIN, THE FIRST DAY OF UWM SPRING BREAK: less than a week out from the March 10 adoption by the state Board of Regents of new, Act 55-compliant policy that threatens the much-vaunted Wisconsin Idea. The new policy riddles the academic freedom and university democracy consecrated in the Wisconsin Idea…
Yesterday was a hard day for the University of Wisconsin (see AAUP statement). But there are a few moments that gave me hope for the future. Regent José Vásquez’ impassioned plea that we stop “cannibalizing ourselves over the fiscal crisis.” Regents Evers and Bradley providing eminently reasonable amendments that could have gone a long way…
The AAUP issued this statement today after the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents adopted a new policy weakening tenure protections. Tenure in Wisconsin It is now clear that the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents has adopted a policy that provides weaker protections of tenure, and thus of academic freedom, than what has…
BY DAVE VANNESS The media (and many of my colleagues) are missing the most significant problem with the Board of Regents’ proposed policy on layoff of tenured faculty. That’s not surprising – the policy is intentionally murky (the best landscape for hiding loopholes). Simply put, the policy allows UW administration to discontinue programs (and layoff…
BY HANK REICHMAN A controversial set of policies governing tenure at University of Wisconsin System schools that may threaten academic freedom were endorsed without debate Friday by a Board of Regents committee. “I’m stunned,” UW-Madison professor David Vanness, President of the UW-Madison AAUP, said of the swift approval. “I wonder whether due diligence is being…
The AAUP and the American Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin today issued the following statement on draft policies on tenure issued by University of Wisconsin regents, which incorporate a number of sound elements, but fall short in other areas. To download the statement as a .pdf file, go here. For more on these proposals see UW-Milwaukee AAUP…
This resolution is the second of four presented and unanimously endorsed at The Ohio Conference annual meeting on November 7. Whereas members of the Ohio Conference AAUP harbor a grave concern that our colleagues in Wisconsin have lost tenure protections and collective bargaining rights; Whereas the members of the Ohio Conference AAUP believe that for…