A proposal to fold academic and classified staff into the same employee category is raising some eyebrows on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. The pitch is contained in draft recommendations released in April by one of the 11 work teams helping UW-Madison design a new human resources structure that?s separate from the state and UW System. Among other concerns, such a move would eliminate collective bargaining rights from roughly 400 classified staff on campus.
?That?s the recommendation that?s gotten the most attention during the vetting process the last few weeks,? says Darrell Bazzell, UW-Madison?s vice chancellor for administration. ?Most of the feedback, at least anecdotally, tends to suggest collapsing these groups into one is not something staff would support.?