Author: jplucas

Proposals to give the University of Wisconsin-Madison independence from the rest of the UW-System and greater management flexibility are not going to lead to excessive tuition or cost students at UW-Baraboo access to the Madison campus, a UW-Madison spokesman said Thursday.

?Yesterday was among the craziest of my entire life,? UW-Madison history professor William Cronon wrote on his blog last week, describing how news of the Wisconsin Republican Party records request seeking emails from his university account had ?gone viral in a very big way.?

A senator on the state?s powerful budget committee told university leaders to stop arguing over the fate of UW-Madison within the University of Wisconsin System. “Rather than fighting, sit down and work together so we can move this university system and UW-Madison campus forward,” said Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon. His comments came after some three hours of testimony from UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin and UW System President Kevin Reilly before the Joint Finance Committee.

The chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus urged state lawmakers Thursday to support Gov. Scott Walker?s proposal spinning it off from the university system. UW President Kevin Reilly argued for keeping the flagship campus under the umbrella of the larger system.

It?s safe to say when this editorial board initiated its support for UW Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin?s flexibility and accountability proposal for the Madison campus we did not foresee a UW separate from the rest of the UW System. We?re still not quite sure how the New Badger Partnership ended up as a stand alone authority.

University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly is trying to convince state lawmakers not to allow the flagship Madison campus to operate independently as Gov. Scott Walker has proposed.

MADISON (WKOW) — After another ruling by a Dane County Judge the Department of Administration stops implementing the collective bargaining law.

More authority for all schools in the UW System. That?s what system president Kevin Reilly called for Thursday morning.

MILWAUKEE — Gov. Scott Walker said he?ll comply with a Dane County circuit judge?s order halting enactment of a law that would strip most public workers of their collective bargaining rights.

Biddy Martin explained her plans to split the Madison campus from the UW System to state lawmakers at the Capitol on Thursday. The UW Madison chancellor made the pitch for her Badger Partnership plan to members of the legislature?s Joint Finance Committee. ?Let us adopt a model that allows us to thrive,? said Martin. ?Let the other campuses have the flexibilities that are appropriate their their revenue mix, their administrative capacities, their specific missions, so they to can thrive.? Martin suggested amending Governor Scott Walker?s budget, which incorporates the Badger Partnership, so the other UW campuses ?get what they need.?

A prominent Wisconsin Republican operative is seeking legal permission to search through selected e-mails of a University of Wisconsin professor who wrote a blog and a New York Times Op-Ed piece that were critical of Gov. Scott Walker.

Quoted: “It’s dangerous. Arguably they’re in contempt of court already,” UW-Madison law professor Howard Schweber said Wednesday, referring to preparations under way by Walker’s administration to begin deducting more money from most public employees’ paychecks for health and pension plan costs and to stop deducting union dues.

Also: The Republicans are walking a political fine line by moving ahead as if the law is in effect while apparently defying the court, said Charles Franklin, a UW-Madison political science professor.

University of Wisconsin-Fond du Lac Campus Executive Officer/Dean John Short has joined 14 other current and former UW Colleges CEO/deans in signing a letter to the Legislature?s Joint Finance Committee opposing the separation of UW-Madison from the UW System.

Despite a court order from Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi, state leaders continue to implement Wisconsin Act 10, otherwise known as the budget repair bill.

The Wisconsin Department of Administration said it?s still not sure how an amended restraining order issued Tuesday affects its implementation of the collective bargaining law.

University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Howard Schweber, an expert on constitutional law, explains the legal battle over the collective bargaining law. (Video.)

Last week Stephan Thompson, deputy executive director of the Wisconsin Republican Party, filed an Open Records Law request asking the University of Wisconsin to turn over copies of e-mails from William J. Cronon, a tenured professor of environmental history. The request appears to have been prompted by Professor Cronon?s political activism. On March 15, Cronon published a long blog post titled ?Who?s Really Behind Recent Republican Legislation in Wisconsin and Elsewhere? (Hint: It Didn?t Start Here).?

Republicans broke from their party allegiance to Gov. Scott Walker in the first briefing on his budget plan Tuesday, joining Democrats in questioning the governor?s decisions to cut money for recycling and reshape the University of Wisconsin System. The meeting was a signal of how difficult it will be for Walker to get everything he wants in the two-year spending plan he delivered to the Legislature earlier this month. Rep. Pat Strachota, R-West Bend, asked Huebsch to explain why other University of Wisconsin campuses weren?t being given the same autonomy as the Madison campus under the governor?s budget. Walker is proposing spinning the flagship campus off from the UW-System and creating a new quasi-public entity giving it more autonomy to make its own spending decisions and set tuition rates. Huebsch said Walker considered giving the same authority to other campuses but they weren?t as ready as Madison to make the change. Madison?s experience will serve as a model for the other campuses, he said.

UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin promised that students from other University of Wisconsin System schools will still be able to transfer into UW-Madison through existing programs, even if the flagship university splits from the rest of the UW System. She sent a series of memos last week to chancellors of other UW System institutions reaffirming existing transfer agreements and other collaborations in response to concerns that those ties would be severed. Under a proposal in Gov. Scott Walker?s budget, UW-Madison would become a public authority with its own board of trustees.

Gov. Scott Walker?s top aide is defending the governor?s proposal to allow the University of Wisconsin-Madison to break off from the rest of the university system. Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch says the governor considered giving other four-year institutions the same possibility, but determined the other campuses weren?t as prepared as Madison for the change.