The news of former Chancellor Biddy Martin?s departure from her post was a fitting and predictable ending to a tumultuous academic year in Madison. Upon announcing her decision, Martin insisted she was not leaving because of the political failure of the New Badger Partnership, but the deflated atmosphere that her resignation created proved the commitment of the Biddy faithful.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison has played a leading role in recent years when it comes to attempting to curb sweatshop abuses at companies that produce college-logoed apparel. But will Bucky still flex his muscle when the company coming under fire is Adidas — which supplies the university?s sports teams with everything from shoes and jerseys to athletic gear? “This time around, it?s a bit more complicated because of our involvement and close ties with Adidas,” says Vince Sweeney, UW-Madison?s vice chancellor for university relations. “We?re still in fact-finding mode.”
“I don’t believe money is going to ultimately drive this decision, and I hope I’m right,” says Lydia Zepeda, a UW-Madison professor of consumer science who chairs the university’s Labor Licensing Policy Committee (LLPC).
UW-Madison representatives met Friday to discuss the future of the “Wisconsin Idea” as well as the relationships between the university and state and local communities. According to the UW-Madison website, the Wisconsin Idea is “the principle that the university should improve people?s lives beyond the classroom.”
Interim chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, David Ward, talks to Eliza Anyangwe about his long career in HE and how he developed a reputation as an ?inside reformer?
UW-Madison interim Chancellor David Ward will host a campus forum Thursday to highlight five areas in which a consulting firm believes the university can run more effectively and efficiently. In March of this year, UW-Madison signed off on a deal which tasked the Huron Consulting Group with studying if there were opportunities for the campus to improve the efficiency of services of all kinds — from information technology and purchasing practices to research administration, space utilization, and more.
UW-Madison Chancellor David Ward told 27 News maintaining “higher standards” drove his decision to avoid so-called double dipping, and stop receiving retirement benefits when he returned to the campus? top job this summer and began receiving a salary. The practice of rehiring retired public employees and having them collect both pay and annuity has been scrutinized in recent weeks. Legislative proposals would toughen rules on the practice, as has happened in some other states.
UW-Madison Chancellor David Ward was brought out of retirement into a second stint at the campus? top job, but officials said Ward stopped receiving pension payments as he began collecting his salary and avoided so-called double dipping.
Dear Editor: My hope is that interim chancellor David Ward is able to get the University of Wisconsin back to focusing on its core mission, that of education and research. However, Todd Finkelmeyer?s Oct. 12 article paints an unflattering picture of an institution on the verge of a tailspin. Efficiency consultants, merit pay ? it all sounds too familiar.
….The U.S., arguably, has the best higher education system in the world, but if we begin to run universities the way American business is currently conducted, that won?t be the case for much longer. Faculty will go from doing good research to nothing but chasing the gravy train. Departments will go from balanced knowledge bases to flash in the pan.
In a recent address to members of the faculty, University of Wisconsin Interim Chancellor David Ward expressed support for pursuing a more competitive, merit-based wage structure with the aims of ensuring quality of instruction and retention.
In his first State of the University address in more than a decade, David Ward sounded the alarm about the funding crisis in public higher education. It?s a safe bet no one in Bascom Hall listening to UW-Madison?s interim chancellor speak to the Faculty Senate on Oct. 3 was surprised to hear the university is facing some significant budgetary challenges. Most are keenly aware the university is being asked to absorb $94 million in state cuts over the next two years. What might have caught some off guard was Ward?s message that the university can no longer afford to simply hunker down and attempt to weather the economic storm until better days return.
….By adding a year, Ward appears to have morphed from a trusty caretaker into a fully empowered leader poised to initiate and guide major changes in UW-Madison?s finances and operations ? including its personnel system ? in one of the most challenging periods of its 163-year history. To Ward, Reilly and the many UW constituencies eager for Ward to stay longer, this change appears to be a big deal in the labyrinthine culture of campus politics and decision-making.
UW-Madison benefited from a promising development last week: David Ward?s appointment as interim chancellor was extended to the summer of 2013.
Biddy Martin?s temporary replacement may not turn out to be so temporary after all.
David Ward may only be an interim chancellor, but he doesn?t want the next two years to be wasted time for UW-Madison. He?s set out an ambitious agenda to implement newly gained authority from state government and reform the university?s finances. “It?s not a happy message,” Ward said in an interview in his Bascom Hall office Wednesday, the day after his interim term was extended a year through summer 2013.
UW-Madison Interim Chancellor David Ward will remain leader of the university for one more year, putting off the search for his replacement until 2012, UW System leaders announced Tuesday.
The University of Wisconsin System announced Tuesday that David Ward?s term as interim chancellor will be extended an additional year, allowing his tenure to stretch until 2013.
University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly announced Tuesday he is extending the term of UW-Madison interim Chancellor David Ward. When Ward was named to the post back on June 29 it was a one-year appointment. But in mid-September, UW-Madison faculty, staff and students started asking UW System leadership if Ward?s stay could be extended, mainly because the university is in the midst of tackling several significant challenges while also implementing a range of institutional reforms.
University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly is extending UW-Madison Chancellor David Ward?s interim appointment to two years. Ward agreed in June to a one year term as UW?s interim Chancellor following the departure of Chancellor Biddy Martin.
The chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has had his one-year interim term extended to a second year.
The question surrounding Interim Chancellor David Ward?s term length recently surfaced as UW-Madison?s University Committee requested he stay an additional year. While the interim position is only allotted a single-year term during a search and screen process, members of the UW faculty argue Ward?s background, collegiate experience and national insight put him in the best position to lead UW-Madison through Wisconsin?s rocky political climate.
Not everyone on the UW-Madison campus is a fan of the university?s “holistic” admissions policy. That?s the gist of a strongly worded email I received over the weekend from UW-Madison physics professor Marshall Onellion.
A growing chorus of voices is calling for David Ward to remain as interim chancellor of UW-Madison for another year, a move that would delay the search for a permanent new chancellor until the 2012-13 academic year. After a committee of faculty leaders last week requested Ward?s one-year appointment be extended, governance groups for academic staff and students have also come out in favor of the extension. University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly said he is still listening to people?s opinions on the issue and needs to consult with UW Board of Regents leadership, but said he hopes to make a decision by the first week in October.
Interim Chancellor David Ward may stay in UW-Madison?s top position for another year after the request of UW-Madison faculty members.
The University of Wisconsin community is abuzz with rumors of a possible extension to Interim Chancellor David Ward?s one-year term after a letter was sent from the University Committee to System President Kevin Reilly late last week.
With the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the midst of tackling several significant challenges while also implementing a range of institutional reforms, faculty leaders on campus are asking that interim Chancellor David Ward be allowed to stick around for more than one year.
The use of fetal tissue in biomedical research benefits Wisconsin, Chancellor David Ward said in a memo to Wisconsin lawmakers Wednesday.
The interim chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has sent a letter to Wisconsin lawmakers urging them to oppose a bill that would ban the use of fetal tissue in research. Chancellor David Ward says in the letter sent to lawmakers Tuesday that the ban would affect both fetal tissue and cells derived from detail tissue, which would hamper research at the university.
Everyone wants a seat at the table when a campus picks a new leader, and it?s rare that groups say they have enough representation. With so many campus constituencies — including faculty, staff, students, alumni, trustees, and community members — finding enough seats is tough, and more often than not, faculty members say they?re not given their fair share.
Dear Editor: ?Chancellor vacancies aplenty,? read the headline in the Wisconsin State Journal. This is a particularly unfortunate time for my alma mater, UW-Madison, to be looking for a chancellor. What academic of any integrity would want to come to the state of Wisconsin with its red-neck governor, know-nothing Legislature and rogue Supreme Court?
UW-Madison will face stiff competition for the best national candidates as it searches for a new chancellor, according to higher education experts. That?s because an ?extraordinary? number of similar universities also are looking for new leaders, said Jan Greenwood, a search consultant who specializes in university presidencies. Finding the right candidate is important because university presidents must be able to fill a range of roles: CEO and academic, politician and cheerleader, public speaker and master fundraiser.
UW System President Kevin Reilly has put out the call for nominees to help select a new UW-Madison chancellor. Reilly will appoint a 23-member search-and-screen committee consisting of 12 faculty members, two academic staff members, one classified staff member, two administrators (one from UW-Madison and one from UW System administration), two UW-Madison students and four community members. Nominations are due on Friday, Sept. 30, and Reilly is expected to appoint the committee some time in October, said UW System Spokesman David Giroux.
Interim UW-Madison Chancellor David Ward named Mark Bugher, the director of University Research Park, as his special assistant, the university announced in a news release Monday. Bugher won?t be paid for assisting Ward and will continue to lead University Research Park, the university said.
Bugher is expected to advise the chancellor on everything from strategic priorities and political issues to the challenges of implementing newly awarded administrative flexibilities, which were granted to the university in the 2011-13 state budget.
Gauging by decibel level, the best moment in a 21-point Badger basketball victory last Dec. 8 was a free-throw contest between Biddy Martin and her fellow chancellor from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the Badgers? foe that night. Madison?s chancellor hardly missed, drilling 12 free throws with a rapid-fire, line-drive delivery to win easily. As with most things during her three years in Madison, Martin came prepared. Just before the shootout, she had sneaked off to warm up on the Nicholas-Johnson Pavilion practice courts next to the Kohl Center.
When a UW official first shared that anecdote last winter, it fit my evolving impression of Martin as a person who left nothing to chance. That, plus being smart, broadly experienced and charismatic, won her the chancellor?s job. Yet she also seemed oddly cautious and sensitive to what others said about her.
Now she?s history. Her last day here was Friday, and the one-word summary that comes to mind is ?enigmatic.?
David Ward will earn $437,000 for his one-year stint as interim UW-Madison chancellor under a contract approved by the UW Board of Regents Friday. It?s the same amount that Chancellor Biddy Martin earned.
It can?t just be my party-pooping perspective that caused my eyebrows to elevate at news of the farewell soiree for Biddy Martin on Bascom Hill Wednesday. Brats were served, the marching band played, and well-wishers signed a copy of “The University of Wisconsin: A Pictorial History” for the outgoing UW-Madison chancellor Now, I know Martin was well-liked among students; they gave her props for appearing in the “Teach Me How to Bucky” video and for calling a snow day in February, among other things. But I was struck by how disproportionate the outpouring of love seemed in light of Martin?s timing and relatively short tenure.
Biddy Martin did her due diligence as the outgoing chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison last week when she allotted much of her schedule to parting interviews with a variety of media. What follows is an edited version of a 24-minute session held last Thursday afternoon.
Before the search for a new chancellor begins, consider a few changes in the process so we don?t end up with another Biddy Martin, whose sole “accomplishment” was a failed attempt to break up the UW System. In tough economic times, substantially lowering the salary from where it stands now (nearly half a million a year) would send a positive signal to the rest of the state that no one is exempt from sharing the economic sacrifices the rest of us are expected to make.
Biddy Martin could barely get out the words that she was feeling both ?sad and happy? about leaving UW-Madison before members of the UW Marching band began serenading her with a song.?Heyyyyy, baby,? they sang, circling her where she stood on Bascom Hill. ?I wanna know-oh-oh. Would you be my girl?? Nearby, a red and white striped tent housed trays of steaming bratwursts, jugs of iced tea and gallons of the aptly named ice cream Strawbiddy Swirl. A line snaked up the hill as people waited to get a plate of food and wish Martin well. It was a festive picnic to send off the UW-Madison chancellor to her new job as president of Amherst College. Her last day in office is Thursday.
Carolyn “Biddy” Martin said her final goodbyes to the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Thursday.
MADISON, Wis. — As the University of Wisconsin-Madison marching band played its time-honored ?On Wisconsin? at Bascom Hill, its usual sweet melody sounded a little bittersweet Wednesday afternoon.
Bid UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin goodbye with Bucky, brats, and her namesake ice cream, Strawbiddy Swirl. A farewell barbecue will be held on Bascom Hill Wednesday, beginning at 11 a.m.
In one of her final acts as UW-Madison chancellor, Biddy Martin wants to set aside $2.3 million so that low- and middle-income students won?t have to pay a proposed 5.5 percent tuition increase. Martin sent a letter to the Board of Regents and UW System President Kevin Reilly on Friday seeking approval to use money from a 2011-12 tuition hike so that families with annual household incomes of less than $80,000 won?t have to pay the increase. Reilly responded Tuesday, letting Martin know the UW regents won?t set tuition and vote on the operating budget until Thursday and it would be ?inappropriate to pre-empt that action.?
In one of her final acts as UW-Madison chancellor, Biddy Martin asked the UW Board of Regents if she can set aside money so that low-and-middle income students won?t have to pay a proposed 5.5 percent tuition increase. Martin sent a letter to the Regents and UW System President Kevin Reilly on Friday seeking approval to use $2.3 million from the 2011-12 tuition hike so that families with annual household incomes of less than $80,000 won?t have to pay the increase.
Outgoing University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin said Gov. Scott Walker?s union bargaining legislation may have made it difficult to pass a measure backed by both leaders that would have given the university more independence.
WisconsinEye Senior Producer Steve Walters conducts a video interview with outgoing University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Carolyn “Biddy” Martin.
In her final days as chancellor, Biddy Martin?s office in Bascom Hall is flooded with well-wishers, news reporters and campus officials with last-minute business.
Before moving on to become the first female president of Amherst College, outgoing UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin agreed to sit down Thursday for a short exit interview in her Bascom Hall office.
Outgoing University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin said the political turmoil around her would have had made it difficult for her to continue at UW-Madison.
University of Wisconsin Chancellor Biddy Martin shared a big hug on the Kohl Center stage after he received his diploma in May was a regular visitor to the Badgers? locker room after games and quickly became a favorite of the players and the coaches. She was the campus boss, which can be unnerving to some, but coaches and players felt comfortable around her.
With hopes of moving forward, UW System officials decided to turn back the clock in looking for leadership to guide UW-Madison. David Ward, who was chancellor at Wisconsin?s flagship institution of higher education from 1993 to 2000, was introduced as the university?s interim chancellor by UW System President Kevin Reilly at a press conference Wednesday at Bascom Hall.
“David, it?s no exaggeration at all to say, is one of the most admired American university leaders at home and abroad,” says Reilly.
UW System President Kevin Reilly and Board of Regents President Michael Spector held a news briefing Wednesday at Bascom Hall to announce the interim chancellor. Reilly made the hiring decision after consulting with Board of Regents leadership and key UW-Madison stakeholders such as administrators, faculty, staff, alumni and donors.
Former University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor David J. Ward will serve as interim chancellor while a team searches for a new leader for the state?s flagship school, officials said Wednesday.
A former University of Wisconsin-Madison chancellor is returning to the position on an interim basis while UW officials seek a permanent replacement for the most recent chancellor. Chancellor Emeritus David Ward held the position from 1993 to 2000. He also led the American Council on Education in Washington, D.C. for seven years. On Wednesday he was named the interim chancellor as of July 18.
UW System President Kevin Reilly lured former UW-Madison Chancellor David Ward out of retirement to serve as interim chancellor of the state?s flagship university, an effort to provide an experienced and familiar leader after a period of contentiousness. ?He?s someone who can bring people together on campus, who can reach out to the other UW System chancellors and can serve as a very strong advocate for our flagship, land-grant, global institution that is UW-Madison,? Reilly said at a news conference Wednesday at Bascom Hall.
Former UW Madison Chancellor David Ward serve as interim chancellor as the school looks to replace Biddy Martin.
A former University of Wisconsin-Madison chancellor is returning to the position on an interim basis while UW officials seek a permanent replacement for the most recent chancellor.
A former UW Madison chancellor will serve in that post until a replacement is found for Biddy Martin.
David Ward, who led UW-Madison from 1993 to 2000, will be introduced as the university?s interim chancellor at a press conference Wednesday afternoon, sources have told The Capital Times.
I read with interest outgoing UW Chancellor Biddy Martin?s list of ?accomplishments,? which included increased tuition for most middle class students, starting a book club, giving President Barack Obama a jersey, appearing in a music video, posing for pictures with students during snowball fights, going to China twice and apparently tweeting a lot with students.She also failed to achieve the New Badger Partnership Plan. For this she was paid more than 1.2 million dollars over three years.
We talk with the newly named president of Amherst College, Carolyn Martin, the college?s first female president, about her new post and politics in higher education. (Audio.)
