Category: Opinion

As I outlined back on 9 August 2015 in Inside Higher Ed, the unexpected leadership transition at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in summer 2015 had all the ingredients to become a major crisis. And a ‘barn-burner’ of a crisis has certainly emerged, sad to say. As a concerned alum, I do hope my alma mater can move forward. From my perspective, nearly seven months later (amid a possible vote of non-confidence in the Board of Governors and an ongoing presidential search) it’s worth flagging two key problems, and then three correctional action suggestions.

The pending upheaval and restructuring in the University of Wisconsin-Extension Service is disturbing in several ways.

Letter to the editor from Michael Kissick, an assistant professor of medical physics and a faculty senator at UW – Madison.

Pat Schneider’s article “Regent committee endorses controversial UW tenure policies without debate” was fairly well researched but lacked what I feel is essential to journalism today. A viewpoint. It described the viewpoints of the UW Regents and some faculty, but I feel the story and ultimately what was voted on was not accurately reported.

Our final agenda item for 2016 is a direct response to one of the community leaders we asked to advise us on community issues who said he and other new young leaders had a responsibility to collaborate and urged us to “call them out” on doing so. So we will. The collaboration needs to be at the highest levels of the UW, Madison leading non-profits, business sector leaders and public officials.

Sometimes I ask myself, “Why would UW completely fund my education?” I’m here for myself, but I am also here for UW. There are a ton of brilliant black and brown kids in Milwaukee, but for some reason, UW was inspired to recruit me from Washington, D.C. Am I a token? Definitely. I am the projection of their illusion of a racial democracy and diversity. I’ve been given access to this institution as a means to their end.

Allowing student loan borrowers in Wisconsin to refinance their loans, just like you can a mortgage or an auto loan, would not cost taxpayers a dime.

Letter to the editor from Michael Kissick, Madison, assistant professor and faculty senator: In terms of written law, 100 years of faculty policy that had historically national influence is being reversed by the UW Board of Regents for no good reason.

Waaaaaa. I’m sick of seeing UW-Madison professors with tenure, $200,000 salaries and thousands of hours of sick leave they get to turn into cash payments for health care payments when they retire.

Letter to the editor from Rep. Melissa Sargent, D-Madison, and Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee.

Editorial: A key Assembly committee just endorsed a package of modest yet worthy bills to make college more affordable. The full Legislature should approve them, understanding much more must be done so students aren’t saddled with tens of thousands of dollars in debt.

The column by Charley Swayne, a former University of Wisconsin-La Crosse part-time instructor, questioned the work ethic of UW-L faculty, the quality of the education at UW-L and the role of tenure in higher education (Sunday’s Tribune).

Wisconsin State Journal Editorial: Wisconsin is well-positioned to help find better treatments — and receive even more federal research dollars — because of UW-Madison scientists. Wisconsin also boasts strong health care systems. It has medical experts at hospitals and technology companies across the state

Wisconsin is home to some of the greatest professors and research programs in the world. What are students expected to do when the institution they’re relying on is no longer a quality source of education, which it cannot be if it is running on limited funding?

Letter to the editor from McFarland H.S. Senior: I am very aware of the high fees that come with attending a four-year university … This problem should be at the top of Wisconsin’s to-do list. Without proper financial assistance, the students at Wisconsin universities will either be up to their necks in debt after graduation or drop out of school before finishing due to the financial burdens currently being presented.

Letter to the editor from William L. Holahan, emeritus professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Charles O. Kroncke, retired dean of the College of Business at UWM.

If, as the Supreme Court has consistently declared, the presumption of innocence is among the most fundamental principles in our criminal justice system, it is also among the most fragile.

As colleges across the country debate diversity on campus, students and leaders at UW grapple with the definition of free speech

It’s been said often that we’re all fighting our own battles, and for middle-class families and their college-age offspring, a major battle is paying for higher education without incurring staggering long-term debt.

Atop a hill that overlooks the core of Milwaukee’s largest health care hub sits a gleaming symbol of investment by the UW-Milwaukee and its partners in a different kind of university.

Noted: “The Hunting Ground” takes a withering look at how the finest universities in our land, staffed by pedigreed academics espousing the purest of values, callously marginalize female students who dare report rape or sexual assault on their campuses. The film illustrates how too often image protection trumps justice. The film stars a handful of brave young victims who smartly bring legal action against more than seventy colleges and universities for Title IX violations. Schools under federal investigation include Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Notre Dame and the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Column from Chris Rickert: “With Wisconsin college students the third most likely in the nation to be weighed down by student loan debt, legislative Democrats have been pushing a proposal to let them refinance their loans with the state, while Republicans on Monday responded with a handful of more modest proposals.”

Christian Schneider opinion column: “[I]t isn’t tuition that is driving the recent explosion in student loan issuance. In fact, it is exactly the other way around — the availability of easy money flooding the market in the form of loans has allowed college administrators to hike tuition to soak up this excess cash.”

The University of Wisconsin system recently took a landmark step toward weakening the institution of tenure for academic faculty. The new policy, if adopted by the board overseeing the state’s universities, would allow tenured professors to be laid off for economic reasons, or if the university decides to restructure its programs. It also would permit professors to be fired based on negative post- tenure reviews, which are conducted every five years.

Noted: Issues of tuition, room and board, grants and loans, public support and more require fundamental fixes. The whole system has become the focus of a growing body of research, some of the best being done at UW-Madison.

Letter to the editor from professor emeritus.

Letter to the editor fromBruce Thomadsen, president of the Wisconsin University Union. “Business is a bad model for a university because the goal of business is to make a profit for shareholders. The goal of a university is to educate students and produce research.”

Noted: I am heartened by the veterinary profession’s increasing involvement in this tricky situation, notably WisCARES, supported by the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, which I hope other veterinary schools will quickly follow.

I find it inconceivable that the freshman members of the University of Wisconsin-Madison marching band will not be attending the Holiday Bowl Dec. 30 in San Diego due to “financial constraints.”

2015 is surely one of the most momentous years in a long time regarding debates about the tenure, academic freedom, the Wisconsin Idea, budget cuts, etc. Yesterday’s balanced article (‘Tenure or Bust‘) by Colleen Flaherty, in Inside Higher Ed, is but the latest of a series of nuanced pieces Ms. Flaherty has produced this year about the unfolding of higher education debates in this Midwest U.S. state of 5.75 million people.

Letter to the editor: The real culprits are the legislators who made the requirements for student voting so onerous. The student ID used for voting cannot be valid for longer than a two-year period. UW-Madison issues IDs for a five-year period.