Chancellor search forums scheduled

Public forums, social media and other tools will be used to gather campus and community perspectives into the abilities and characteristics the next UW–Madison chancellor should embody.

David McDonald, who chairs the 25-member search and screen committee, says the forums are an opportunity for stakeholders inside and outside the campus community to offer their views on the talents and qualities the next chancellor should have.

“The UW comprises a large and diverse community with a kaleidoscope of interests,” says McDonald, a history professor at the university. “It’s important the committee have an equally complex sense of the types of qualities members of the community seek in our leader.

“We hope to gain, to the fullest extent possible, an understanding of the community’s shared vision of where the university is headed over the next 10 to 15 years,” McDonald says.

The forums, which are open to the general public, are scheduled for:

• Tuesday, Oct. 16, Room 1325, Health Sciences Center, 750 Highland Ave., 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
• Wednesday, Oct. 17, Plenary Room, Grainger Hall, 975 University Ave., 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• Friday, Oct. 19, Varsity Hall 3, Union South, 1308 W. Dayton St., 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

A Web chat to gather input on the search will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 23 from 6:30-8 p.m. To join in, visit this site.

Views on the search can also be submitted via Twitter by including the hashtag #uwsearch, or via email to chancellor-search@secfac.wisc.edu.

View some of the comments from the Oct. 16 and Oct. 17 forums here.

McDonald and other committee members will be at the forums and participate in the Web chat. Staff members may attend without loss of pay after receiving approval from their supervisor.

The search timetable calls for the committee to identify at least five qualified candidates in February. The list of finalists will be presented to UW System President Kevin Reilly and the Special Regents Committee, who then will make a recommendation to the full Board of Regents. It is expected that the regents will vote in April on Interim Chancellor David Ward’s successor. The new chancellor would then begin July 1, 2013. 

For more information on the process, visit http://chancellorsearch.wisc.edu.