Chancellor, faculty call for strong stance on tenure, governance

Several hundred UW–Madison faculty members packed an auditorium and two overflow rooms Tuesday afternoon as the Faculty Senate held an emergency meeting to respond to recent legislative actions on tenure and shared governance.

After hearing many professors voice concerns, the Senate overwhelmingly approved a resolution seeking to remove from the state budget language relating to tenure, shared governance and other non-fiscal matters.

The legislature’s Joint Finance Committee approved the language in late May, sparking widespread concern from campus governance groups that it weakens academic freedom and diminishes the governance roles of faculty, staff and students. The language is awaiting a vote by the full legislature.

Chancellor Rebecca Blank opened the meeting, telling the crowd, “We have to stand together at the current moment and we have to be clear that tenure and shared governance are integral” to keeping UW–Madison a world-class research institution.

“Tenure exists not to protect individuals but to protect ideas – to safeguard the search for truth,” she said. “Those who seek to end tenure would do well to spend time in a place where academic freedom is not guaranteed.”

Blank acknowledged the controversy has stirred strong emotions, hurt morale and made the university vulnerable to having top faculty recruited away, but said she’s focused on moving the campus forward.

She said she is already working with legislators to seek changes to the language. Even if it remains unchanged, she said she’s confident UW–Madison has the flexibility to create policies and procedures that will protect academic integrity and shared governance. The University Committee is forming a group to draft the tenure policy, which could be in place before year’s end, she said.

“I will not accept a tenure policy that is inconsistent with our peers,” she said. “UW has survived and thrived through past challenges and we will do so again.”

(Read an FAQ on tenure and shared governance)

Professors representing a broad spectrum of the sciences and humanities shared their reactions to the legislative actions and called for a strong response. Some said they’ve lost trust in political leaders and the Board of Regents.

David Vanness, an associate professor of population health sciences who’s circulated a petition against the changes, said that without strong language on academic freedom, educators and researchers will be discouraged from groundbreaking research.

“We will sift where it is safe to sift. We will winnow where we are told to winnow,” he said.

Bill Tracy, who chairs the department of agronomy, worked with Vanness and others on the resolution that the Senate ultimately approved. It calls on the legislature, UW System President Ray Cross, the Board of Regents and Chancellor Blank to do everything in their power to remove the non-fiscal language.

Several speakers voiced support for the chancellor even while urging her to seek outright removal, not modification, of the controversial language.

And while many expressed fears for where the university is headed, Mark Cook, a professor of animal science recently honored with an entrepreneurial achievement award, offered words of encouragement.

“This is our university – many of us have been here 10, 20, 30 years. We’ve been a part of building the university,” he said. “I don’t want to see you quit. … Let’s work together.”

The full state legislature is expected to vote on the budget later this month.