Employee Recognition Day scheduled for June 15

The university’s annual Employee Recognition Day celebration will be held from 2:30-4 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15, on Bascom Hill.

All university employees are encouraged to attend and enjoy Babcock ice cream cones. Several favorite flavors will be served. Among the teams of scoopers will be deans, directors and women’s basketball coach Lisa Stone. Bucky Badger is expected make an appearance, too.

This year’s event was pushed into June to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Wisconsin Civil Service System.

Wisconsin was one of the first states to implement a merit-based civil service hiring system, and there was a university connection to it. At the request of Gov. Robert M. La Follette, UW–Madison economics professor John Commons drafted the Civil Service Reform Act of 1905. The legislation dismantled the patronage hiring system.

In an address to lawmakers, La Follette noted, “The fundamental idea of democracy is that all men are equal before the law. What proposition is plainer than that every citizen should have equal opportunity to aspire to serve the public, and that when he does so aspire, the only test applied should be that of merit? Any other test is undemocratic. To say that the test of party service should be applied is just as undemocratic as it would be to apply the test of birth or wealth or religion.”

The bill passed both houses of the legislature with a two-thirds majority. It set up two categories of employees: unclassified, which included most employees of the university, and classified.

A special centennial exhibit on the state’s civil service system can be viewed in the lobby of the State Historical Society, 816 State St., through Tuesday, May 31, and in the State Capitol rotunda from June 1-17. It will then be moved to the departments of Administration, Transportation and Workforce Development.

For more information on the centennial celebration, including employee testimonials and historical data and photos, visit http://www.civilservicecentennial.wi.gov/category.asp.