Faculty Senate OKs slower research overhaul

A proposed reorganization of the Graduate School will be slowed down until university administrators have responded to an upcoming review of the plan, under a resolution overwhelmingly approved Nov. 2 by the Faculty Senate.

But, speaking on behalf of the resolution, some faculty members agreed with top administrators that there is a need to overhaul the administration of research at UW–Madison.

At issue is how to administer more than $900 million of research funds across all fields of study. Growth in research at the university has put UW–Madison in the top five institutions for research expenditures for more than 20 years, but it’s also brought greater administrative demands.

The proposal from Provost Paul DeLuca is designed to address shortfalls in the infrastructure of the university’s research environment. He has proposed creating a position for a vice chancellor for research to be responsible for such areas as compliance, safety and protection of human subjects.

The dean of the Graduate School would continue to oversee graduate education and report to the provost.

The Graduate School reorganization proposal has generated criticism and questions from faculty for not being detailed enough and presented with little time to consider its impact on research and graduate education.

Chancellor Biddy Martin acknowledged the questions that have been raised about the process, but said there had been no intent to exclude faculty and that the process had been and would continue to be slowed down in response to the University Committee and concerns from faculty and staff.

“The fact that we haven’t proceeded in a way that seems most appropriate, I apologize for that,” Martin told the Faculty Senate.

A faculty ad hoc committee and the Academic Staff Executive Committee are both considering the proposal and the issues that prompted it; each is expected to have a report by the end of the semester.

The Faculty Senate’s resolution, offered by the sociology department, would bar the plan from being put in place until university administrators offer a full response to the ad hoc committee’s report.

Sociology professor Robert Hauser said the resolution wasn’t offered out of opposition to change, but to a proposal that needs more detail.

“There are some problems with research administration and compliance,” Hauser said. “Such problems are to be expected in an organization as large and complex as the UW–Madison, and we can and should do better. But we are not in a crisis situation.”

There was one vote against the resolution; 180 senators had registered as present for the meeting.

No decisions will be made about the reorganization of the Graduate School until the committees have completed their work, Martin told the Faculty Senate.

Martin said the proposal grew out of complaints from faculty about how grants are managed and about other problems in research administration.

Faculty members said they objected to the process because their input wasn’t solicited before the reorganization plan was proposed, but some who spoke Monday said they understood the need for change.

Food science professor Mark Etzel said he and others in his department had been frustrated by attempts to get funding started after a grant has been awarded. Many of the problems can be traced to the growth in research at the university, he said.

“The intent of the administration is good, but people have this knee-jerk reaction that they weren’t asked for permission before this was proposed,” Etzel said. “You do have faculty support for this process … but maybe it’s a chance to slow down and get faculty input.”

Research administrative duties and responsibilities have grown over the years, and the resources available aren’t sufficient to meet the increased complexity of reporting and compliance requirements, DeLuca has said.

DeLuca also wants the university to be more visible to research funders at foundations, within industries and in the federal government, as well as participate in discussions about future regulations for research.

In recent weeks, DeLuca has held a series of town hall meetings on the proposal to address questions from faculty, staff and students.

Videos of town hall meetings are available online.