Dear AAUP Wisconsin members,

I am writing to share an update from our UW-Whitewater chapter regarding the chancellor search that is under way there. This is the first chancellor search to take place anywhere in the UW System since the Board of Regents made changes to the search and screen process for chancellors, once in 2015 and then again in 2017. 

As you may know, the 2017 changes incorporated a new statutory requirement prohibiting UW institutions from requiring chancellors to have the customary academic qualifications. 

The UW-Whitewater AAUP chapter is circulating a petition asking the search and screen committee to include a “strong preference” for academic credentials in the position description. You can read the petition, and sign your name in support, at the following link:
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/credentials-for-uww-chancellor-position

The petition already has over 300 signatures. I hope that we can show our support from all across the state, and help our Whitewater colleagues show the Regents how important this is.

Much as UW-Stevens Point is the first test case for the new faculty termination policies in RPD 20-24, UW-Whitewater is the first test case for the new chancellor search process in RPD 6-4. As elsewhere, the new process concentrates power in the hands of the Regents. Previously, search and screen committees had to consist of at least half faculty from the institution in question; now, the committee has 10 members, of whom 5 are Regents, and only 2 are faculty.

I encourage you to support our UW-Whitewater colleagues!

Best,

Nick Fleisher (UW-Milwaukee) President, AAUP Wisconsin