AB 949

This bill modifies statutory provisions relating to shared governance at

University of Wisconsin System institutions to restore these provisions to their form

just prior to enactment of the 2015-17 biennial budget act (

2015 Wisconsin Act 55

).

Current law, after

2015 Wisconsin Act 55

, specifies the division of

responsibilities at UW System institutions as follows: 1) the chancellors are the

executive heads and are vested with the responsibility of administering the policies

of the Board of Regents and, in consultation with the faculty, carrying out other

policy-related responsibilities such as designing curricula, setting degree

requirements, determining academic standards, establishing standards for faculty

appointment and promotion, and administering institutional funds; 2) the faculty of

each institution has the primary responsibility for advising the chancellor regarding

academic and educational activities and faculty personnel matters; 3) the academic

staff of each institution has the primary responsibility for advising the chancellor

regarding the formulation and review, and must be represented in the development,

of policies and procedures concerning academic staff, including academic staff

personnel matters; and 4) the students of each institution have primary

responsibility for advising the chancellor regarding the formulation and review of

policies concerning student life, services, and interests. However, this authority of

the faculty, academic staff, and students is subordinate to the authority of the Board

of Regents, the UW System president, and the chancellor, and the authority of the

academic staff and students is further subordinate to the authority of the faculty.

Although faculty have the right to determine their own organizational structure and

to select their representatives in institutional governance, they must ensure that

faculty in academic disciplines related to science, technology, engineering, and

mathematics, STEM, are adequately represented in the faculty organizational

structure.

Before

2015 Wisconsin Act 55

, the division of responsibilities applicable to

faculty, academic staff, and students at UW System institutions was characterized

as follows: 1) the faculty was vested with responsibility for the immediate

governance of the institution and had to actively participate in institutional policy

development, and as such had the primary responsibility for academic and

educational activities and faculty personnel matters; 2) the academic staff had to be

active participants in the immediate governance of and policy development for the

institution and had the primary responsibility for the formulation and review, and