Shared governance at University of Wisconsin System institutions

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 had to be represented in the development, of all policies and procedures concerning academic staff members, including academic staff personnel matters; and 3) the students had to be active participants in the immediate governance of and policy development for the institution and, as such, had primary responsibility for the formulation and review of policies concerning student life, services and interests.

However, these responsibilities of the faculty, academic staff, and students were subject to the responsibilities and powers of the Board of Regents, the UW System president, and the chancellor, and the responsibilities of the academic staff and students were further subject to the responsibilities of the faculty. In addition, prior to 2015 Wisconsin Act 55 , there was no statutory requirement that STEM faculty be adequately represented in the faculty organizational structure.

This bill restores provisions relating to shared governance at UW System institutions to the form in which they existed just prior to the enactment of 2015 Wisconsin Act 55 .