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Bills from the 2025–26 session

Assembly Bill 586

Shared governance at University of Wisconsin System institutions

Topics: University of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin: Regents

Stopped in committee

It never got a ⁠, so it never came up for a vote. The last day for votes this session was Mar 19, 2026. To try again, a lawmaker would have to start a new bill.

  1. Introduced, passed

    Oct 24, 2025

  2. Committee, stopped here

    Stopped here. No public hearing was held.

  3. Assembly vote, not reached

  4. Senate vote, not reached

  5. Governor, not reached

  6. Law, not reached

Latest entry in the official record, Mar 23, 2026: “Failed to pass pursuant to ⁠”

It never got a hearing in the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities. The committee's chair at the time was Dave Murphy. Chairs decide which bills get a hearing. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.

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The same bill was also filed in the Senate as SB 581. That version died when the session ended.

What it would have done

Summary by the , the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.

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 the 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.

Read the full summary

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 .

Who's behind it

44 representatives are its ⁠. All 44 are Democrats.

13 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 57 names

Authors (44)

Signed on in support (13)

What happened

  1. Mar 23, 2026

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  2. Oct 24, 2025

    Sent to the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities.

  3. Oct 24, 2025

    Introduced in the Assembly.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Oct 24, 2025 · Assembly

    Introduced by Representatives Joers, Stubbs, Stroud, Anderson, Andraca, Arney, Bare, Billings, Brown, Clancy, DeSanto, DeSmidt, Doyle, Emerson, Fitzgerald, Goodwin, Haywood, Hong, Hysell, J. Jacobson, Johnson, Kirsch, Madison, Mayadev, McCarville, McGuire, Miresse, Moore Omokunde, Neubauer, Palmeri, Phelps, Prado, Rivera-Wagner, Roe, Sheehan, Sinicki, Snodgrass, Spaude, Subeck, Taylor, Tenorio, Udell, Vining and Ortiz-Velez; cosponsored by Senators Hesselbein, Smith, Carpenter, Drake, Habush Sinykin, L. Johnson, Keyeski, Larson, Ratcliff, Roys, Spreitzer, Wall and Wirch

  2. Oct 24, 2025 · Assembly

    Read first time and referred to Committee on Colleges and Universities

  3. Mar 23, 2026 · Assembly

    Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1

Terms on this page

Committee

A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.

More in the glossary

Public hearing

A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.

More in the glossary

Senate Joint Resolution 1

The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.

Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1. More in the glossary

Legislative Reference Bureau

The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.

Official term: LRB analysis. More in the glossary

Author

A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Official term: Author, coauthor. More in the glossary

Signed on in support

Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.

Official term: Cosponsor. More in the glossary

From the Wisconsin Legislature's official record, checked Sep 15, 2026. See the source

Committee

A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.

More in the glossary

Public hearing

A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.

More in the glossary

Senate Joint Resolution 1

The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.

Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1

More in the glossary

Legislative Reference Bureau

The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.

Official term: LRB analysis

More in the glossary

Author

A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Official term: Author, coauthor

More in the glossary

Signed on in support

Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.

Official term: Cosponsor

More in the glossary