MADISON — The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents will hold its next regular meeting Thursday and Friday, Oct. 4-5, at the UW-Eau Claire campus. The full agenda is available on-line.
Two all-regents-invited sessions are planned Thursday, starting at 10:30 a.m. A brief progress report on “Plan 2008,” the UW System’s 10-year initiative to enhance diversity, will lead into a discussion of campus climate and retention issues. Discussion leaders will be Chancellor Rick Wells of UW-Oshkosh, Dean of Students Alicia Chávez of UW-Madison, and a student from UW-Eau Claire.
Also featured during this morning session will be a discussion of approaches the board may use to demonstrate the UW System’s accountability for outcomes of the Economic Stimulus Package. Funding for the package was included in the state’s 2001-03 biennial budget.
At noon, Terry MacTaggart, former chancellor of the University of Maine System, will speak to the board on the topic of national higher education resources strategies. His remarks will lead into an afternoon discussion by the Business and Finance Committee on the ongoing theme of “Building Our Resource Base.”
MacTaggart served as chancellor at UW-Superior from 1987 to 1991, and was chancellor of the former Minnesota State University System prior to going to Maine in 1996. He stepped down from that position on July 31 and is now serving as a research professor affiliated with two institutions: the Muskie Institute at the University of Southern Maine and the Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy at the University of Maine.
In other board action this week:
- The Education Committee will discuss student retention issues, and will authorize the search for a new provost and vice chancellor at UW-Green Bay as well as new campus deans at UW-Baraboo/Sauk County, UW-Fond du Lac, and UW-Marshfield/Wood County.
- The Business and Finance Committee will receive the annual report on faculty and academic staff sick leave usage, and will authorize an additional 2.5% increase in tuition for nonresident, undergraduate students in response to a veto in the biennial budget bill.
- The Physical Planning and Funding Committee will receive design reports and/or approve construction projects or leases at six campuses: Madison, Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Platteville, River Falls and Stevens Point. The committee will also receive a gift of 205 acres of land from the UW Foundation, to be used for the expansion of the University Ridge Golf Course.
- UW-Eau Claire, as host of the meeting for the first time since 1995, will have several opportunities on Thursday to make special presentations to the board committees. Topics include the recent, successful North Central Association accreditation, faculty-student collaborative research, operating budget challenges, and the campus master plan and planning process. During the full board meeting on Friday morning, Chancellor Don Mash will make a presentation on what UW-Eau Claire considers its “Marks of Excellence.”
Note to News Media: Journalism students in an Advanced Reporting class at UW-Eau Claire have created a website entitled “Clear Vision: A Guide to the UW Regents Meeting.” The site contains 11 articles on a variety of topics, and includes a discussion area for reader feedback. The site, located at www.uwec.edu/mdorsher/regents, touches on unclassified staff salary increases, student awareness of the Board of Regents, and other subjects. It also offers profiles of Regent JoAnne Brandes (a UW-Eau Claire graduate), and Regent Tommie Jones, Jr. (a student at UW-Whitewater). The website will be updated throughout the meeting.