Board Of Regents Committee Holds Tense Meeting On Tenure

A discussion about faculty tenure produced sparks at a University of Wisconsin Board of Regents committee meeting Thursday in Milwaukee.

The board’s Education Committee has voted 4 to 3 on a resolution backing tenure as UW policy, but conservatives added language that would have a task force look at the possibility of allowing layoffs that aren’t due to fiscal emergencies.

The move comes after the Legislature’s Republican-controlled budget committee approved a state budget plan to remove UW faculty tenure from Wisconsin law and turn over control to the regents.

David Vanness, an associate professor at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, spoke to the committee when they met, and told them that more than 2,500 faculty, staff, students and alumni have signed a petition expressing concerns about potential loss of tenure protections and academic freedom. Vanness said people from all 50 states and 27 countries have added their names to the document.

“The whole world is watching what we do in Wisconsin because our university system is one of the finest institutions of higher learning in the world. And if academic freedom can be taken away here — where we once were unique among our peers, enjoying statutory commitment to tenure, to free expression and fearless inquiry — it can be taken away anywhere,” said Vanness.

Dozens of onlookers gave Vanness a standing ovation at the end of his remarks.

In a designated protest area in the back of the room stood about 15 people wearing blue tape over their mouth to symbolize potential loss of free speech. One of the protestors, UW-Milwaukee art history professor Richard Leson was allowed to speak to the committee. Leeson said he doesn’t understand why the tenure transition may be taking place.

“I would like to have an answer from the president or Board of Regents as to why, in the absence of any budgetary reason or need, this is even being considered at all,” said Leson.

The seven-member education committee then began debating a resolution that would accept tenure as UW policy. Regent Gerald Whitburn, a former member of Gov. Tommy Thompson’s cabinet succeeded in adding language that would have a regents task force continue to discuss potential layoffs of tenured faculty, with a 4-3 vote in favor.

Whitburn later declined to comment on his move.

Regent Tony Evers , who is state superintendent of public instruction, said he voted against Whitburn’s language because it doesn’t challenge the Legislature for leaving a non-fiscal item like faculty tenure in the state budget.

“If the board doesn’t stand up and say, ‘What’s in the budget amendment is wrong and we don’t like it ,’ we’re sending the wrong message. Because if that passes, whatever goes forward will be governed by that piece of legislation. It won’t be governed by what the board wants. It will be governed by what the House, Senate and Assembly pass,” said Evers.

But UW System President Ray Cross said he’s not as concerned that tenure protections will go away or that administrators would be able to arbitrarily dismiss a faculty member.

“That process, how we define it in policy, is going to be very important and something we need to do not by ourselves but in collaboration with faculty,” said Cross.

However, at an event in Waukesha on Thursday, Gov. Scott Walker made it sound like tenure has a short future.

“People should be based on performance they should be based on merit. And going forward if we have a program like that in any part of state government, it’ll be a good thing,” said Walker.