Faculty members at the University of Wisconsin System’s 13 two-year colleges will be able to vote next week on a no-confidence referendum for Chancellor Cathy Sandeen.
The move is a response to her decision to cut $2.6 million from the colleges’ budget.
A letter signed by seven UW College department chairs called for the vote. Jeff Leigh of UW-Marathon County was one of the names on that list.
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“We would like a stronger voice in suggesting alternatives to this set of budget cuts,” said Leigh. “We think the cuts that are being proposed will be extremely damaging to our campus communities.”
Leigh said Sandeen should have waited until the state Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee acts because some Republican lawmakers want to shield the two-year schools. But Sandeen said this week that she did not think those efforts would be successful.
“I am up at the Capitol on a weekly basis, and I have met with many legislators. It does not seem likely that those amendments will pass at this point,” Sandeen said.
Faculty members will be able to cast a vote on the no-confidence referendum through 5 p.m. on May 29.
For the no-confidence stance to be approved, a majority of all faculty members, not just a majority of those voting, must vote in favor of the measure.
Update: An earlier version of this story reported that only tenured faculty members would be eligible to participate in the vote. As the story was being published, the UW Colleges Senate Steering Committee decided to open balloting to all faculty. The story has been updated.
Editor’s note: WPR is a service of the University of Wisconsin-Extension, of which Cathy Sandeen also serves as chancellor.
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