The delayed UWS 7, a previously rejected proposal that would expedite the process of suspending faculty members in disciplinary cases without pay, came before the UW-Madison Faculty Senate Monday.
The UWS 7 was a response to three highly publicized cases of faculty criminal misbehavior: Roberto Coronado, Lewis Keith Cohen and Steven Clark, and the subsequent media coverage of the offending faculty members' continued salaries.
I think the process is quite slow and could be faster. We should clean our own house and figure out why that committee was unable to handle the three cases that were put before it,\ said UWFS member and professor of bimolecular chemistry Lawrence Kahan. ""It was an overburden and we didn't have the flexibility to deal with it. So, we need to rewrite a few things.""
As the group attempted to make changes, a major point of debate for the UWFS was the wording of the proposition.
As currently worded, UWS 7 allows the suspension of faculty members with ""clear and convincing evidence"" of criminal activity, a lower standard than that of the state, which requires evidence ""beyond reasonable doubt.""
""The question is, what should be the test as to whether we can put someone on leave without pay, and what should be able to trigger that?"" UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley said.
The UWFS debated the language of the proposal, drafted by the University Committee; however, the group voted to postpone its decision until its next meeting.
""The conversation of the faculty was very helpful and instructive,"" said UC Chair Patricia Brennan. ""The University Committee plans to continue to develop language so that we can bring it back before the faculty.""
With a May deadline set for the wording of the new disciplinary policies, some UWFS members wonder if the regents and the faculty will be able to agree in order to use their power of shared governance.
""The University Committee intends to meet the deadline on clarifying the language of UWS 7. We have to."" Brennan said. ""It's our intention, if we can get our language clarified with our faculty colleagues and the regents, to have it available when the university Faculty Senate agenda goes out, which will be in two weeks.""
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