The UW-Madison Faculty Senate adopted the principles of the New Badger Partnership and discussed various university committee proposals Monday.
Chancellor Biddy Martin and members of the proposed partnership's committee are working on and off campus to build support for increased flexibility for UW-Madison from the state and have engaged with various groups to work on more specific principles for the New Badger Partnership.
""When it comes to flexibility and the New Badger Partnership for the university, new tools can help us deal with the [budget] cuts that we anticipate,"" Martin said. ""I can tell you from the beginning, the governor was open and seemed sympathetic to the need the university has for greater flexibility.""
The New Badger Partnership would allow UW-Madison independence from state restraints when making financial decisions, which would allow UW-Madison to manage decreased funding from the state more effectively, according to the proposal.
The core principle of financial flexibility for the proposed partnership is that higher education must be affordable and accessible to all families in the state of Wisconsin. The partnership also maintains that continued state funding is essential in order for UW-Madison to exist and prosper, Martin said.
Martin said it is important to compare UW-Madison's budget and funding to other Big Ten schools and across the country in order to determine where the university stands in comparison to other public institutions.
Also at the meeting, various campus committees submitted their annual reports for the 2009-2010 academic year.
Members of the Senate discussed a recommendation to create a research oversight committee.
Professor Judith Burstyn spoke on behalf of the University Committee. She discussed a request to include graduate student representatives as members of the research oversight committee.
""The University Committee is sympathetic to the request for student representation on governance committees,"" she said. ""However, because this committee oversees research policies at the highest level, we stood by our conclusion that membership of this committee appropriately consists of those who are faculty and academic staff.""
