The chancellor search
The search for the next University of Wisconsin-Madison chancellor will begin this fall with the creation of a Chancellor Search and Screen Committee in September, according to a UW-Madison news release.
UW-Madison plans to have a new chancellor by summer 2013, when current Chancellor David Ward’s interim appointment ends.
Ward was invited back to UW-Madison in 2011 after then Chancellor Carolyn “Biddy” Martin departed.
Two student representatives will be appointed to sit on the committee and both will have voting rights, according to an Associated Students of Madison email.
Faculty, academic staff and community members will also serve on the committee.
UW System President Kevin Reilly and a special committee of Regents will review the committee’s selected candidates and make a formal recommendation to the full Board of Regents for approval.
Mifflin Street Block Party
The Mifflin Street Block Party may undergo significant transformations in May 2013 after Madison’s top police official said in a July 12 letter to the Wisconsin State Journal the event could be “eliminated” if not “drastically” changed.
Madison Police Chief Noble Wray said a change in location is ideal to decrease the cost to the city and foster a safer environment for party attendees.
“We can no longer tolerate this large event taking place in a highly populated residential neighborhood,” Wray said in the letter to the State Journal. “It has become too costly and too dangerous.”
Following violence, including a stabbing, at the 2011 block party the Madison Police Department spent more than $195,000 at this year’s party due to the “need for additional resources,” according to Wray.
Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, said the block party needs student planners to facilitate cooperation between various stakeholders for the party to continue.
Adidas dispute
A court will decide if the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s main licensing partner, adidas, violated its contract with the university after mediation failed to resolve an ongoing dispute.
The issue stems from concerns that an Indonesian factory contracted by adidas did not compensate over 2,700 workers after shutting down in January 2011, which some university administrators say violates the school’s contract with the company.
Ward entered a negotiation period with adidas, despite recommendations to cut ties with the company.
But mediation came to a halt July 13 when the university called for the Dane County Circuit Court to decide if adidas met its contractual obligations.
According to Vice Chancellor for University Relations Vince Sweeney, the university cannot take any further action until the court rules on the alleged breaches in contract, which has an undetermined timeline.
