This board would like to first and foremost congratulate Dr. Rebecca Blank on her recommendation a the next chancellor at this university.
She brings with her the strongest résumé among the four finalists, and we are excited to see how she will put her impressive financial and academic skills to use. As university budgets grow smaller and tuition increases, it is important that the next chancellor be able to balance keeping costs in check with maintaining a high-quality education.
As the acting U.S. Secretary of Commerce coupled with her experience in teaching at many higher-education institutions, it is clear that she has the experience necessary to carry out these challenging tasks.
Additionally, it is time for this university to experience consistency in leadership. With Carolyn “Biddy” Martin leaving after three years, and David Ward staying for two, we have not had a chance to make significant changes to move our university forward in solving the issues we face. Blank has expressed an interest in staying here for a lengthy tenure, and we hope she is able to follow through on that.
However, we also have some concerns. While her resumé and experience are impressive, we worry about how she will relate to students. Biddy was as good as they come in that category. Her enthusiasm for working with students helped create a positive image for her and the university as a whole, which can benefit UW-Madison in many ways.
Others in the student community have also expressed concern over her plans for diversity and working within the structure of shared governance. While we cannot say we know her plans for these issues, both are incredibly important, especially as we draft a new Diversity Plan and restructure our student government with the new constitution.
We hope Blank will prove more than satisfactory on these issues, and wish her the best of luck in doing so. At the moment, without knowing exactly what she will bring, we can commend the committee on its decision to recommend the chancellor with the strongest résumé of the four final candidates.
Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
