We began with some hard questions about System Administration including, “Do people have faith in Ray Cross’s leadership?” and “What has motivated his approach and behavior regarding Chapter 36 and Public Authority?” From the perspective of protecting and supporting the university system, he seems to have grossly miscalculated in his efforts to move Chapter 36 into Public Authority. Now that this is unravelling, he seems to be painted into a corner. We had a deep discussion of these questions, in the context of President Cross’s visit to UWM tomorrow for a public Budget Committee meeting. The System seems to be in complete disarray which leaves us vulnerable to more savage cuts and other major losses for the university system.

We discussed, with the Provost, the future of tenure and that of shared governance, which seems more vulnerable than tenure. There are deep questions as to how governance would work, at the very basic level of P&P, if shared governance is aggressively altered.

We heard reports from various committees, and noted that the search for a Vice Provost For Research position has been put on hold. This led to a deeper discussion about the position itself, and the climate for research at UWM. The Dean Search Committee for The College of Health Sciences is ongoing with some strong candidates. The report from the APBC brought up the issue of furloughs, which we all hope to avoid and various other speculations about where to find money for the as yet unspecified series of cuts. This will, of course, be an ongoing issue.