We were joined this week by David Haynes, Editorial Page Editor, and Ernie Franzen, Associate Editorial Page Editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Their first question was about how UWM is faring in the current fiscal environment. We talked to them at length about the challenges departments are facing to meet curriculum given the number of faculty who have departed and are not being replaced, and challenges to accreditation. We also discussed the value of a college degree. Additional issues that came up included: asking the state to fund the freeze on student tuition; performance-based funding; graduation and retention rates; concern for the safety of foreign and undocumented students; and the restructuring of the UW-System. Haynes and Franzen invited us to write op-eds that would address these issues.

In his chair’s report, John Reisel announced that the Strategic Visioning Task Force had its first meeting. The committee is supposed to deliver a report to the Chancellor in late January. Members of the UC suggested they look at UWM’s past vision and mission statements, as well as statements from other peer institutions. Here is the University of California-Riverside’s strategic plan; here is Madison’s vision statement. Members of the UC also reported on other committee meetings.