Saturday, April 18, 2015

Making U-Wisconsin Strong

I, most strongly, maintain that the best way to return UW to its fullest strength, and that as the useful servant of the People, is to have the Legislature most formally and solemnly declare that the “Public Policy”of Wisconsin is:
  1. The primary goal of UW is to provide the the university ready youth of Wisconsin with a quality and affordable university education;
  2. The secondary goal of that school is to develop new knowledge and views of our world as will be openly known to all AND not to be kept secrete for the benefit of any individual(s) or organization(s);
  3. The ownership and governance of UW belongs equally to all of the People of Wisconsin without regard to any employment-by or enrollment-in that school;
  4. No qualified citizen of Wisconsin may be excluded from student status at any campus of UW in favor of the citizen of another of the Several States and, more specially, of some other nation; And,
  5. . All faculty and other employees of UW, students of that school and visitors to it are entitled to the full protections (As intended by the Authors) of the United State's Bill Of Rights AND like provisions of Article-I of Wisconsin’s Constitution.
I have long maintained that a best way of enacting-and-enforcing such public policy is to:
  1. Have the People of Wisconsin directly elect the UW Regents (As is done in Nebraska), the same number from each Congressional District (To provide for democratic and court-required equal representation) from candidates who receive no benefit from that school;
  2. And, turn over the full governance of UW to those democratically elected Regents.
The financial “problems”of UW could be best resolved by, among other steps, having those elected Regents::
  1. Exclude from enrollment all persons not already qualified for university-level scholarship (eg Eliminate all “affirmative action” and like programs);
  2. Require that all moneys received from patents and copyrights be directly assigned to UW's “General Fund” and not, as now, be given to some under-performing and grossly under-supervised agency;
  3. Require that all of UW's salaried employees turn over to that fund all speaker's fees and other income received (Less reasonable travel expenditures) while an employee of our university;
  4. Assuming that UW's President, Chancellors and other high officials are “well spoken” and fully
    qualified to address the issues of UW, fire all of that school's “spokes critters”;
  5. Have a comprehensive study of UW done: By such organization(s) as is (Are) fully divorced from any person(s) or organization(s) staffed-by or connected-to those “out of” the incestuous world of Academia; To determine if there is any scientific (ie “Reliable and valid”, “with a high level of confidence” and validated by those “with no ax to grind”) to prove/demonstrate the the salaries (And fringe benefits) allocated to UW's President, Chancellors and other high official are “cost effective” and in the best interests of the People of Wisconsin; To, at the same level of proof, determine if “Tenure” serves that interest OR if it blocks the hiring of new and more energetic/productive faculty;
  6. Other than “professors”, library staff, grounds keepers and public safety officers, eliminate not less than 50% of all UW employees whose job title includes such terms as “Assistant” or “Deputy" or “Associate”---Without allowing those employees to be retained in other, probably non-productive, positions.

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