Milwaukee, WI
Head of UW-Milwaukee’s faculty senate: Layoffs of tenured faculty were financially necessary
The leader of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s faculty senate told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” that the chancellor’s plan to lay off 32 tenured faculty members was financially necessary.
But other faculty see it differently. The head of the Wisconsin chapter of an academic professional nonprofit said UW-Milwaukee and UW system leadership should have done more to avoid layoffs.
In late August, the UW Board of Regents voted to completely close UW-Milwaukee’s College of General Studies, laying off 32 tenured faculty members, while 60 nontenured employees had already been given layoff notices.
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Kathleen Dolan, a distinguished professor of political science and leader of UW-Milwaukee’s faculty senate, said she is not happy that faculty members will lose their jobs. But she explained what was behind her recent mostly symbolic faculty senate vote in favor of Chancellor Mark Mone’s plan to lay off 32 tenured employees.
“I think if the Political Science Department saw a 65 percent decline in its enrollments over a 10 or 15 year period, people would rightly ask … ‘Do you need all 16 of your faculty?’” Dolan said. “I don’t love that idea and I don’t love that argument, but we are no different as faculty in some ways than any other set of employees.
“We live in a capitalist society where, when there is not demand for certain work, businesses lay people off,” she continued. “And this is the first time that has happened to faculty. But quite honestly, while I understand all of the importance of tenure, I’m not sure that faculty are different or special or better than people in other categories of employment.”
In the non-binding measure, UW-Milwaukee’s faculty senate voted 24-11 on Aug. 7 to reject the chancellor’s plan. Dolan was one of the 11 voting in favor.
Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman joined “Wisconsin Today” last week and defended the layoffs decision, saying it was a necessary measure to address declining enrollment and lagging state aid.
In 2015, Republican Gov. Scott Walker signed a budget that removed tenure protections for public university professors. The policy had only been used to lay off one professor from UW-Platteville in 2021.
Dolan said “pretty dramatic underfunding of the UW system,” as well as other policy and demographic changes contributed to the university’s current situation.
“No one wanted to get to that point,” Dolan said. “I think what faculty here feel as much as anything else … is that faculty were put in a pretty difficult position by a series of things that have occurred in our state over the last nine or 10 years.”
Were cuts necessary? Some disagree, as worries about precedent linger
Nicholas Fleisher is an associate professor at UW-Milwaukee and president of the Wisconsin chapter of the American Association of University Professors. He has pushed back against the plan, saying more could have been done before resorting to layoffs.
“The university is required by state law to explore, to the best of their abilities, finding opportunities for laid-off faculty,” Fleisher explained. “And so the concern is that the university has kind of not fulfilled its duty on that score.”
Both Dolan and Fleisher worry that UW-Milwaukee’s planned layoffs could be the start of a trend in Wisconsin.
“Do I worry that this will happen again? Yes, of course I do,” Dolan said.
Fleisher explained that layoffs like this have happened in other places around the country, citing a closure at West Virginia University that cut 32 academic programs and 169 faculty positions. But he argues that the reason to avoid these layoffs goes back to the principle of the Wisconsin Idea.
“We hear from legislators, sometimes we even hear it from members of the Board of Regents, that there’s concern about program duplication,” Fleisher said. “So, do we need to have a political science program in Eau Claire and also in Green Bay? Or can campuses specialize?”
“It makes sense from a business efficiency standpoint. It does not make sense from an educational standpoint, because the point of the public higher education system is to bring those things to people where they are,” Fleisher continued. “That has been the historical strength of the UW system. And that is what we are very concerningly retreating from right now under our current legislative leadership and board leadership in the system.”
What comes next? University members offer some ideas
With the UW Board of Regents approving the closure of the College of General Studies, Fleisher said that institutional channels have “run their course” in attempting to prevent layoffs at UW-Milwaukee. He said there might be options for affected faculty through other channels, however.
That includes an appeal through the American Association of University Professors, which he said can open an academic freedom and tenure investigation.
“There may be some legal remedies that affected faculty may pursue as well, on the basis of reappointment rights that exist for them in state law,” he added.
Dolan said the UW system could take several approaches to fixing UW campus financial problems. One option is to improve its relationship with the state Legislature.
“We have shifted in the last 10 or 15 years from a state that deeply valued the UW system and its campuses to a state where many of our leaders try to disavow us on a daily basis,” Dolan said. “I think that if our political and social and cultural climates in the state could change so that people would be more open to understanding the value that UW campuses bring and not reflexively falling back on political arguments, I think that could help turn things around.”
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.
MILWAUKEE — Five teenagers were arrested on Thursday following a police pursuit that started on the 5500 block of W. Silver Spring Drive at around 10 a.m.
The teenagers were seen by the Milwaukee Police Department in a wanted vehicle that was involved in an armed robbery, and attempted to stop the vehicle.
The driver refused to stop, starting the police pursuit.
TMJ4
The pursuit ended when the suspect exited the vehicle and started to run on foot on W. Appleton Place, according to MPD.
MPD then arrested a 16-year-old female, a 16-year-old male, two 17-year-old females, and a 15-year-old male.
Criminal charges will be referred to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office.
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BY ALEXANDRA G STAHL AND AMRITA THAKKAR
Every year, Milwaukee Riverkeeper organizes one of the biggest volunteer-led cleanups in the city – a gargantuan effort that has Milwaukeeans out in droves to clean up the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic rivers after the first of the spring rains. The science-based advocacy organization works for clean, swimmable, fishable and drinkable water in the Milwaukee River Basin year-round, but April is their biggest push, as they set up what is likely the largest volunteer-led event in the state.
For their 31st annual cleanup on April 25, however, the Riverkeepers had a goal that dwarfed every previous year – they wanted to break the world record for the world’s biggest river cleanup. With 124 clean-up sites this year (versus last year’s 100), they were confident that they had a good chance at the title.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
“The people’s power is something pretty spectacular,” says Jennifer Bolger Breceda, executive director of Milwaukee Riverkeeper. “Our spring cleanup is really kind of a kickoff of spring to a lot of people. We have a lot of nuisance pollution in Milwaukee because of our winters, and the snow covers up a lot of the trash for a significant period of time. When it melts it becomes pretty noticeable, so it’s a perfect time to get out there and do the cleanup.”
Tru Earth, the presenting sponsor of the cleanup, originally approached Riverkeeper with the idea of breaking a world record, aiming to see if the title already existed or if they could create one. The organizations reached out to Guinness World Records, and it turned out there was already an existing world record for “Most Participants in a River Clean-up (multiple locations).” The record had previously been set at a cleanup of the Taff River in the United Kingdom, with 1,327 participants.
But applying to break the record was the easy part – once Guinness was on board, the real work began. The record had to be judged against the previous record, and it had to be done exactly the same way.
“We had to train more volunteers to support our other volunteers, to watch, witness and adjudicate them,” explains Bolger Breceda. “We also had an adjudicator from Guinness present on the day of the event.”
The extra layer caused some logistical challenges. While previous events were more casual, with volunteers showing up in their own time, Riverkeeper requested that volunteers show up early this year so everyone could start at 9 a.m. Every site captain was added to a text message chain, so that all sites started work at the same time.
The event drew over 4,923 volunteers and ended up with approximately 111,452 pounds of trash collected. While Guinness only counted 2,082 people due to their own adjudication standards, it still easily surpassed the previous record.
While Riverkeeper called for pre-registrations well in advance so they could organize for supplies, Bolger Breceda says that they didn’t put in any extra effort into recruiting the record-breaking number. “With the flooding and the rains a couple weeks before the clean-up, as well as the storm last August, people really wanted to clean up the river,” she explains. “There was a lot of trash, debris and litter, and the demand to clean, so to speak, was high.”
As always, the clean-up resulted in a number of strange finds – three toilets, two mattresses, five fire extinguishers, 39 tires, 11 construction barrels, six construction signs, six shopping carts, a golf bag with clubs and even a wheelchair.
The record was announced at Rock the Green at the Harley-Davidson Museum later that day. “It was a lot of work, but it was worth it to put Milwaukee on the map,” says Bolger Breceda.
MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee’s Festival of Flowers is returning to Riverwalk Commons at the Milwaukee Public Market this Saturday, running from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The free event features a flower market with vendors selling fresh flowers, art, and handmade goods, along with live music on the Riverwalk Common stage.
Milwaukee Public Market
A new floral art installation from Botanical Collective will also be on display, serving as a photo opportunity for attendees. The installation builds on a similar display from last year’s event.
WATCH: Milwaukee’s Festival of Flowers returns for a second year with new additions
Milwaukee’s Festival of Flowers returns for second year with new additions
“So things that you might have seen last year are absolutely coming back. We have free live music on the Riverwalk Common stage. We have a flower market with vendors selling fresh flowers, art, handmade goods, all of that really fun stuff. Then we also have Botanical Collective last year made this beautiful floral art installation that also acted as a photo op. This year it’s going to look a little different, so we’re really excited to see what they put together,” said Paige Hammond with the Milwaukee Public Market.
Milwaukee Public Market
Also new this year, the festival will kick off with a free yoga class at 11 a.m. Attendees are asked to bring their own mat.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Hey there! At TMJ4 News, we’re all about listening to our audience and tackling the stuff that really matters to you. Got a story idea, tip, or just want to chat about this piece? Hit us up using the form below. For more ways to get in touch, head over to tmj4.com/tips.
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