What’s in a merger?

Apparently a threat to that most cherished of academic values, at least by faculty, “shared governance.”

The UW-Madison chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) sent an open letter to the president of the University of Wisconsin laying out the case. “It does not bode well for the success of your policies that you consider shared governance to be nothing more than an impediment to progress,” they wrote. “In May, 2016, when faculty from seven UW System institutions, including the UW Colleges declared that they had lost confidence in your leadership and that of the Board of Regents, the most significant factors were your failure to defend the institution from a hostile governor and state legislature and your abrogation of shared governance in passing policy on faculty termination over the expressed objections of both the UW System Faculty Representatives and the Faculty Senate of UW-Madison.”

“Since then, despite our lack of confidence, faculty have struggled to maintain morale and do our part to advance our institution’s mission in service to students and society.” Maybe they should try whistling the theme from the Bridge on the River Kwai.

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