Choosing a chancellor:
Respondents focus on equity and diversity

Sandra Arfa, director, UW–Madison English as a Second Language program: Encourage more international student enrollment

“Leadership, vision, integrity, strong communication and bridge-building — I agree that these are all essential traits for a new chancellor.

“I would also like a chancellor who is keenly aware of the vital importance of fostering a culture of diversity that includes our international students and scholars, with a vigorous emphasis on going beyond diversity and toward globalism. These international community members benefit from what we have to offer and bring the richness of other perspectives and other cultures to us. Our Wisconsin undergraduates need this exposure to become truly global citizens.

“The university has lost its long-standing position in the top five U.S. universities in the number of international students enrolled on campus. In the latest Open Doors survey for 2007, Wisconsin had fallen to 19th place. We need to attract the best from abroad. (Better and more competitive support packages would help.)

“Many alumni go home to become leaders in politics, business, and education, providing a valuable link for our campus and state. Though not the most important element, international students contributed over $150 million to our economy in 2007, according to Open Doors 2007.

“I’d like to see a campus office to provide support and leadership to departments and programs such as ours to make it easier to bring international students here for short courses. The complexity of the bureaucracy makes it a major and frustrating task, and opportunities are lost.

“I hope the next chancellor will continue to support the many wonderful international initiatives already in place and strengthen our efforts to reach beyond our campus and state borders and make the Wisconsin Idea truly global and international.”

Jacqueline DeWalt, director, Pre-College Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence (PEOPLE): Understand the power of pre-college pipeline programs

“The new chancellor should be committed to improving the education and life chances of underserved students from diverse populations within the state of Wisconsin and to the infusion of inclusive excellence in all that we do here at UW–Madison, including teaching, learning, research, strategic planning, performance, assessment, campus life and community outreach.

“An intentional, ongoing and engaged process is needed to address UW–Madison’s historic challenges related to access, equity, retention and graduation. Pre-college programs have served a valuable role in this regard and, therefore, must not be viewed as separate from the core mission of this university or the core responsibilities of the new chancellor. For these reasons, continuation of support for services rendered by the Pre-College Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence (PEOPLE) should be viewed as a priority for the new chancellor.

“PEOPLE is driven by two major UW–Madison initiatives: Plan 2008 and The Wisconsin Idea. This program opens up the doors of the university and provides access to the wealth of information and resources available to a diverse group of low-income and first-generation students from throughout the state, in order to prepare them for high school graduation and college admission — especially at UW–Madison.

“PEOPLE works in partnership with Wisconsin schools, students and parents, community members, and campus representatives to provide academic and enrichment services, early exposure to college majors and career options, campus life and culture experiences, internship and research experiences, mentoring, guidance, and support in navigating such higher education systems as college admissions, standardized tests and financial aid.

“Most importantly, this program serves to increase the pipeline for diverse groups of underserved students from Wisconsin into all UW–Madison schools and colleges and provides support and assistance to PEOPLE scholars throughout their undergraduate years to facilitate college retention, college graduation, graduate school admission and workforce placement.

“It is our hope that the new chancellor has a thorough understanding of the value of pre-college pipeline programs and moves forward in the development and implementation of multilayered processes that will ensure inclusive excellence in the quality of diversity, education, administration and service at UW–Madison, at both the campus and community level.”

Michael L. Morgan, Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Administration: Make a quantifiable commitment to diversity

“A diverse faculty and student body is a critical element for a healthy and intellectually robust learning environment, so important for a world-class institution like the University of Wisconsin.

“We can work hard to create new elaborate bureaucratic strategies to promote diversity and big 1,000-page reports to show our commitment, but these efforts mean nothing if diversity isn’t woven into the heart and soul of the institution, its leaders, its faculty and its students.

“Steps have already been taken to define diversity, but the new chancellor has to identify and hold key staff accountable for developing strategies to obtain this vision. The new chancellor’s commitment to diversity must be measured by results that are clear, concise and quantifiable.”

Luis Piñero, assistant vice chancellor for workforce equity and diversity: Promote diversity as a shared campus responsibility

“UW–Madison attracts students, faculty and staff from Wisconsin, the nation and the world. Our work and learning environments must address the needs of our diverse student body and workforce. To meet these goals, we must provide opportunities for staff, educators, researchers, administrators and leaders to develop competencies that strengthen capacities to address those needs.

“The next chancellor should lead the campus to incorporate diversity into all operations of the university; strengthen individual and unit-level competencies to meet this strategic priority; and ensure accountability for attaining goal progress.

“The chancellor is uniquely positioned to promote the message that equity and diversity are responsibilities shared by all university employees and units and that our administrative, business, instructional, research and service enterprises are expected to consistently demonstrate civility and respect when interacting with visitors, students, faculty and staff.

“To meet this objective, our next chancellor should expand funding support for professional development and implement mechanisms for recognizing demonstrated achievement and excellence in this area.

“To remain a true global leader in research and higher education, UW–Madison must consistently and systematically transform our work and learning environments to strengthen their capacity to promote excellence and diversity.”

Jennifer Sheridan, research director, Women in Science and Engineering Leadership Institute (WISELI): Make UW–Madison known as a place that promotes work/life balance

“The mission of WISELI is to promote the participation and advancement of women in academic science and engineering. If you talk to women academics in the sciences, especially those in the early career such as graduate students, postdoctorates and junior faculty, work/life balance is a key issue affecting how they are thinking about their future career choices.

“But our research shows that work/life issues are not just important to women in the sciences — they are increasingly important to men, too. For UW–Madison to compete for the best and brightest faculty of either gender, a ‘family friendly’ environment is even more important, especially in an era in which we are less able to compete in terms of salary.

“It is my hope that the next chancellor will review our current slate of excellent programs, and augment them to keep pace with some of the developments occurring in academia, such as active service and modified duties policies.

“My vision is to have UW–Madison become the first public university to make the Working Mother magazine Top 100 best places to work list, and I would love to have a chancellor who shares that vision and makes it happen.”

Eric Trekell, director, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Campus Center: Promote and defend UW–Madison’s progressive heritage

“When I arrived on campus, I didn’t anticipate experiencing so many conflicting emotions regarding UW–Madison. To become the first professional director of the LGBT Campus Center and to facilitate a long-term vision for LGBT services at such a storied university seemed a career capstone. Some progress has been made, but for many LGBT people, including me, the reality of UW–Madison lives up to neither its rhetoric nor its history.

“Clearly, LGBT people on campus don’t face the same challenges as do other groups; for one, our youth have visible role models among the faculty and staff. Still, they often experience harassment and hetero- or gender-normative barriers on campus. We work on those issues, but LGBT students, faculty and staff also face the reality of state-sanctioned economic, political and civil discrimination.

“We face these realities in part, I believe, because the institution has become both complacent in its perceived reputation and, perhaps, politically fearful. The refrain of ‘it’s not a good political climate’ doesn’t live up to UW–Madison’s heritage — that time when ‘The Wisconsin Idea’ was inextricably bound to an aggressive, progressive, political idealism. And so we must seize this opportunity to move forward with an administration that again exhibits the moral courage and political leadership of that heritage.”