Choosing a chancellor: Priorities for the next campus leader

Teri Balser, associate professor of soil science and member of the 2009 Reaccreditation team: A shifting educational climate

"When I consider the next five-10 years of higher education at UW-Madison and the challenges our new chancellor will face, three things come to mind. First and foremost, the educational climate of the country is shifting.

"There is a move toward greater accountability and outcomes-measures for our students. Students increasingly need to gain competency in managing their own learning — in short, they need to learn how to learn more than they need to cover content that could be read in a textbook (or, more likely, looked up online). If we are to continue to uphold our reputation for excellence in education, we will need to be leaders in reforming undergraduate education. Closely aligned is the need to develop not only intellectual competencies among students, but also interpersonal ones.

"Part of our job at UW-Madison should be to ensure that they have the cultural competencies to handle these encounters with grace and respect. Second, the new chancellor will face unprecedented alterations in the global environment. With this will come a need to address issues of sustainability and environmental/scientific literacy for all members of the campus community.

"Current campus efforts should be supported, and we need to reach out to the community around us and engage them in conversations about sustainability, sprawl, growth and the environment.

"Finally, the new chancellor will need to address issues of campus community and diversity. Efforts to increase our campus diversity must be based on measures of diversity that transcend race or culture. We must create a campus climate that welcomes and includes students, faculty and staff with widely varied socioeconomic, physical, cultural and sexual backgrounds, abilities and identities. A new chancellor with this vision in mind can build on our current strengths and create the foundation for UW-Madison's continued success into the next century."

Ralph Cagle, clinical professor of law and director, Lawyering Skills Program, academic staff: Look to new external partnerships

"My sense is that at the level that the University of Wisconsin wants to be a major player, the future of education will be characterized by strong institutional competition (for resources and research dollars, for students and faculty, for programs and leadership) and external audiences playing a greater role in setting the agenda for higher education. To thrive and prosper in that environment calls for leadership that is even more externally engaged than our excellent current leadership.

"The next chancellor should have the background and personality that will excite new commitments and collaborations with the business and the professional community, with government, politics and public-opinion leaders, and with the applied communities in science, technology, health and the arts. She or he should be highly visible, credible and connected to those key communities. That chancellor needs to understand, or quickly learn, the campus — its culture, capabilities and traditions — to best project who we are and to motivate and lead the campus community in ways of thinking, prioritizing and acting that relate tangibly to the demands of a changing society and a shrinking world."

Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz: Focus on state relations

"I think the top priority facing the new chancellor is state government relations. The new chancellor has to make the case that the UW is the biggest economic engine the state has. Unless we can argue successfully that UW-Madison really is making the Wisconsin Idea a reality, we'll continue to lose financial support and continue to see the Legislature micromanage the university."

Mary Czynszak-Lyne, vice president, AFSCME, WSEU Local 2412 representing administrative support employees: Promote an inclusive workplace

"One of our top priorities is to ensure the new chancellor continue John Wiley's commitment to address workplace climate and inclusivity. John has exhibited this commitment to climate by including represented elected classified staff to shared governance committees on campus and by appointing our leadership to dean-, vice chancellor- and director-level search-and-screen committees.

"Under John's innovative leadership, he included all staff in the bus pass program as a way to address the transportation and parking issues facing campus.

"To further inclusivity, the new chancellor should formalize classified staff participation at dean and director 'cabinet' meetings.

"With the changing workforce and concerns regarding recruitment and retention in administrative support employees, we are looking forward to working with the next chancellor to expand and enrich work schedule flexibility."

Jon Foley, director, Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment, 2009 Reaccreditation team member: Rethink the university's financial structure

"We live in a time when public universities are being shaken to their core. I think our next chancellor will need to help us navigate these uncertain waters and focus on two major issues.

"First is increasing the responsiveness of the university to real-world challenges faced by Wisconsin and the world. The world is changing more rapidly than ever before, with new challenges facing us nearly every day. How can the UW become more nimble and responsive to these emerging issues, while maintaining our core academic excellence?

"Second, we must rethink our basic funding model and institutional structure. With only 18 percent of our budget coming from state tax dollars (but with 100 percent state oversight), we can't continue solely as a 'state-supported' university. But we do not want to lose the open, public-serving nature of our institution. Somehow, we need to stay affordable, responsive to the people of the state, while moving toward a new financial model. How can we blend the best aspects of public and private universities while staying true to our core principles — especially the Wisconsin Idea?

"Despite these concerns, it is important to stop and remember that Wisconsin is the nation's leading public research university, in almost every measure, and we have much to be proud of. John Wiley has done an outstanding job as our chancellor, and I am certain that our next chancellor will build upon this success."

Reed Hall, executive director of Marshfield Clinic and first vice chair, Wisconsin Alumni Association Board of Directors: Focus on statewide image

"The next chancellor must have a vision of what a great public institution, such as UW-Madison, needs to be in the future. The greatness that the university has achieved in the state, nation and world must be further nourished.

"The chancellor must portray a positive image of the university and have excellent leadership abilities. This individual must be an ambassador who is able to represent the various constituencies of the university. The chancellor must be able to relate well with the Board of Regents, faculty, staff, students, alumni, donors, athletic department, as well as federal, state and municipal government authorities and state business leaders.

"It is important to have the next chancellor carry on the reinvigoration of the Wisconsin Idea project. I believe that this will help remind us all of a wonderful tradition of the university and will help develop a more positive image of the university throughout the state of Wisconsin."

Leslie Ann Howard, president of United Way of Dane County and 1979 alumna: Continue to nurture community partnerships

"The next chancellor of UW-Madison will need to drive the broadening scope of the Wisconsin Idea ... providing the leadership, outreach and understanding that research conducted at the University of Wisconsin (with Wisconsin as its learning lab) will be applied to solve problems and improve the human condition not only in Wisconsin but regionally, nationally and globally.

"United Way of Dane County has valued the outreach from the university and the important help it has provided our community, which, in turn, has helped many other communities. In 1995, a group of 16 professors began a collaboration providing research and creating a model with United Way and the community. By 2004, this collaboration, Schools of Hope, eliminated the racial achievement gap at third-grade reading for the Madison Metropolitan Schools.

"Now in 2008, the university continues its collaboration with the United Way and the community addressing the issues of disconnected and violent youth, work that has national implications.

"The university's strengths and abilities has helped the community in so many ways, providing social research and data on the local human condition, and helping to design models to address health-care access for the uninsured, decreasing homelessness, teaching parents to prepare their children for success in school, helping seniors feel less isolated and more engaged in life and reducing violence.

"The next leader needs to understand this critical partnership and recognize that by expanding it, the reach and strength of the university will affect lives locally, regionally and nationally."

John Magnuson, professor emeritus of zoology and director emeritus of the Center for Limnology: Put dollars into people

"Develop better relations with the state. Put more resources into graduate student fellowships and undergraduate research experiences. Support global change and especially global climate change in academic programs and research. Put more dollars into people and less into new buildings."

Art Rainwater, superintendent of Madison schools: Train students for the knowledge economy

"UW-Madison and the K-12 educational system are vital to the health of Wisconsin's economy. The next chancellor must lead the expanding role of the university as a major part of the state's future economic success.

"The university is currently a world-class research leader in a wide range of disciplines. Its ability to create thriving Wisconsin businesses based on that research provides a unique opportunity for Wisconsin to establish a strong presence in the knowledge economy of the future.

"While there are many facets to the university's role in Wisconsin's future, my own field of K-12 education is a critical part of that mission. The School of Education, a long-standing national leader in educator preparation and educational research, has played a major role in creating what is one of the great state public school systems in the country.

"The ability of public schools to provide an educated work force is essential to Wisconsin's position as a national leader in the knowledge economy. The new chancellor's support for the continuing excellence of the School of Education and our state's public school system is critical to enabling the university's research to create the economic engine essential for our future."

Louise Robbins, professor and department chair, School of Library and Information Studies, member of the 2009 Reaccreditation Project: Lead a new 'communiversity'

"It is clear that UW-Madison has new realities with which to deal on nearly every front, and large numbers of the university community studying those new realities to prepare for reaccreditation have begun to conceive a bold new vision for the university.

"Thus, first, the new chancellor must be willing to embrace the emerging vision and integrate it with his or her own.

"Second, the new chancellor must provide dynamic leadership to engage all the university's constituencies in aligning the priorities and activities of the university with shared vision. In this regard, the chancellor must be a change agent, leading the 'communiversity' in thinking through and making needed changes, both structural and cultural. This is a difficult task and will require both patience and willingness to risk.

"Third, a crucial priority is that the new chancellor must communicate openly, early and often, both internally — to faculty, staff and students — and externally — to the people of the state — about both accomplishments and challenges, and do so in a way that tells this remarkable university's story in a clear and compelling way.

"Vision, leadership and a gift for communication top my list of requirements for the new chancellor."

Norma Saldivar, associate professor of Arts Institute: Make the arts a campuswide priority

"The incoming chancellor has a great challenge ahead. The list of needs for the campus will be lengthy and difficulty to prioritize. With that in mind, this list is uniquely from my point of view as interim director of the Arts Institute.

"It is my hope that the chancellor will hold dear the importance of the arts to the success of the university and the development of our students. The work being initiated on campus by our faculty, staff and students is extraordinary and diverse. It fills the spirit and challenges the mind. The arts faculty is highly talented, with local, regional and national reputations to rival any Big Ten school. Efforts to retain these talented faculty members should be a campuswide priority — after all, the health of our graduate programs rests on the excellence of our faculty.

"In addition, the arts have laboratories that are unlike the more traditional labs in the sciences. The artists' labs come in a variety of forms, from studios to galleries to presenting venues where the final learning tool — the audience — is invited in to witness the work. The existing labs or physical plants require modernization both for the public and private spaces because of the enormous number of students serviced on a daily basis. Another related priority to be considered includes the ever-growing need for technology and advancement in arts curriculum and practice.

"My hope is that the new chancellor will continue to see the importance of the arts to our campus, the Madison community and to the state and will continue to make this a priority for the campus."

Tom Still, executive director, Wisconsin Technology Council: Expand the university's state economic impact

"If past is precursor, the top priorities facing the next UW-Madison chancellor will be enhancing the overall quality of the university; projecting that quality in a way that attracts and retains world-class faculty, staff, students and funders; and invigorating the 'Wisconsin Idea' in the 21st century.

"For the people and companies engaged in Wisconsin's technology sectors, UW-Madison is essential to growing our state's tech-based economy. Companies in advanced manufacturing, information technology, life sciences and more need access to basic research, other business and technology expertise, and a pool of quality students that may become tomorrow's work force.

"UW-Madison and its affiliates, particularly the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), touch this sector in many ways. There are a number of industry consortiums run through the schools or colleges. There are entrepreneurial programs such as the Weinert Center (Business School) and the Masters in Biotechnology Program, which is fairly unique. The Office of Corporate Relations serves as a ready portal for business. Industry collaborations with researchers are increasingly common. In our case, each of our major programs collaborates with the UW-Madison or WARF on a number of fronts: our statewide Governor's Business Plan Contest, the Wisconsin Angel Network, the Wisconsin Innovation Network, the Wisconsin Security Research Consortium and Wisconsin Edge.

"Fostering these kinds of connections will help Wisconsin's economy better utilize one of its greatest resources, UW-Madison."

Barbara Wolfe, director of the La Follette School of Public Affairs: Embrace the Wisconsin Idea

"The next chancellor of UW-Madison will face the challenge of leading a great public university. UW-Madison prides itself on our outstanding faculty, our first-rate research contributions and our gifted student body; finding the resources and inventing the strategies to continue advances in these areas is of the highest priority.

"A public university carries with it a set of special obligations that often compete with academic goals. Access to the university must remain open to students across income and racial categories. The 'Wisconsin Idea' — that the boundaries of the university are the boundaries of the state, and that research conducted at the university should be applied to solve problems and improve health, quality of life, the environment and the economy for all citizens of the state — needs to again be affirmed.

"Finding the way to do this while advancing academic excellence is a top priority. Just what does it mean to be a top-tier academic public university? How do we effectively contribute to the state and the nation, while being among the nation's elite academic centers? How do we simultaneously convince middle- and lower-income Wisconsin families and their children that hard work and playing by the rules opens opportunities at UW-Madison and continue to increase the quality of the student body?

"Though our current leadership has done an admirable job on these fronts, the way forward to simultaneously accomplishing academic excellence, relevance to the world's problems and increasing opportunity is far from clear. This, then, is what I see as a top priority for the next chancellor: defining 'the role of our public university in the 21st century' and then finding a way to accomplish that role."

Joy Zedler, Aldo Leopold Professor of Restoration Ecology, Department of Botany, Arboretum: Attract and retain the best, brightest

"There are big shoes to fill and giant leaps to be taken at UW-Madison. A new chancellor will need to move us forward in new ways, staying one step ahead of the competition in all aspects of university life. We need to attract the best students, the best faculty and the best staff. Once they're here, we need the ability to retain them. That requires the support of the people, the Legislature, the best funding agencies and generous philanthropists.

"And while we're picking up the research and education pace, we need to become more efficient in the ways we work. We need an ambitious vision and a well-drawn blueprint for the next decade, so we can keep our eyes on the target and our feet on the ground. Following John Wiley's footsteps will be a challenge and a privilege — the next chancellor will need to learn from his achievements and break new trails that take us into an even stronger and brighter future."