Attend our Budget Q & A Session in CCC 321!
On July 3rd, Governor Evers signed a biennial budget agreement negotiated with the Joint Committee on Employment Relations (JCOER). That budget provides $250 million for the Universities of Wisconsin, $90 million of which funds much-needed employee raises.
Unfortunately, JCOER is following the playbook established by the 2023 DEI deal, using the budget to micromanage the UW System and fulfill their own political agenda. They can withhold the approved funding unless the UW Board of Regents meets the following conditions by December 2025:
-Require all full-time faculty and IAS at non-R1 schools to teach 24 credits per year, barring JCOER approved exceptions. This negatively impacts many UWSP employees, including library faculty, fine arts faculty, and those who oversee practicums and clinical placements.
-Require no more than 10% of faculty and academic staff (other than department chairs) hold “administrative duties,” barring JCOER approved exceptions. “Administrative duties” are not clearly defined, which raises questions about how the policy will affect individuals who manage graduate degrees, research labs, and interdisciplinary minors/certificates.
-Establish policy making all Gen Eds “transferable between institutions within the System.” System administration interprets this to mean that all 13 four-year campuses must adopt the same Gen Ed categories, requiring us to complete an overhaul of our own GEP by the end of 2025.
No UW employees were present at the budget negotiations. In direct opposition to the principles of shared governance and academic freedom, JCOER is asserting its control of our curricular policies and working conditions.
While the UW System has created a working group to draft policy meeting JCOER’s requirements, faculty and academic staff are woefully underrepresented among its members. SPARC aims to ensure that campus and System administrators hear your voices.
Come to Collins Classroom Center 321 to share your questions and concerns.
Also check out other Arts events in Stevens Point, Meetups in Stevens Point, Fine Arts events in Stevens Point.
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