Here & Now

Noon Wednesday with Guest Alex Hader

MARISA WOJCIK:

Welcome to Noon Wednesday, I’m Marisa Wojcik, a multimedia reporter with Here & Now. So as the academic year is winding down, we’re taking a look back at a decision made by the UW Board of Regents to restructure its campuses across the state. And we’re talking about what that means for students going forward. So joining me today, we have student perspective Alex Hader. She is the outreach director for the UW System Student Representatives. So thanks for being here.

ALEX HADER:

Yeah, thank you for having me.

MARISA WOJCIK:

So first, just tell us about what is your roll and how many campuses are you in contact with?

ALEX HADER:

Yeah, so I serve as a student outreach director for UW System Student reps, so I am in contact with all 26 schools and colleges across the UW system, working on different campaigns and outreach efforts.

MARISA WOJCIK:

And so in November, the UW System Board of Regents announced they were gonna combine the state’s two-year campuses, with its four-year institutions. So what input did the students have in that decision?

ALEX HADER:

So the decision came out without having student input in the decision. That was really shocking to all of the student reps because we do operate under a system of shared governance in this state, where students should have their voice in those decisions. So not having students input in the decision was really shocking to all of us.

MARISA WOJCIK:

And so because you are in contact with campuses across the state, what have you heard about the restructure?

ALEX HADER:

So initially it was a lot of shock. Everyone was really upset that this decision was made without shared governance. Now it’s been a lot of questioning, how the restructuring is working. Are students getting enough input in the decisions? What’s really going to happen to these two-year campuses, and the four-year campuses who are receiving the two-year campuses.

MARISA WOJCIK:

So what are some specific examples of how different campuses will be impacted differently by the decision?

ALEX HADER:

Yeah, so the system is kind of broken up into regional teams because of this merger. So the four-year campus that is receiving two-year campuses, that’s one region. So each region is figuring out their own plan for the merger essentially. So there’s usually one student on that regional team, and that is deciding the fate of how that merger is basically going.

MARISA WOJCIK:

And four-year campus students are gonna be impacted differently than two-year campus students, is that right?

ALEX HADER:

Yeah so this’ll definitely be a bigger shift for the two-year campus students. The four-year students won’t really be impacted by this. It’s really the two-year campuses that will be the most impacted by this in that there’s a lot of questions surrounding where they’re getting their degree from, where their student segregated fees are going, how their student government is being structured.

MARISA WOJCIK:

So talking about shared governance, a few years ago, Wisconsin changed its language in the state statute regarding shared governance. So today’s language reads: The students of each institution or campus, subject to the responsibilities and powers of the board, the president, the chancellor, and the faculty. It should have primary responsibility for advising the chancellor regarding the formulation and review of policies concerning student life, service and interests. So in your opinion, and in your time serving, do you think that, that has been the practice? That the students have had the ability to have input in these decisions beyond just the restructure?

ALEX HADER:

So I think unfortunately this year, there have been a lot of decisions that have been made without student input. And I think that’s something that as reps we really want to be involved in the conversations, regardless of the decision, if it’s not one we agree with, we at least wanna be in the spaces that we are having our voices heard. Because these decisions ultimately impact all students.

MARISA WOJCIK:

So when a decision is made and you feel like you did not have input, what happens then?

ALEX HADER:

So for example, the restructuring, when we didn’t have input, there were a lot of, there was a lot shock and questioning within the reps and that led us to have a lot of conversations with higher ups in UW System, such as President Ray Cross, different UW System administration in figuring out how, now that this decision has come out without student input, how we can get student input moving forward because this decision does impact students.

MARISA WOJCIK:

So what would the ideal shared governance look like? And what is the future for shared governance? It’s been reintroduced into legislation right?

ALEX HADER:

Yeah, so the new legislation basically returns shared governance to its pre 2015 state, which is a much stronger shared governance presence on campuses. I think that would ideally be where shared governance is moving in the future. I think it’s super important that all of these voices are being heard in these decisions, and that we are operating under a true system of shared governance.

MARISA WOJCIK:

So we’re winding down the academic year. What should students be looking for? And how should students think about their plans academically going forward with this restructure?

ALEX HADER:

Yeah so there still is some uncertainty with the restructuring. I know they did push back the end date for when they wanted to have everything finished for restructuring, to I believe January. So the original date was July. So moving forward, this definitely is a question of how the restructuring will be finalized and what its final state will be. So students moving forward should definitely keep an eye on different updates about the restructuring. And if they are going to a two-year campus, figuring out how that is impacted by it not just being its own sole entity and it now being a branch campus of a four-year campus.

MARISA WOJCIK:

All right, Alex thanks so much for being here.

ALEX HADER:

Thank you.

MARISA WOJCIK:

So if you like this interview, please share it and please leave your comments below. You can find more Here & Now coverage and Wisconsin Public Television at wpt.org and thanks for joining us at Noon Wednesday.