Here & Now

UW-SP Prof: 'My Loyalty is to the People of Wisconsin'

Zac Schultz:
Over the past eight months, we’ve been following the budget problems faced by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. A few weeks ago, we had Stevens Point Provost Greg Summers on to talk about why they to cut six majors and lay off faculty to balance an $8 million deficit. Here’s what he had to say to Frederica Freyberg.

Greg Summers:
We’ve talked before Frederica about the fact that we have a budget deficit. And certainly the proposal that we circulated at campus this week was meant to address that at least in part. But it’s also the case we’re thinking about a lot more than just budget. What this is really about is trying to respond to the changing educational needs that we’re seeing in Wisconsin. We know that students are really cost sensitive these days and so they are focused, sort of laser focused, on career pathways that their degree choice can open up. So our restructuring that we’re proposing, reorganizing our academic colleges and focusing our curriculum is really meant to highlight those career paths.

Zac Schultz:
This week, faculty at UW-Stevens Point sent a letter to the UW Board of Regents calling for the dismissal of Stevens Point Chancellor Bernie Patterson and Provost Greg Summers, who we just heard from. Mick Veum, a physics professor, signed the letter and he joins us now from Stevens Point. Mick, thanks for your time today.

Mick Veum:
Thank you for having me.

Zac Schultz:
Why are you asking for the chancellor and the provost to go?

Mick Veum:
I’m — what I’m asking is for the Board of Regents to read that letter very seriously. The concerns that are raised in that are real. There is nothing that is hyperbolic. There is nothing that is exaggerated. There is nothing that’s non-factual in there. What I’m asking for is accountability. I’ve been involved in a lot of the process and when I read that letter — I had nothing to do with writing that and I’m not saying that to absolve myself of any responsibly — but when I read that letter, I knew from — that I owed it to the people of Wisconsin to make sure that this part of the story is heard. And that the budget hole that we are in is actually our own doing.

Zac Schultz:
Can you give us a nutshell of what’s in that letter just so the people at home understand what your allegations are?

Mick Veum:
Yeah. Well, the major part of it, the biggest part and what really compelled me to sign the letter is the fact that when we knew that our enrollments were going to be dropping, we were hiring tenure track faculty members. We were making a promise. We were bringing faculty members in when we knew that we wouldn’t have the enrollments. We would not have the revenue to pay the salaries associated with that. And that’s not good management. And we did that. And we — and that part of the story, you can’t find that in the “Point Forward” document. That was a mistake we made and we need to be held accountable for that. There are other parts of it associated with — there were some accounting problems. Those have been rectified. There was an issue in student affairs with an associate dean who was sexually harassing people. And so there is — so there is a variety of things in addition to these financial issues. And so going forward we gotta not pretend that we didn’t dig this hole for ourselves. We did.

Zac Schultz:
In a statement Chancellor Bernie Patterson says the letter “represents a small percentage of faculty and staff.” Does your movement represent more than a vocal minority?

Mick Veum:
That would be a difficult thing to say. It definitely represents a large contingent. I spend all day, every day on the campus in the trenches with people and by and large, the people that I am with are supportive of this and they — they’re sympathetic. They don’t necessarily agree with everything that’s in the letter. They don’t necessarily agree with the approach, but they don’t disagree with the conclusions of the letter in terms of the financial problems that we’ve had. It is a substantial group of people. And so I think — I don’t think Bernie should be calling this a fringe group who is on the outside of the university. This is the rank and file of the university who feel this way and it is not just faculty. It’s not just staff. It’s students, too.

Zac Schultz:
Now, if the Board of Regents declines to do anything, the chancellor and the provost stay on, what kind of relationship will you have with them as these cuts are implemented in the future?

Mick Veum:
That’s a really good question. As I mentioned in the press conference yesterday, this is a really painful thing for me to do. I have known Greg for about 17 years. We have worked together in a lot of different situations. I’ve known Bernie for almost 10 years and we have worked through good times and bad times and with ups and downs. And the last thing I wanted to be doing yesterday was standing in front of a group of reporters and having to say very unpleasant things about people who are my colleagues. But people with whom I have — my children have played with Greg’s children. We have socialized and worked together on very difficult things. So I don’t know. I like to think that we can keep the business of the university separate from the personal part of it. It’s definitely going to put a strain on it. But at the end of the day, Zac, I’m a public servant. And at the end of the day, my loyalty isn’t to any particular person at the university and it’s not to any particular program at the university. My loyalty is to the people of Wisconsin and the people of Wisconsin weren’t getting the straight story. They weren’t getting all of the information that I think they deserve to know. This university belongs to everybody. It doesn’t — it’s not mine. It’s not Bernie’s. It’s not Greg’s. It’s everybody’s.

Zac Schultz:
Quickly we don’t have a whole lot of time left but at the root of the deficit is a declining enrollment. How will this situation help parents and high schoolers decide Stevens Point is the place for them in the future?

Mick Veum:
Because we are going to fix this. And it’s going to be a multi-pronged approach. And one of the things that we’re going to do is we’re going to — I’ll stand up in front of them and convince them the faculty members care. We want to provide the best education possible and even if it puts us in a bad position personally, I’m taking a big risk here right now. But I want the parents to know–

Zac Schultz:
Sorry, we’re out of time.

Mick Veum:
I’m here. I am here for their students. Sorry Zac.

Zac Schultz:
Thank you for your time. We appreciate it.

Mick Veum:
Thank you, Zac.