Thursday, March 13, 2008

Union Building Project - Design Advisory Groups

Design Advisory Groups (DAGs) will begin meeting to discuss various issues relating the Union Building Project beginning the week after spring break. DAGs are one of the ways the Union is trying to reach out to students and the campus community to both share information on the project and gather input. These are the seven DAGs:

1. Indoor/Outdoor Recreation
2. Foodservice & Retail
3. Sustainability
4. Interior Design and Art
5. Site Design
• City Approval & Community Connection
• Parking & Transit
• Accessibility
6. Programming and Operations
• Meeting & Conference
• Programming & Events
• A/V & Technology
• Administrative Offices/Function
• Building Support/Operations
7. Leadership & Involvement

I will be posting additional information on exact meeting times in the next couple days. If you would like to officially join any of the DAGs please send an email to unionbuildingproject@gmail.com or just attend one of the meetings. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions or suggestions. Thanks,

Dan Cornelius, dcornelius@wisc.edu

Shared Governance Appointments in the News

The Badger Herald recently ran a story on the Shared Governance appointment process.

Read the full story here.

Remember that the deadline for applications for 2008-2009 positions is March 31. More information is available by clicking on the links to the left.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

LGBT Issues Committee - 3/3

Much of our discussion was about issues relating to Transgender students, although we talked briefly about the LGBT community in general on campus including students, faculty, and staff.
We discussed basic improvements that need to be made in University Housing to make it more Trans-Inclusive. This would include options for students who identify as transgender and the ability to make this switch in the middle of the year. Unfortunately, University Housing uses only information from the UW system's common application, which is gender-binary (only allows male/female options). I will be drafting a new set of recommendations for University Housing for our report this year.
It was noted that the Registrar's office is very accepting and able to make name and gender changes on official documents.
Justin is working on language to define transgender for the purposes of the university and University Housing.
We discussed the University Housing Viewbook, which is sent out to all incoming students. It has a small section in it that talks about the housing LGBT Liaisons, gives contact information for Eric Trekell, the director of the LGBT Campus Center, and also informs that transgender students can contact the LGBT Liaisons for special housing considerations.
We also discussed possible reasons why so little has been done within the university while there has been a mandate to make all campus policies gender-inclusive (transgender-friendly).

We are basically trying to figure out how to make sure that the policies that are already in place are carried out and how to make the most effective recommendations for the campus.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Campus Planning Committee: February 28, 2008

After a brief welcome and introduction, the Campus Planning Committee (CPC) commenced its February 28, 2008 meeting. There were five items on the agenda:

Approval of the Dec 20, 2007 Minutes

During that meeting, the Campus Planning Committee ranked proposed projects for the 07-09 fiscal year. Our ranking then vies with other projects from other campuses within the UW System. Whether or not any of the UW-Madison projects are funded will depend on UW System priorities as well as the State’s fiscal health. I abstained from approval of the minutes as I was not present at that meeting (Dan Cornelius represented ASM)

School of Medicine and Public Health: Faculty Office

Presented by Mark Wells. The project is the construction of a faculty office building adjacent to the hospital. The location of the seven story structure (130,000 square feet) is currently a green space between the UW Hospital and the Keystone House. No new parking will be provided.

The Keystone House is "a historical stone-and-wood dwelling situated at the west edge of the campus. The house was purchased by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation in 1967 and given to the University. The dwelling, originally a private residence built in 1853, has been converted into small meeting rooms, a library and offices without diminishing the charm of the historical structure. The Dane County Historical Society of Wisconsin lists the "Keystone House" on its register of historical homes deserving preservation (http://csumc.wisc.edu/mki/About/1.AboutFrames.htm ). The site plan noted that FP&M had designated a buffer zone around the Keystone House.

Funding for this building would be provided by the UW Medical Foundation. Therefore, the foundation and the university are negotiating a long-term ground lease for the building.

The purpose of the building is to move offices from the hospital and into the proposed adjacent building. While needed, the proposed site location adjacent to the Keystone house is too close for such a large structure. Other constraints (pedestrian and delivery access to campus drive) arise from the adjacent VA facilities. Discussions are underway to include bike/ped access to Campus Drive via the VA property.

Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery: Vivarium

Presented by George Austin. In Phase I of the Institute for Discovery, the Vivarium (22,400 square feet) was planned to be within the basement. Now, it will be shifted the adjacent lot that is proposed for Phase II. The foundation of will be such that Phase II can still be constructed above the Vivarium.

Funding for this project, $20.5M will come from WARF. WARF will purchase this land from the University as opposed to enter into a long-term lease.

Update: Charter Street Heating Plant

Presented by John Herrod. As part of the Consent Decree (Sierra Club vs WI Dept of Administration and UW-Madison Case #07-C-0251), the campus must Modernize Charter Street Heating Plant’s four coal fired boilers to achieve Best Available Control Technology or BACT at the facility, and comply with the Clean Air Act. Key points:

  • We purchase the boilers (used) in 1959.
  • This plant provides 45% of the UW-Madison energy needs and operates at 86% of capacity.
  • Their has been a 15% coal reduction and is now burning Biomass (paper pellets, tires).
  • To operate on coal is costs $10M per year.
  • To operate to gas will cost $30M per year.

I have attached to PDF’s for more information. It appears that this may be the University’s next construction priority.

ATC Transmission Line - Over Ground vs. Underground Route

Presented by Steven Ventura. He mentioned a former discussion that occurred at the 10/18/07 Campus Planning Committee meeting. The following is the minutes from that meeting.

Fish provided some background on this issue. Questions have been raised by CPC members and the campus community as to whether his recent radio commercial was an official endorsement of the ATC transmission line project. Fish explained that the campus’ position is that we need reliable power and we are in support of a reliable power source. The campus is not endorsing any route for the line and in fact has voiced concerns about the proposed route near the Arboretum. The language that he used in the radio spot was vetted through the Chancellor’s office as well as UW Communications.

Fish also explained that the campus’ electricity bill accounts for 10% of all of MGE’s billings. 80% of MGE’s power is generated and imported from outside Wisconsin. As a result, the campus has a huge stake in a reliable source of power and ATC provides that power. Fish added that the decision is now in the hands of the Public Service Commission and they have two options before them – the route along the beltline adjacent to the Arboretum and a more southern route. The campus will have opportunities for input as an intervener into the discussion prior to the PSC’s decision.

Fish then introduced Kevin McSweeney, Director of the Arboretum. McSweeney said that he hoped the UW would petition to be an intervener in the PSC’s decision. He said that the Arboretum is an icon to many - it is sacred to the Ho Chunk Nation and has special significance because of its history with the Civilian Conservation Corp. The Arboretum has also petitioned to become a World Heritage Site, and for all of these reasons, McSweeney hoped that the UW and the Board of Regents would take a firm stance against the beltline route. He added that if the beltline route should be chosen, he hoped that ATC would seriously consider an underground rather than overhead line. He concluded by saying he believes there is a lot at stake with this decision and that both the campus and greater Madison community need to address the longer term implications of this project.

Ventura asked Fish how the need for power on campus is linked to the need for the ATC line. Fish replied that a majority of MGE’s power is imported and because of its proximity to two of the great lakes, Wisconsin has no access to power routes from either the north or east. Additionally, the electric grid has evolved in such a way that local decision making on generating electricity has given way to regional decision making about which plants to take on or off line. As such, it is the regional distribution system that has to provide reliable power for our science and research programs and for that we must rely on ATC.

Ventura pressed for the CPC to issue a statement. Chairman Fish noted that this discussion was best at the Chancellor level, as the negations, are at the chancellor level. Venture then introduced Ronald Kalil and Bradley Hunter. In their presentations, they noted that APC’s application has not been rendered complete and that it will be about a year before a decision by the Utilities Commission was to be made. Key points:

  • Undergrounding the power lines are now technically feasible—whereas APC said it was not.
  • Above Ground will increase vehicular fatalities.
  • Higher costs associated with undergrounding are offset by lower maintenance costs.
  • APC’s application more than likely will be deemed complete.
  • APC has complete eminent domain power, therefore if approved, they are not answerable to local government.

Ventura then read a statement that he wanted the CPC to endorse:

Whereas the construction of a 345 kV electricity transmission line entails significant environmental, economic and cultural impacts; and,

Whereas the option of constructing an underground line may substantially mitigate these impacts;

Therefore, the Campus Planning Committee recommends that the Office of the Chancellor convey to the Public Service Commission a recommendation to conduct independent and unbiased investigation of the feasibility, costs, and benefits of underground construction along the preferred route of the proposed Dane County line.


Provost Farrell interjected that again, this is best handled at the Chancellor’s office. Howell, from the Arboretum, countered that the proposal text says ‘may.’ At this point, I asked Chairman Fish about the campus energy policy. I said that we have heard how the campus handles power supply, but what about demand. What are we doing to reduce demand? Especially in terms of free-riders and marginal costs. Fish said that our next meeting will have ‘demand’ on the agenda.

Someone made a first and second, Ventura’s statement passed. I did not vote either way since I did not have a copy of the text neither prior to the meeting or at the meeting.

One week later, Dawn Crim of the Chancellor’s office sent the following email:

Thank you for sending the Campus Planning Committee's resolution on the proposed route for the ATC line. I was prepared to communicate to the Campus Planning Committee what the campus has done thus far regarding this issue but I had to leave for another meeting prior to the discussion of this item.

UW-Madison is on record with the American Transmission Company (ATC) and the Public Service Commission (PSC) requesting a full evaluation of undergrounding along the beltline route for the same reasons that are outlined in the resolution. The City of Madison, Dane Co. and other key stakeholders have made similar requests. As a result, the PSC has deemed ATC's application incomplete until that information is included in the application. The PSC is requiring specific detailed review of 9 different Beltline routes including underground segments. Additionally, ATC is being required to provide plans for the Arboretum.

Once the PSC deems the application complete, the regulatory review process begins. Our University through the Chancellor's Office and the Arboretum has been engaged for the past two years and will continue to remain vigilant on this issue.

The Associated Students of Madison Shared Governance Committee Blog serves as a space for shared governance appointees and the UW-Madison student body to communicate on issues relating to shared governance. As part of their responsibilities as student representatives, appointees will post a report following each meeting attended.