University Honors Committee 12/18/08

The University Honors Committee met on Thursday, December 18. Topics discussed include the Undergraduate Ethics Symposium, Honors at commencement, the Churchill Scholarship, and an upcoming Honors assessment project.

The Undergraduate Ethics Symposium, sponsored by the Prindle Institute of DePauw University in Indiana, is an opportunity for undergraduates to present works addressing ethical issues. Submissions must be sent in by February 1, and authors of selected works will be invited to a three-day symposium in April. For more information, see: http://prindleinstitute.depauw.edu/programs/ethics_symposium08.asp
Also, if anyone has suggestions about particular student groups that might be interested, let me know and I will make sure to send them information. Thanks!

In the past, honors students have been recognized at commencement by wearing white stoles with cardinal bars. Some colleges, including Letters & Science, offer an additional reception for honors students graduating from their respective programs. It was suggested that perhaps this is not enough, and that more should be done to recognize the achievements of honors students. The discussion resulted in an informal proposal to begin work on a joint reception for students graduating from every honors program on campus. This would hopefully give honors students and their parents more adequate recognition, and (more importantly in my opinion!) would cultivate goodwill among a group of prospective donors. Most agreed that this is an idea worth pursuing. What do you all think? Any suggestions or objections?

The Churchill Scholarship, sponsored by the Winston Churchill Foundation, funds one year of post-baccalaureate research at Cambridge University for science, mathematics, or engineering students. In past years, UW-Madison has failed to nominate any students for the scholarship, and the Foundation is therefore considering a revocation of our invitation to make nominations. Part of the problem is that potential nominees often already have plans to attend graduate school, and consider a one-year research project to be a "break" that they cannot afford to take. Although circumstances certainly vary, this is largely a misconception: graduate schools generally welcome students who have some formal post-undergraduate research experience. To increase awareness and encourage more students to consider applying, a Foundation representative will be visiting UW-Madison in early March. If anyone has suggestions about undergraduate research groups that would be interested in meeting with him, please contact me. I personally think this is a great opportunity for UW-Madison students, and it would be a shame if we cannot get it together to make some nominations. For more information about the Churchill Scholarship, see: http://www.winstonchurchillfoundation.org/Scholarships.html

The Honors Committee has received funding for an assessment project that will attempt to determine how the experiences of honors students measure up to their expectations. Both graduates and current students will be included in several web-based surveys, the first of which will be sent out soon.

Another Blog: The Chancellor's Forum

This week, the Chancellor is holding a series of forums to discuss how the UW should prepare for what will certainly be a challenging budget cycle. The first two have been held, and there is one more on Friday the 19th. 

Obviously, scheduling these forums during finals week makes it difficult for students to attend, though certainly some have. The Chancellor has also promised to have additional forum(s?) in the beginning of the spring semester.

You can still participate without attending the forums. The Chancellor's office has created a blog to keep the community informed of what happened at each forum and to continue the discussions that come out of the forum. You can read it here

UW Madison in an Economic Recession and a Changing World

Unfortunately, this site wasn't included in any of the emails that went out last week to the University community, so it may not be well-known. I wasn't at the first forum, but it looks like UW Communications has done a good job of getting content from the forums onto the site and it's already collected a few comments.

Getting the ideas and discussions from these forums out in short order for the world to see and comment on is a good move on the part of the Chancellor. (It's something that ASM should be doing a better job on, too.) I don't know how the Chancellor's office will use that site in the future, but hopefully this is the start of a good trend from the UW Administration. 

Campus Safety Committee

The Campus Safety Committee met Wednesday December 10th to discuss WiscAlerts, alternative methods for informing students in surrounding off-campus neighborhoods about campus crime and SafeU.

Currently WiscAlerts notifies students via text message if an extreme emergency situation is occurring, such as a bomb threat, active shooter, or a tornado. The system is campus focused.

Discussion regarding WiscAlerts included the following:
- Is the campus focused system too narrow?
- Do students want to be alerted for less severe crimes as well?
- Is there an expectation gap with WiscAlerts? Are students expecting to be notified more often than they are?

Alternative methods for informing students of campus crime were discussed as well, including:
- Potential newspaper columns including the campus and surrounding area crimes for the week and locations of the occurrences
- Using WiscAlerts more often
- Extending SAFE services hours

SafeU is a website that is being designed by two PhD students; it would be accessible via computer and phones with internet capabilities. The website would include links to campus safety and SAFE resources.

Please respond with any questions, comments, or concerns. Feedback in response to the questions regarding WiscAlerts, SafeU, and extended SAFE service hours would be very helpful.

Union Design Committee - 12/8/2008

The Union Design Committee met Monday December 8th to discuss food service, budget updates, and floor plan revisions for the new South Campus Union.

Members of the Union Design Committee visited Purdue University to get ideas for the food service in the new South Campus Union. Discussion included the following topics:
- Should there be booths in the food service seating area, and if so, how many?
- How fast will students be able to get their food?
- How fast do students want to get their food?
This discussion will continue throughout the project.

Currently the consensus is that the new Union will remain within the budget constraints, however, in the event of necessary cuts or a budget surplus the project priorities were discussed. The project was divided into ten different areas including:
1. Shelling (White Box) program areas
2. Energy Saving Items
3. Water Conservation Items
4. Internal Finishes
5. Structural Savings
6. Site Enhancements
7. Reuse of Equipment and Furniture
8. Safety/Secure Items
9. Keeping all current program space
10. Phase AV/it System installation
These items were discussed as to what was the most and least important.

Changes to the floor plan included:
Level B2:
No changes
Level B1:
A stairwell was removed and the climbing wall will run from East to West instead of from North to South.
Level 1:
The art gallery was switched from an “L” shape to a straighter shape.
The ticket booth was moved to the main level.
Elevators were rotated to compensate other floors
Cash Office was moved to the rear of the building
The stairwell to the recreation center can be accessed from the Winter-garden.
Level 2:
The WUD spaces were redesigned
Table games were removed and more tables added
A stairwell was moved from Badger Hall to the Pre-function area
Level 3:
A hallway was moved to create a more open feel
The admin suite was reconfigured.
Level 4:
No changes
Level 5:
A house-keeping room was replaced by an exercise room

Please let me know if there are any questions, concerns, or comments. Feedback on food service ideas and project priorities would be greatly appreciated.

Memorial Library Committee Meeting on 12/19

Hi all,

Since today's meeting was cancelled I thought I would blog and ask if anyone had any student concerns they would like to see addressed at the Memorial Lib. Committee's next meeting. Specifically, food and cell phone use in the library. Do you feel that there should be certain areas where cell phones should be permitted? Or certain areas where food should be allowed? Or is the current policy the best, having both of these prohibited? Thanks guys, and I hope you all have a great break!

Jessica

Tonight's Meeting Canceled

Due to weather conditions, the Shared Governance Committee meeting on Tuesday, December 9, 2008 has been canceled.

Dean of Students Advisory Board

The ODOS Board met on November 20th. The following is a summary of the meeting. I will attach the full agenda with an outline in a comment.

The meeting started with a presentation and discussion about the ASM constitution. We were given a presentation on the second draft of the constitution, which incorporated feedback from the first listening section. The constitution hopes to address advocacy of issues, allocation of fees, and appointment of students. Looking forward, the final draft will be in December and the constitution will be adopted in February.

Next, we covered the Wisconsin Experience Essay. A motivation to share their unique experiences at the University of Wisconsin and a financial stipend will encourage students to write about "what the Wisconsin Idea is and what it should do" to be shared with students, administrators, the media, and the community. How would you anwer?

Halloween events on Friday, October 31 and Saturday, November are city events, however the University remains aware of them. We discussed the police presence and distribution during the two nights, programs sponsored by the union, and the OAR musical performance. What was your experience with the police presence? Was it necessary on both days and where they well distributed? Do you think that the Union should sponsor more events (non-alcoholic) or should it try to limit the number of people (especially non-students) during those evenings?

Dean Berquam shared the results of the Safety Forum Review. Students, residents, and parents addressed the issue of safety from many angles and also raised different concerns and questions. Safety has been more of an issue off-campus than on-campus, especially in the Langdon Street area. How do you feel about notification of safety concerns by text message or e-mail?

Student ticket distribution was postponed to the next meeting for the sake of time. What is your opinion about the current ticket distribution process for Football, Basketball, and other sports?

Now that snow is upon us, we must deal with issues about removing it. Mass transit was suggested as an alternative to cars which may be parked illegally and mopeds which may be unsafe to drive. Snow accumulation is a problem at bus stations. If you were waiting at a bus station and a shovel was nearby (attached by a chain), would you help to shovel as you were waiting?

Campus Transportation Committee 11/11

Projects:
- Lakeshore utility project to start in June
- Campus Drive (off University) starts in Spring
- Education Hall will be starting soon (closes Observatory to eastbound traffic)
- Chazen expansion underway
- Union South closing in January (?), slated for demolition in spring
- Highland & Observatory bus stops to change to permanent locations as roads re-open
- Randall/Dayton utility projects will coincide with University Ave re-build


Independent review process:
- Information needed from Transportation Services: previous customer satisfaction surveys; budgets; annual reports; correspondence from customers; transportation master plan; management plans & policies; list of troublesome locations on transportation network; CTC minutes; organizational structures; physical plant issues; hospital issues; basic needs assessment

- Information needed from TS specific to ASM: budget changes; ridership numbers; numbers served monthly by SAFE services

- Identification of experts: List to include directors/administrators from similar campuses, administrators of professional associations, and related transportation advocacy groups

CTC's next meeting is Tuesday, 12/9 at 12:00 in Room 1420 at the WARF building.

Union Council Meeting 11/20/08

Brittany Wiegand presented a brief overview of information regarding the Student Activity Center (SAC), which will open spring semester. SAC is a part of the new University Square complex at 333 East Campus Mall (Lucky Apartments is above it), with the purpose of providing student organizations meeting spaces. The Student Activity Center Governing Board (SACGB) is the ASM committee that oversees the spaces, which is chaired by Lauren Vollrath. They have finished allocating offices for registered student organizations.

Brittany also gave out information about the current draft of the new ASM Constitution, which can be found online at asmconstitution.wordpress.com. Feedback can be submitted to the blog.

Each of the four departments of the Union (Admin and Marketing, Facilities, Food, Social Education) gave a brief report on efforts currently being used to increase its sustainability. They will report back again in the spring to show what new efforts have been taken; any suggestions are welcome, and it was agreed that it would be a good idea to get experts in the area to give feedback and suggestions.

The one action item of the meeting was concerning extended hours for both of the Unions during finals week. It was voted to keep them open until 3am on Dec 14 (Sun night/Mon morn) through Dec 17 (Wed night/Thurs morn) (as opposed to 12 midnight, the normal closing time). This was concurrent with WUD's recommendation, but different than the Facilities subcommittee's recommendation of leaving them open for 24 hours Sunday through Thursday.

Union Design Committee 11/17/2008

The Union Design Committee met Monday November 17th to discuss the Info Commons/Technology Lounge, Food Service and Operations, the Percent for Art Program, the Rec. Center and the Student Meetings rooms.

Ideas for the Info Commons and Technology lounge included a potential lap top bar with plenty of outlets as well as available printing and individual work stations throughout the entire building. This was the opening discussion regarding technology in the building; there will be more discussions to follow as the project progresses.

Food Service in the new South Campus Union will include a traditional coffeehouse and wine bar, a market, and individual food kiosks. The coffee house will serve snacks and pastries, the market will have “grab and go” type foods, while the food kiosks will serve three distinctly different cuisines. A chef’s table will be incorporated into the kiosk area to function as a culinary training station.

The Percent for Art Program decided that an integrated piece of art should be incorporated into the new building rather than a statue or a stand-alone piece. At their next meeting on December 12th, the committee intends to select the final artist from the three finalists that were chosen at an earlier date.

Currently the recreational center in the basement of the new South Campus Union is set to have seven billiards tables; discussion arose as to whether or not some of these should be replaced with other games to add variety. One of the original stairwells was removed, opening up approximated 250 square feet of additional space. A television lounge was also added.

Student meeting room discussions focused on the ideas of permanent versus divisible walls, and whether there should be larger spaces for meeting rooms or smaller and midsized meeting rooms.

Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding the information presented.

The next Union Design Meeting is going to be on Monday December 8th at 5:30 p.m., TITU.

-Stephanie

Space and Remodeling Committee

Space and Remodeling Committee our first meeting of the year. We were informed about how the UW ranked near the bottom compared to its peers in usage of classrooms. UW uses an average classroom for about 27 out of the 40 available hours. To give you an idea of other schools, Purdue ranks at the top using their classrooms at an average about 45 out of the 50 hours. A presentation was give about energy conservation. Some key points for students were, the money used to pay for updating buildings will come from the 20 million dollars the state provides or other sources not from segregated fees. In the long run the money put into updating the building will save the university more money. There was an idea purposed about having a class about how to save energy which would be mandatory for every student to take before they graduate. Finally the goal of meeting 20 percent energy reduction by 2010 is expected to be reached. 

Segregated Fees and Building(s)

Here's the link to current segregated fees

Other Info:
All tuition and fees

Policies

Some info from ASM about seg fees and the students who have a say in how they are spent.


What is capitol building?

Campus Master Plan all the info you can handle about building on campus. The long term plan for what the UW will look like (physically) in the future.

University Assessment Committee

The University Assessment Committee met this morning.

We discussed the purpose of the committee and a possible re-visioning of the committee. The big concern of the committee is the bleak budget future. There is fear that assessment will go by the wayside or will be used as a weapon against programs.

What this means for students: There is going to be some sort of trade-off among ACCESS-COST-QUALITY because of the poor economy/budget. Decisions about what we value should be made using data and be meaningful, not arbitrary.

Memorial Library Committee Meeting 11/17/08

Hi all,

Memorial Library Committee had its first meeting yesterday (11/17/08) and below is a summary of the meeting. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you!

Memorial Lib Committee Meeting- 11/17/08

1) Appoint new faculty chair: Professor Richard Knowles, English Dept.

2) Review Committee Functions
a. Please see our website for a full description: http://memorial.library.wisc.edu/about/index.html

3) Updates
a. L&S to declare 2009-2010 the year of Humanities
b. Google digitization of documents
i. Print articles are now more widely available on MADCAT due to Google digitizing library print materials
ii. These digital articles will also be found at hathitrust.com
1. This is a University institution article-sharing database, more about preservation and academics than Google Books.

4) Faculty/Student Concerns
a. Food in the Library, causes too much garbage
b. Cell phones are disrupting, need more signs prohibiting these
c. Signage in general, need better signs to direct students as to where computers, printing labs, etc. are located

5) Greater access to print collections for faculty
a. Delivery of print materials to faculty offices
b. This is a pilot program with just Memorial Library and a few offices
c. If it goes well, may implement campus wide

6) Special Collections/Exhibits
a. Special Collections, 9th Floor, Campus Humor Exhibit until 12/26
i. Humor articles/journals from a number of campuses over the past 40 years
b. US National Holocaust Exhibit, First Floor

As always, please let me know if any of you have any concerns that you would like to see addressed at our next meeting. Thanks!

Jessica

Upcoming Memorial Library Committee Meeting

Hi All,

We are having our first Memorial Library Committee meeting on Monday and I just wanted to get any opinions or comments that any of you may have or have heard regarding the Memorial Library and student concerns. Let me know if you have any suggests or issues with the Library. We will be addressing some student concerns at the meeting so I thought I would open up discussion with all of you! It would be greatly appreciated. :) Thanks!

Jessica

Campus Planning Committee, October 23, 2008

After a brief welcome and introduction, the Campus Planning Committee (CPC) commenced its October 23, 2008 meeting. There were five presentations on the agenda:

1) Approval of the September 13 Minutes. During that meeting, the Campus Planning Committee toured the Grainger Hall addition and University Square.

2) Civic Participation and Engagement: I presented 20 minute presentation regarding Civic Participation and Engagement that asked: As a Committee, are we disregarding our responsibility to our community (Chancellor, Faculty Students, Alumni, Boosters, etc.) when we do not engage in meaning conversation regarding the University and how it affects the urban fabric.

A Microsoft '07 PPT copy of the presentation can be found HERE.

A 20MB PDF copy of the presentation can be found HERE.

As follow-up to the issues raised, Facilities Planning & Management will present their policies at the next meeting on November 13, 2008.

3) Alan Fish, of FP&M, presented an outline of the 2011-17 Capital Budget,

4) Julie Grove, of FP&M, presented an update of Chazen Museum of Art addition, and

5) Dan Cornelius, of Wisconsin Union, presented an update of the Union South redevelopment project.

Dean of Students Advisory Board

The following is the agenda from the October 30 ODOS meeting along with my notes:

1. Welcome and Introductions (10 min)
1. Lori Berquam
2. Course Guide discussion with Joanne Berg and Karen Hanson from DEM (45 min)
1. Enhanced and searchable course guide
2. Aggregated information center
3. Examples on slides
1. Course listing will be dynamic
2. When course was last offered and taught
3. Cross listing
4. Faster interface for searching
5. Links
6. Scheduler software parameters
1. Time and day
2. Closed sections
3. Breaks
4. Location
5. Instructor
3. ASM Constitution - Hillary (15 min)
1. Listening sessions about the draft
2. Feedback into University software
3. Legislature makes policy
4. Executive takes action
5. Committee will give a presentation
4. Halloween Update - Kevin (5 min)
1. Discounted price for students
2. Shriek week at the union
3. UW police policy for Halloween activities on campus
4. Student safety issues
5. Band position and update - (10 min)
1. Progress in investigation
2. Protected individual student conduct
3. Position appointed to interview band members
4. Hazing allegations were confirmed
5. Band representation
6. Email Distribution - Lori (5 min)
1. ODOS can not create an email constituent list
2. Personally can gather emails to update your area about what is happening
3. Can email Lori or Sue to post for the group
7. Future topics - (5 min)
1. Recap Halloween
2. Snow issues
3. Campus safety
4. Student ticket distribution

Athletic Board Meeting

Hello SGers,

The athletic board met October 17th. The meeting started with both the chair's and the director's reports. The chair, Walter Dickey, commented on his experience at the Big Ten meetings which took place earlier on. One of the most important subject discussed was the issue regarding mandatory summer school for basketball players. Currently there hasn't been too many members of the Big Ten in favor of mandatory summer school but the idea is gaining momentum throughout the conference, including some athletic department members here at UW. This is a very complex issue with both positives and negatives but for now we would just like to make it known that the idea is being discussed and will provide updates when we have more information.

There was also a discussion regarding the creation of a committee within the atheltic board to research the possibility of creating some type of academic sports program here at UW. We are waiting to hear from the chair still but both Logan and I will be very involved with this committee as soon as it is created. Logan did an independent research study on this issue and found that many Big Ten schools already have a program like this and many different schools throughout the nation have similar programs. With the increasing demand and popularity of programs like this we feel that it is essential that UW-Madison has a program like this because there are many people who would love to pursue some sort of career in athletics.

There was a member of the board who resigned from the athletic board. Despite the loss of the member, the board is moving forward in a positive direction and a new appointee will be named prior to our December 5th meeting. If you have further questions please ask.

A large part of the meeting was designated to talking about the Ad-Hoc committee which was designed to determine the exact role of the athletic board and how it operates. Each member of the board is assigned to different sub-committees and much of the work that gets done on the board is done on these various sub-committees. Some of the committees meet more often than others and some are also interrelated, so we may potentially combine some of these committees for the convenience of the members and efficiency of the board. There was a huge discussion regarding the functions of the board and what exactly is the role of the board members. We also discussed and tried to order the priorities of the board. This will be presented at the next meeting. The Ad-Hoc committee will be meeting and re-wording their draft in hopes that we can potentially approve the role of the board in one of our future meetings.

Finally, we are currently in the process of the NCAA-Self Study which is our way of self assessing our athletic department to make sure that we are complying with all rules and regulations and are also making attempts to improve upon our deficiencies in areas such as gender equity, diversity, and student athlete well being amongst many others. This process is supposed to be a community and campus wide project. We are near the completion of our answers to the many questions provided by the NCAA and as soon as we are done with this, we will be creating a website where members can submit questions and comments. We will be sure to let you know when the website is up and running.

Thats all folks. Any questions, feel free to ask.

University Assessment Council

The University Assessment Council (UAC) had it's October meeting (sorry this post is late).

Important stuff:

• Keep in mind that we are in the middle/end of University reaccreditation.
• UAC is going to be re-visioning the committee to serve the University better.
  
• I suggested re-doing the website to make it better reflect what the comittee does and to serve as a clearinghouse for data (maybe).
• UAC can visit this committee if we would like.
  

-Emily

Here is the agenda with my comments:

AGENDA

1. Welcome and introductions

2. Updates: Consortium on Financing Higher Education (COFHE) and Higher Education Act and Public Disclosure - Jocelyn Milner

· wants UW to endorse statement on assessment in higher education

o critique of standardized testing

o thinks it’s pretty non-controversial to sign on to this – don’t want every institution in the nation to be judged on the same test

o UW has already signed on to the VSA – voluntary system of assessment, need to make sure these don’t contradict each other “college portrait”

§ Three tests possible CLA, MAPP, CAP(comes from ACT, proposal to move to this at UW)

· have chosen not to do testing right now, thinks we do enough already

· higher edu act 2008 –

o went beyond financial aid

o need to report on faculty student ratios

o lots of information that is going to be needed

o mandated public disclosure of exit plans of students and info on alumni

3. UW-Madison Re-accreditation Site Visit Update – Nancy Mathews

· site visitor wants to meet with committee in April 27-29^th, concerned with details

· be prepared to talk specifically about outcomes, specific programs, changes that have been made, activity not just intentions

o going to want to talk to students this spring

· making information more accessible – putting it on the web, information on changes made

4. Criterion 3 feedback – Nancy Mathews

* Observations and responses from UAC

http://www.greatu.wisc.edu/themes/criteria.html

Please bring a copy of Criterion 3 to the meeting (see link above).

·

5. Planning for the Future and Re-Visioning the UAC

To begin our discussion about the future role/scope of the Council, below are a few questions to help start the conversation.

a. Are there specific student learning and assessment efforts in your unit that link to Criterion 3 (build on Nancy’s comments)?

b. Are there other program efforts being pursued in your unit that are beyond/outside of the Student Learning focus?

c. If you could create a wish list for the next 1-3 years, what issues or priorities would your unit want to engage in related to assessment, program improvement, student learning, etc.? How can the UAC and other resources be of support?

6. Visits to schools/colleges/units

At our last meeting, we discussed scheduling discussions within your school/college/or unit regarding the upcoming Re-accreditation site visit, program assessment in general, university-wide strategies and plans, etc.

If this might be useful for your unit, with whom might this conversation include?

We will want to schedule these discussions soon.

Adjourn

Lectures Committee - Fall 2008

The Lectures Committe one and only fall meeting went well.

There was discussion of current lecture applications.
Also, the committee is looking to the future to find ways of equally distributing the funds as travel costs increase; the committee does not fear running out of money for lectures this year but that may be a problem in the near future.

If anyone has any questions or concerns about the Lectures Committee, feel free to post a reply.

~Melissa

Union Council

On Thursday (Oct. 30th) Union Council held its monthly meeting. It lasted about three hours, and included several important action items. First, we listened to an update by all WUD Directors (this includes the music committee, Global Connections, etc... if you really don't know what WUD is, ask me). We then approved a a document that overhauled all of the procedures to accept "naming" donations for all Union rooms. We decided that the Rath probably shouldn't become the KFC Beerhall, and so we included a list of locations that should not be named. This bill has been in the wings for years, so the fact that it was finally passed made the admin very happy. I don't think many students ever want to see buildings "sold" via donations. But, at the same time... money is very very nice.

We then authorized the Union to be the administrative home for a program for incoming freshman to go on a trip to bond. This program was started by students, but they are graduating, and need it to have a real home. In the future there is the hope that any group/org will be able to go on the trip to "bond".

A new programing fund was also started (funded by the Union) for programing that encourages democratic values. The requirements are pretty loose, so be creative!

Thanks,

Guthrie

Campus Transportation Committee- 10.7.08

There are several construction projects either finishing up or coming on-line shortly. Of particular interest: University Ave is scheduled for a major overhaul in the next year and a half; this will push all traffic into 2 lanes for much of that time.
Bicycle, moped, and bus pass usage are all up in double digits over the past year. Additional bike stalls are forthcoming. The number of bicycle parking sports has overtaken the number of permitted car parking spots on campus; there are 9700 permitted car spots, but bike spots exceed that as of this summer's additions.
The Budget & Policy subcommittee has re-formed. As the only student rep on CTC so far, I will be serving on it. The committee has decided to remove Traffic Demand Management and Safety from the duties of this subcommittee and will re-evaluate how to approach these topics separately. CTC will be reviewing next year's capital budget draft in December and will be voting on the operating budget in February.
Transportation Services (TS) is in the process of filling their Director position. The Search & Screen process is closed. Facilities Planning & Management (FP&M) would like to have 3-5 finalists chosen soon, and have the ultimate decision made by the end of December.
The independent review process for TS has been changed. Previously, the process was to include the formation of an ad-hoc committee that would receive the final report of the review panel. The ad-hoc was then to relay these findings to the CTC. The CTC voted 5-0-1 to remove the ad-hoc committee from the process, and will instead receive the recommendations of the panel directly, with some additional invited representatives from those interest groups (e.g. the McBurney Center). The aim is a more efficient process, and one that is more in-line with departmental reviews across campus. I abstained from the vote, citing a lack of information; at the time, it was unclear whether the ad-hoc was still necessary. However, I do trust that this revision makes the process more efficient and should not influence the review itself. Both FP&M and TS indicated that it would be a valuable tool for the incoming Director. The review is intended to take place in the spring of 2009.

Information Technology Committee Sept and October Meetings

The Information Technology Committee (ITC) has met twice so far this academic year. The ITC advises the Vice Provost for Information Technology, who is also the Campus Chief Information Officer (CIO) and executive director of DoIT. The ITC also advises and has a role in approving policies for IT in the broader university community – 70% of IT on this campus is not done by DoIT! The ITC has three student members, currently one undergraduate and two graduate students. It’s worth noting that the ITC is not an entirely technical committee. While certainly the ITC does have technically capable members, most of the technical decisions are left to campus professional staff. The ITC does not dictate that we buy Cisco routers instead of Juniper routers, for example, but focuses more in saying that we need a high speed network available everyone on campus and this is the way we’ll fund it. However, we can and sometimes do ask pointed questions about why one particular technology was chosen, or provide guidance in how to evaluate purchasing options.

The first ITC meeting was in September, and focused largely on just orientating new members to the committee. As part of the process, each member was asked to give a list of “pet projects” they’d like to see the committee or campus take up. The full list is in our minutes, which are online here: http://itc.wisc.edu/minutes/minutes.asp?min_id=522

One thing I am very interested in pushing this year is lecture capture, i.e. recording audio and video of lectures and posting it online. I think it is a terrible waste that so few lectures are recorded on this campus – to use a bad analogy, they’re like an inefficient power plant, and capturing these lectures could produce a lot more value for students, faculty, and the public. I think an ambitious but attainable goal would have 100% of lectures captured in five years.

In a related issue from the first meeting, a member of the committee mentioned “clickers”, which are the devices that a professor can use to have students vote or answer questions during lectures. Clickers are unpopular with students, right? Please let me know if I’m way off base here.

Another issue that we’ve spent a lot of time discussing on the ITC is Moodle, which is a software package that does the same thing as the software behind Learn@UW. If you’re in the business school or college of engineering, you’ve probably used Moodle. I will write more about Moodle in the future, but campus and the ITC is paying careful attention to Moodle as a potential replacement for the current Learn@UW. It’s unlikely to happen anytime soon, and certainly not until next fall, which would only happen in the very worst-case scenario.

The ITC website is http://itc.wisc.edu/, and our meetings are the 3rd Friday of every month at 10am. We have many visitors who attend the meetings, and any interested student should absolutely attend – the chair is very good about allowing guests to participate in the discussion!

University Academic Planning Council October 08 Meeting

The first meeting of the University Academic Planning Council (UAPC) was on Thursday October 16th. The UAPC is one of the last bodies that reviews academic programs and long-range plans before final approval by the Provost, Chancellor, and Faculty Senate. The UAPC is chaired by the Provost, and has as voting members the Dean of the Graduate School, an administrator chosen by the Provost (current the Dean of L&S), a representative from the University Committee (the executive committee of the Faculty Senate), 5 more faculty members, a representative from the Academic Staff Executive Committee, and a non-voting student representative. The Chancellor is officially a member, but by tradition does not attend the meetings.

In a nutshell, if you don’t want to read all what we do in Faculty Policy and Procedures (FP&P), we approve the creation, modification, and elimination of certificates, majors, centers, and departments, as well as reviewing campus wide academic issues.

As this was our first meeting, we spent some time reviewing the charge of the committee and our processes. Five minutes into the meeting, when we were just reviewing the roster of the committee, a member wondered aloud why the student member was non-voting, and quickly we decided to add to the agenda for our next meeting a recommendation to the University Committee to consider changing FP&P to give voting rights to the student member. I don’t know how long this process will take (our next meeting to even make the recommendation isn’t until the end of December), so I am not expecting to have an official vote this year. However, there’s a good chance that future student members will have voting membership on the council.

When we actually got down to business, our main item was reviewing the annual report of the University General Education committee. The Gen Ed committee oversees things like the CommA/CommB and Qualitative Reasoning A and B requirements, along with the UAPC. This past year the Gen Ed committee studied in-depth the Comm A courses and what sort of effects they had on students. In summary, students who take Comm A courses benefit from the experience, no matter which of the five different Comm A courses they take.

We also approved a new certificate program in the Engineering Physics department in “Engineering Risk, Uncertainty, and Decision Analysis”. This is for undergraduates, and packages together existing courses in Engineering and Statistics, as well as a new Engineering course, to produce a 15-credit program.

Our website is at http://apa.wisc.edu/acad_plng.html - the annual report from the 07-08 academic year is a fast read and gives a good feel for what we do.

Campus Planning Committe, Meeting of September 25, 2008

At the inaugural meeting of the Campus Planning Committee, we accomplished three items:

• MINUTES: We approved the minutes of the May 15, 2008 meeting.

• TOUR 1: The committee was led on a tour of the New Granger Hall extension. Highlights of the tour included various classroom configurations, an electronic room reservation system and the interactive capabilities for distance learning. The building was envisioned as a five-story structure, but due to cost overruns, it was limited to four-stories. All floor are accessible to students.

• TOUR 2: The committee was led on a tour of the University Square Complex. Highlights of the tour include the green roof, the new WSUM radio facility/lounge, the two-level UHS offices and treatment rooms, the new ASM offices and the student organization carrels.

After University Square, the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting will be on 10/25/08.

Union Council

Union Council had their first meeting of Fall Semester '08.

We did quite an extensive overview of the Union (as our bylaws state we have to), and its processes. Updates were brief, as it was the first meeting, but several important points were brought up.

First, the opening of the new cafe in Granger has been welcomed with a warm opening, and the Union had a good summer as far as the budget is concerned. We did vote to disband the Union's partnership with GUTS. There had been a situation 20 years ago in which GUTS worked with the Union quite closely, since then however, they have had an increasingly small roll. After Union South is torn down, they will no longer reside in the Union.

New designs for Union South will be forthcoming soon! Updated I suppose is a better word. 

Thanks,

Guthrie

Shared Gov Summer Mailing

Dear Shared Governance Committee Members,

Congratulations on getting through another year… I hope everyone is taking some time off and enjoying their summer. I just wanted to touch base with everyone and send a few Shared Gov reminders.

First, congratulations to everyone who was appointed to serve on a committee for the 2008-2009 academic year! Your appointments came out of an intense interview process – be proud, there were a lot of qualified candidates, and you were standouts. Remember that several responsibilities come along with your appointment. In addition to regularly attending your committee meetings, you are also required to attend the weekly Shared Governance meetings. The weekly Shared Governance meetings are an opportunity for all Shared Governance appointees to come together, share information, and provide feedback.

Also, thanks to all 2007-2008 appointees. Your outstanding work gave this committee a huge boost of legitimacy that will be valuable next year and in years to come. It was a privilege to get to know all of you. Please remember that your appointment runs until the end of summer; if your committee meets before classes begin, try your best to attend. Update on this blog as usual. If you cannot post on the blog for some reason, email me an update. If summer opportunities such as search and screens come up, I will send out an email and post here soliciting appointees. We still have spots open for the fall, so be on the lookout for committee opportunities.

We will be having a meeting before summer ends, probably during the week of August 20-27; I'll send an update with the exact date and place. The first regular fall meeting will be September 2nd. Our meeting time for the year will be, as it was last year, Tuesdays at 5:00 pm. I realize that the 2nd is the first day of classes, but we will have a lot to do to get ready for the year. I’ll send out a reminder email and agenda the week before. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please email me.

Thanks!

Adam Sheka
Chair, Shared Governance Committee
sheka@wisc.edu

Recent WiscMail Outage

The CIO/Vice Provost for Information Technology sent a detailed message to the Information Technology Committee about Wednesday's WiscMail outage. We will, I'm sure, be getting another update at our next ITC meeting.

Just to quick translate a few things in the message. First, a "memory leak" basically means that the longer the program runs, the slower it becomes. They are bugs and are occasionally encountered in new versions of software, and in general the right thing to do is to go back to the old version. Second, to understand "rebuild the message storage index database", just focus on "rebuild index." If you rip the index out of the back of a book, to replace it you have to start at the beginning of the book and re-read the whole thing. Without the index, the mail server can't find someone's email messages without searching through all of the messages. You can imagine that building an index for 60,000 inboxes takes a little bit of time.

All

Now that WiscMail service is restored, I want to give you an update on what happened.

First, let me apologize for the inconveniences this caused you. I am certain that we all count on e-mail for much of what we do every day and having these services unavailable is a significant disruption for us.

Tuesday morning, the WiscMail team installed an update to the Sun software we use to process mail. It was believed to be a fairly modest upgrade. By noon Tuesday, a few of our mail servers were experiencing a "memory leak," which degraded from poor to no performance rather quickly. The mail team worked with the vendor to address the problems and decided to roll back the upgrade to the previous version of software. The team worked around the clock to restore service for our
users. Wednesday morning we experienced performance problems that resulted from the rollback, which required the mail team to rebuild the message store index databases. Full IMAP, POP, and webmail email delivery services were restored early afternoon Wednesday.

It is extremely rare that our WiscMail service experiences an outage. I want to assure you that steps are being taken to make sure every future upgrade does not bring this effect. The mail team is working with Sun Microsystems to fully diagnose the error(s), fix the upgrade and reapply it when we have full assurance it will work under current loads. We will also hold a post-incident review to learn from this event and adjust our strategies as appropriate.

Thank you for your patience and trust.


--
Ron Kraemer
Vice Provost for Information Technology
Chief Information Officer (CIO)
University of Wisconsin-Madison
ron.kraemer@cio.wisc.edu

I'm sure that this will bring up some discussions about the future of WiscMail as well. Here are some things to think about.

• First, WiscMail is not designed to have "no downtime." To truly take it to the next level, we would need to have multiple active data centers. At present, there is an emergency plan, and all data continuously stored at multiple locations. If something catastrophic were to happen to the Computer Sciences building, not a single email would be lost. However, if the Computer Sciences building can't recover, it would take a few days to totally restore email service from the backup site. It would be VERY expensive to both fully equip the additional data centers and more importantly, modify our email system (and the additional software that is necessary to run the email system) to automatically fail over and have just a few minutes at most of downtime. I don't know if there's something to be found in the middle of these two extremes, where we could restore email within say a few hours of a catastrophe at Computer Sciences. Clearly, there was no catastrophe at Computer Sciences Wednesday, so there is a lot of work to do with the current system so it can recover quickly even with one active data center.
• Second, switching to GMail or some other outsourced email provider is not a "no-brainer" in terms of cost. GMail would reduce some costs, and will increase others. We don't know entirely know how those balance out. In addition, there are a whole host of new legal issues related to data ownership, privacy, and state records requirements that would need to be identified as part of any move. GMail does have multiple data centers, but they too have had the occasional multi-hour outage and are much less forthcoming about those outages.

The big questions will be How much does Email cost?, and How much is Email worth to us? I don't know how much of this we'll get to discuss at the last ITC meeting of the year, but these issues will certainly be on people's minds, and hopefully we'll be able to have a good discussion on May 16th.

Final Post

Dear SGers,

This is my final post as chair of ASM Shared Governance. First, thank you to everyone who attended the transition mixer we had on Tuesday night. It was nice to see old and new faces alike, and I'm very excited to know we have an outstanding crop of new appointees for next year.

As we've been discussing throughout this year, Shared Governance is in transition, and this work will continue into the fall. With new bylaws and a moved appointment process, we have paved the way for a more functional and efficient system. The great work of Travis Weller (Shared Governance Appointment Coordinator), whose position was created only 1.5 yrs ago, has allowed us to be more robust in our representation - Shared Governance is providing more active and effective input on key university committees than ever before, expanding is reach in helping to create new committees, and is streamlining its internal operations.

Starting this fall, the committee will hold for the first time a comprehensive orientation for all new appointees - complete with parliamentary procedure trainings and discussions with other shared governance stakeholders (i.e., faculty, staff, and administration). Also, I hope the next chair will utilize the shared governance board, especially those positions that aim to: a) foster the expansion of student representation, where and when appropriate; and b) educate the student body on what shared governance is and how it affects them as members of the university community.

Shared governance has a rich history at the University of Wisconsin, making this institution one of the most robust when it comes to student representation. Indeed, no other student government in the country partakes in the governance process of its university to the extent that we do. Please keep this in mind when serving next year, and know that students entrust you with a high degree of responsibility to serve in the interests of students to the best of your ability. Good luck, and I'll see you in the fall.

Warm Regards,

Jeff Wright

Union Design Committee - student appointees

ASM Shared Governance is pleased to announce that Jonathan Augelli and Cait Hardy will be representing students on the Union Design Committee. The Committee also appointed three student alternates -  Matthew Colvin, Matthew Hansen, and Zachary Ward. The terms of these students begin immediately.

ASM Shared Governance received a total of 20 applications for two voting seats.

Food Siting Committee - student appointees

ASM is pleased to announce that

Amanda Green
Mike Lasecki

will be representing students on the Food Siting Committee.
For more information on the Food Siting Committee, see the original position announcement here and here.

Search and Screen - Student Veteran Services position

ASM is looking for one student to serve on a search and screen committee that will hire a new staff member in the Dean of Students Office. This position will oversee and coordinate Student Veteran Services. You will work with various offices and organizations across campus. You must be in Madison and available to meet this summer.

If you are interested, please email the following information to Travis Weller (asmsharedgov@gmail.com) and Jeff Wright (jawright2@wisc.edu):
1. a one page (maximum) statement describing your interest in representing students on this committee
2. a one page (maximum) resume that includes your phone number and year in school.

The deadline to apply is 5:00pm, Wednesday, April 30th.

Thanks!

Travis

Travis Weller
Shared Governance Appointment Coordinator
Associated Students of Madison

2008-2009 Appointees

Shared Governance has appointed students to some of the positions for 2008-2009.

Congratulations to those appointed. We look forward to your work representing students!

Access and Accommodations in Instruction (2)
Bess Lenz
Anna Silberman

Advisory Committee for the Office of Equity and Diversity (2)
Mikaela Louie
Melissa Young

Alcohol and Other Drug Taskforce (2)
Raul Leon
Claire Lynch

Athletic Board (2)
Logan Hulick
Jake McGhee

Bike/Ped Subcommittee (1)
Kevin White

Campus Diversity Plan Oversight Committee (4)
Frank Honts
Jacklyn John
Raul Leon
Martinez White
Sung Won Park (alternate)

Campus Planning Committee (1)
Darrel Ramsey-Musolf
Dan Cornelius (alternate)

Campus Transportation Committee (3)
Thomas Langel
Andrew Obernesser
Kevin White

Central Madison Business Improvement District Board (BID Board) (1)
Dan Cornelius

Committee on Student Organizations (2)
Sol Grosskopf
Andrew Thorson

Council on Academic Advising (2)
J. Edward Connery
Stephanie Dorman

DOS Advisory Board (variable)
Jacob Abel - Business
Laura Hirsh – University Honors
Natalie Hoeper – L&S
Sean McMaster - CALS
Hilary Minor - ASM
Conor O’Hagan - Engineering
Alyssa Offutt - Education
Anna Silberman – McBurney Center

Healthcare Advisory Board (7)
Joshua Hamborg
Kassandra Holzem
Lauren Gimbel
Muthukumar Ramanathan
Adam Rieves
Kelley Schams
Casmir Turnquist

Information Tech (3 - one graduate, one undergraduate)
Stephen Pulic (UG)
Erik Paulson (G)
(one reserved for fall)

Joint Southeast Area Committee (1)
Bess Lenz

Joint West Campus Area Committee (1)
Michael Nemmetz

Labor Licensing Policy Committee (3)
Chynna Haas
Phoebe Taurick
(reserved for fall)

Lakeshore Nature Preserve Committee (3)
Joelle Baird
HyeonKyeong Park
Andrew Thorson

Lectures Committee (1)
Melissa Hanley

LGBT Issues (2)
Tina Treviño Murphy
Elliott Rezny
Anthony Catalino - alternate
L&S Curriculum Committee (2)
Kimberly Mueller
Alicia Gedan

Library Committee (3 – one G, one UG)
Joseph Gabriel Gossett (G)
Kimberly Mueller (UG)
Alexandra Rogers (UG)

Memorial Library Committee (2 – one UG, one G)
(reserved for fall)

Misconduct Panels (8)
Academic:
Ben Beduhn
Mike Bernatz
Justin Hereen
Frank Honts
Bess Lenz
Non-Academic:
Levi Prombaum
Eric Schmidt
Vignesh Valliappan

Morgridge Center for Public Service Advisory Board (4)
Laura Egli
Kelley Schams
Vignesh Valliappan
(one reserved for fall)

PACE Coalition (2)
Claire Lynch
Raul Leon

Programs Committee of the School of Education (2 - one UG, one G)
Alyssa Offutt
J. Edward Connery

Recreational Sports Board (5)
Mike Bernatz
Bryce Heth
Logan Hulick
Sheala Mullaney
Daniel Solarz

Student Policies and Non-Academic Programs (4)
Zachary Starr
(reserved for fall)

Teaching Awards (2)
Eric Schmidt
(one reserved for fall)

Undergraduate Recruitment, Admissions and Financial Aid Committee (4)
Melissa Hanley
Han Byul Lee
Joshua Monifi
(reserved for fall)

Union Council (3)
Michael Nemmetz
Guthrie Weinschenk
(one reserved for fall)

University Childcare Committee (2)
Joseph Gabriel Gossett
Elaine Ross
Zachary Starr (alternate)

University General Education Committee (2)
Hilary Minor
Kimberly Mueller

University Honors Committee (3)
Natalie Hoeper
Claire Lynch
(one seat reserved)

Wisconsin Experience Co-Sponsorship Grant Committee (2)
Adam Sheka
(one reserved for fall)

WSUM Governance Board (3)
Emily Smolarek
(reserved for fall)

There are still some open seats and those will be filled in the fall.

Labor Licensing Policy Committee April Meeting

Ok, so I'm a little late blogging about this one. We had our April meeting Friday, April 18. It was a pretty uneventful meeting. About the only thing of note that happened was that we unanimously passed a resolution commending the Chancellor for approving our suggested benchmarks, but also questioning what the consequences will be if these benchmarks are not met and suggesting that the consequence be that the contract is cut. Not a very strong move by the committee, but at least it is something. Because of this, probably nothing will change this school year.

Food Siting Committee - Apply Now!

ASM Shared Governance is now taking applications for the Food Siting Committee.

The Food Siting Committee will design a process and make recommendations for new food service options on campus. It will review campus needs for food service and review and edit the current policy.

You must be in Madison and available to attend meetings this summer.
These appointments will last until either (a) you resign or (b) the committee finishes its work. This is an ad hoc committee and will finish its work in early fall.

To apply for the committee, please send asmsharedgov@gmail.com and Jeff Wright (jawright2@wisc.edu) the following information:
1. a one page (maximum) statement explaining why you would like to be appointed to the committee.
2. a resume (one page maxium) that includes your phone number and email address.

Applications are due THURSDAY, APRIL 24 at 5:00 PM.
If you have any questions, please email me - asmsharedgov@gmail.com

Thanks,
Travis Weller

Travis Weller
Shared Governance Appointment Coordinator
Associated Students of Madison

Union Design Committee - apply now!

ASM Shared Governance is now accepting applications for the Union Design Committee.

The Union Design Committee advises Union Council on all design plans for the Union. They spearhead the design process for the new south campus Union and the Memorial Union redesign. They work directly with designers and architects.

You must be in Madison and available to attend meetings this summer.
These appointments will last until either (a) you resign or (b) you graduate.

To apply for the committee, please send asmsharedgov@gmail.com and Jeff Wright (jawright2@wisc.edu) the following information:
1. a one page (maximum) statement explaining why you would like to be appointed to the committee.
2. a resume (one page maxium) that includes your phone number and email address.

Applications are due THURSDAY, APRIL 24 at 5:00 PM.
If you have any questions, please email me - asmsharedgov@gmail.com

Thanks!

Travis

Travis Weller
Shared Governance Appointment Coordinator
Associated Students of Madison

Campus Planning Committee: March 27, 2008

After a brief welcome and introduction, the Campus Planning Committee (CPC) commenced its March 27, 2008 meeting. There were three items on the agenda:

Approval of the February 28, 2008 Minutes

During that meeting, the Campus Planning Committee had reviewed the Wisconsin Institutes of Discovery/Vivarium, the Charter Street Heating Plant, ATC Line-Overhead/Underground.

The UW-Madison Campus Masterplan

Presented by Gary Brown Director of Campus Planning and Landscape Architecture, a division of Facilities Planning and Management.

The theme of the Masterplan is “Recreating Ourselves in Place.” The two components of the theme, ‘re-creating” and “in place,” speak to the land use issue of infill development.

Infill Development can be defined as “development that occurs on contiguous vacant lots scattered within areas that are already predominantly developed or urbanized to the highest intensity allowed by the zoning designation and the General Plan” (City of Escondido Municipal Code, 2008).

Infill matters because this type of land use is ecologically sustainable. Infill can utilize existing infrastructure (streets, water/sewer, and utilities), reduce dependence on cars by taking advantage of existing/proposed transit, recycle polluted brownfields and/or vacant lots, satiate neighborhood deficiencies (housing, commerce, social services), and fit within the existing neighborhood context (height, setbacks, architectural design, mass, etc).

Most importantly, Infill does not require the University to expand its development footprint into the surrounding neighborhoods.

The University had explored two other strategies (1) creating a satellite campus and, (2) expanding the existing campus and concluded that utilizing an Infill scheme was more financially advantageous. Driving this decision is the projected increase of educational land uses (office, recreation, housing, labs, etc) of 6.3M square feet of space, from 18.5 to 25.3M and the identification of 65 acres of parking lots. It is financially cheaper to recreate a parking lot into a university building.

The Committee raised three questions:

1. Did the University enter into an agreement (Memorandum of Understanding) with the City of Madison regarding the intended developments (6.3M square feet) of the Masterplan? The answer is no.

2. How does the Masterplan affect Operating Costs? Essentially, the plan identifies maintenance intensive older buildings and examines if a new building or re-fabricated building can serve the needs of the University. The criteria is as follows:

• Does the building have historic significance (as defined by being on the National Register of Historic Places or identified by the Wisconsin Historical Society as a potentially eligible building) and/or is it a pivotal or contributing building in an identified historic district?
  

• Is the building a heritage building or signature building on campus?

• Does the building meet current and projected functional needs and if if not, can it be remodeled, renovated or reprogrammed?

• Does the facility have major building inadequacies related to its structure, HVAC,etc.?

• Is the existing site in demand for future development which has a higher & better use?
  

To understand the evaluation of buildings please click here and turn to page 81:

https://fpm-www3.fpm.wisc.edu/cpla/Portals/0/2005%20CMP%20Chapter%203%20Observations.pdf

3. How does this plan effect parking on Campus? An underground parking space can cost between $25-$50K per parking space depending on the foundation, soil type, building construction, number of parking spaces, etc. In order to pay for new construction, the parking rates will need to be raised in the future.

For more UW-Madison Campus Masterplan Information:

You can find the entire master plan here:

https://fpm-www3.fpm.wisc.edu/CPLA/tabid/66/Default.aspx

You can find Mr. Brown’s presentation here:

https://fpm-www3.fpm.wisc.edu/cpla/Portals/0/Report%20to%20CPC%20March%2008.pdf

You can find a video presentation of the master plan, given by Alan Fish – Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities Planning and Management here (click 2005-2025):

http://www.uwalumni.com/home/coolstuff/masterplan/masterplan.aspx

You can find the Campus Long Range Transportation Plan here:

https://fpm-www3.fpm.wisc.edu/cpla/Portals/0/Trans%20LRTP%20031808.pdf

Design Guidelines

Presented by Dan Okoli, Director and University Architect of Campus Planning & Management, a division of Facilities Planning and Management.

What is notable about his presentation is the identification of the best location for UW-Madison amenities (Wisconsin Union, the Bascom Hill Historic District, etc.) happen to be locations built at least 80 to 100 years ago. It was striking that nothing built within that last 10 years was included. Therefore, if you have ever wondered why there seems to be a lack of design cohesion on the campus, you must examine two aspects of any campus Land Use Entitlement. An Land Use Entitlement can be defined as the right to develop land with government approvals for zoning changes, density, utility installations, occupancy permits, use permits. In this case, the government is the City of Madison.

Lets create a scenario where I want to construct a 5-story structure that will contain classrooms, faculty offices, underground parking, a small food court, and a penthouse conference room.

1. Design Review Board: After the interior requirements have been programmed (square feet, classrooms, faculty offices, underground parking, a small food court, and a penthouse conference room) and the site has been selected, I must propose an exterior design for the structure. The following is excerpted from the Campus Design Guidelines technical report:

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has neither advocated stylistic consistency nor prescribed particular roof forms, colors or materials throughout it campus; instead it is our expectation that buildings and campus places should be designed to be sensitive to their neighborhood context. Clearly such intimate dialogue between new projects and their context will take account of materials, colors, quality, scale, proportions, massing, and overall character of existing buildings and spaces in the neighborhood.

In implementing the 2005 Campus Master Plan, these criteria: richness, balance and unity should be applied to the treatment of open spaces, the buildings, and primary interior spaces…

So what architectural style should we employ? What are the heights of buildings? What about colors and materials? Answers to questions such as these are not prescribed; instead the guideline focuses on a process, through dialogue, that would lead to answers that are appropriate for our campus. It suffices to say that every project on campus should be acutely sensitive to its immediate and larger contexts, and contribute to a greater sense of coherence, even as it expresses its uniqueness and embodies the spirit of its age.

In short, the Design Review Board does not dictate a style, but reacts to proposals. It is important to note that the guidelines contain important information regarding building heights, roof materials, HVAC location, parking specs, etc. and also divides the campus into different districts (based on use, Health Sciences Neighborhood, Lakeshore Residence Neighborhood, etc.), but these are not mandatory requirements. It is hoped that the ‘dialogue’ can mitigate design concerns, but there is no formal design approval process.

If my proposed building has completed the Design Review Board, has been recommended by the Campus Planning Committee (the CPC does not review design), has received recommendation from UW-System, and has received funding from the State of Wisconsin, then I apply for a Land Use Entitlement from the City of Madison.

2. Urban Design Commission: At the City, the project needs approval by the Urban Design Commission (UDC). As a legal reviewing body, the UDC is authorized by the City of Madison General Ordinances, specifically Chapter 33.24 (http://www.municode.com/resources/ClientCode_List.asp?cn=Madison&sid=49&cid=11618).

Because the primary UW-Madison is not within a Design District, any campus project would be reviewed as a Planned Development. Therefore, under Section 33.32.4(b) of the City of Madison General Ordinance, the following shall apply:

The Urban Design Commission shall review the design of all proposed developments which are considered planned developments under provisions of the Zoning Ordinance. In exercising this power, the commission shall be bound by the provisions of Sec. 28.07(4), (5) and (6) and Sec. 28.12(11)(k) and shall report its findings to the City Plan Commission and Common Council.

As Planned Development, Section 28.07(6)(a) of the City of Madison General Ordinance, the following shall apply:

The planned unit development district is established to provide a voluntary regulatory framework designed to encourage and promote improved environmental and aesthetic design in the City of Madison by allowing for greater freedom, imagination and flexibility in the development of land while insuring substantial compliance to the basic intent of the zoning code and the general plan for community development. To this intent it allows diversification and variation in the bulk and relationship of uses, structures and spaces in developments conceived as comprehensive and cohesive unified plans and projects. It is further intended to encourage developments consistent with coordinated area site planning.

Please note that key underlined words, “voluntary, flexible, and basic intent.” In essence, the UDC, like the Design Review Board reacts to proposals rather than applies stringent design standards. Furthermore, any UDC recommendation may be amended or deleted in the subsequent hearings by the Plan Commission and the Common Council. As a result of this process, the urban design of the campus reflects a hodge-podge of styles but no unifying theme.

Alternatively within Planning, New Urbanist Design has gained traction because of its strong design principles. The implementing tool of New Urbanist Design is Form-based codes (referring to Architectural Form). These are zoning codes that place a primary emphasis on building type, dimensions, parking location and façade features, and less emphasis on uses. They stress the appearance of the streetscape, or public realm, over long lists of different use types.

The Committee raised two questions:

• A committee member responded that she considers west campus a not so great place that doesn’t have a sense of community. Mr. Okoli stated that the new ideas and compositions will be brought into the new buildings and developments and humanize the West Campus Area. He said that the conversation is happening. Alan Fish stated that once the new development is complete it will bring more green space, fewer parking lots, and will be developed on a more human scale overall.
  

• A committee member asked if the Design Review Board (DRB) gets involved in pedestrian movement. Mr. Okoli stated that the DRB doesn’t get involved in that portion of the Campus Master Plan, but he will explore future DRB involvement on that topic.

For more information on UW-Madison Campus Urban Design:

You can find the Campus Design Guidelines here:

https://fpm-www3.fpm.wisc.edu/cpla/Portals/0/2005%20CMP%20Chapter%206%20Design%20Guidelines.pdf

You can find a presentation of Historic Campus photos here:

https://fpm-www3.fpm.wisc.edu/FPM_Portal/Portals/0/collegeOnTheHill.pdf

You can find the City of Madison Zoning Codes here:

http://www.municode.com/resources/ClientCode_List.asp?cn=Madison&sid=49&cid=11618

You can find a brochure on Form Based Zoning Codes here:

http://www.lgc.org/freepub/PDF/Land_Use/fact_sheets/form_based_codes.pdf