University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly is extending UW-Madison Chancellor David Ward’s interim appointment to two years. Ward agreed in June to a one year term as UW’s interim Chancellor following the departure of Chancellor Biddy Martin. He had previously served as UW-Madison Chancellor from 1993 to 2000, and then as President of the American Council on Education in Washington, D.C. for seven years. Reilly decided to extend Chancellor Ward’s appointment, taking into account the requests of faculty, staff, students, and others at UW-Madison. A nationwide search for a new UW-Madison chancellor will be launched in Fall 2012, with a goal of naming the new Chancellor by Spring 2013. Reilly will consult with UW-Madison faculty, staff, students, and others about the best ways to organize that new search committee and about the timeline for nominating members.
Guns will be banned on UW campuses
All the campuses in the University of Wisconsin System will be banning concealed weapons. “It’s long been effectively state law, that people were not allowed to carry any kind of weapon, a firearm or anything else, on any part of the university’s property,” said UW System spokesman Dave Giroux. The new law allowing concealed carry throughout the state would override current state statute, and although there’s no requirement that they do so, Giroux said there’s consensus on the campuses. “Without exception as far as I know, every UW campus will be taking the steps necessary, in compliance with the new law, to ban firearms from university facilities,” said Giroux. That means no guns will be allowed, period. Campus buildings will all be posted to prohibit guns by the time the concealed carry law goes into effect November 1st.
UW prof is ‘open textbook’ author (AUDIO)
A UW Madison professor has tackled the issue of costly textbooks head-on. Dr. Dr. Timothy Paustian is a UW professor who faced a dilemma — more and more students who could not afford textbooks costing hundreds of dollars. Paustian’s solution was to write his own. “I was already writing pages for my students, explaining stuff and filling in the gaps sometimes,” said Paustian. “I did all the copy editing, I did all the copyrights for all the figures. I made all the other figures that I needed, and I published it on the web.” His students have been using the text for nearly a decade. “The students thought it was great. There were some issues with it. It needed more editing, and over the years it’s gotten better and better. But they’ve been very happy with it.” [Read more...]
Spotlight on textbook costs
Textbook rebellion PHOTO: WRN
A ‘rebellion’ against costly college textbooks made a stop Thursday in Madison. UW professor, Dr. Timothy Paustian, said textbooks are being priced out of the reach of many students. “When I was a student, textbooks were 30 or 50 dollars. That seemed like a fair price back then, but textbooks have gotten more and more and more expensive.”
Sidney Zeller is a UW Madison freshman. She’s spent 500 dollars on textbooks this semester, including one that cost 200 dollars. But she’s lucky compared to some. “I know students that actually just don’t purchase their textbooks,” said Zeller. “They use friends’ textbooks or go to the library or try to get a hold of on-line sources, but a lot of them can’t afford it with the cost of school.” [Read more...]
Think tank report stirs passions at UW (PHOTOS)
The Center for Equal Opportunity report claims black and Hispanic applicants are more likely than whites and Asians to be admitted to the Madison campus [Read more...]
