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Officials debate Wiley’s legacy
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Also by Carl Jaeger:
- Many eager to pick chancellor (December 11, 2007)
- Officials debate Wiley's legacy (December 10, 2007)
- 'No guarantee' in UW success (December 10, 2007)
- New rules apply for UW seg fees (December 7, 2007)
- Regents hear about booze, textbooks (December 7, 2007)
Related Stories:
- Greer accuses Wiley of endorsement (October 24, 2002)
- Wiley details segregated fee cuts (April 2, 2002)
- Wiley approves new UHS building (February 22, 2002)
- Wiley attends Republican senator's campaign fundraiser (May 2, 2005)
- U.S. Rep criticizes UW's lack of cooperation (December 12, 2001)
by Carl Jaeger
Monday, December 10, 2007
With the announcement Friday that University of Wisconsin Chancellor John Wiley will step down from his position at the end of the school year, his mark on the university is still to be determined.
Leading UW for seven years, Wiley has strived to increase diversity on campus, battled with the state Legislature over funding for the university and approached major student issues — like alcohol consumption — head-on, but his passion for the university started decades before.
In an interview with Wiley after Friday's press conference, he said he had never been to Wisconsin before he began looking for graduate schools, but upon his first trip to Madison, he knew this was where he wanted to be.
"It's a combination of all the things that everybody else notices," Wiley said. "The lakes and the Union Terrace and just the feel, the cultural enthusiasm."
Wiley also said part of his attraction to UW was the unusually warm reception he received from the physics department.
"The faculty were just great — they were very accessible, they're helpful, they tried to recruit me, they wanted me to come here, they made it that I would be welcomed if I did," Wiley said.
There are many other aspects of UW's campus that make it unique and unusual in American higher education, Wiley said, including its reputation as a superb research university since 1900.
"All that stuff is unusual, but also, there are not very many that have all of the colleges that we have — one of everything. There aren't many that have a culture of collaboration across department boundaries," Wiley said. "You put all those things together, it's a pretty dynamic place. That's how we end up at the top of all those lists."
UW Dean of Students Lori Berquam said Wiley is a very funny, sharp person and that she will miss "his intelligence and creative wit."
"People don’t realize what they have until it’s gone or it's out the door," Berquam said. "I don’t know if we’ll ever know how good we had it. He’s been great."
Berquam added Wiley has "done of lot of amazing things" in terms of increasing the diversity of both students and staff, as well as increasing the number of need-based scholarships.
"When I think back on his legacy, I think there will be a significant component that is about the things he has done to increase our diversity on campus," Berquam said.
She added Wiley would also be remembered for his commitment to getting additional non-state funding — including scholarship and foundation money— and for leading the way in funding across the Big Ten.
Wiley said Friday the university has raised $1 million a day, each day, for the last six years and that he travels around the world representing UW seeking contributions.
Bob Mathieu, chairman of the University Committee, said Wiley has been incredibly strong in his commitment to maintaining a high quality of life and high level of education for students.
"His commitment to trying to improve the issue of alcohol consumption and student safety on campus — I think that was a very brave issue to take on, in my opinion," Mathieu said.
He added Wiley took a "data-driven approach" to working on the university's budget and that Wiley was committed to debunking many of UW's financial critiques, especially from state legislators.
Although Wiley has received much praise over his tenure at UW, his time at the university was not without controversy.
Dane County Supervisor Ashok Kumar, District 5, said despite bringing certain benefits to the university, students would view Wiley's legacy as a very authoritarian chancellor.
"Now, the chancellor's great at raising funds and stem cell research and all this other stuff that's happened, but when it comes to the rights of students, when it comes to the rights of other workers in this campus, this chancellor is pretty absent," Kumar said.
He added because of Wiley's constant resistance to expanding student and worker rights, students learned to dislike the chancellor.
Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, said he understands Wiley's passion in regard to the university, but said there needs to be a balance between what the UW System wants and the ability of taxpayers to meet those needs.
"I think his relationship with some members of the Legislature was at times confrontational," Suder said, adding that he respected "the fact that he felt very strongly when he was fighting for the university."
Regardless of criticism between Wiley and the state legislators, Suder said he wishes Wiley luck and looks forward to working with whoever replaces him.
Despite different viewpoints on his tenure at UW, Wiley said Friday he was hesitant to speculate about his own legacy.
"I've got nine months," Wiley said. "Maybe it's ahead of me."
Anonymous (December 10, 2007 @ 2:49am):
Maybe in those 9-months Wiley could stop lobbying for higher tuition (which he had did 2 years ago to the state legislature).
Anonymous (December 10, 2007 @ 8:53am):
Out of all the people on the legislator, why are they running to Scott Suder to comment about this hard step that Wiley is taking? Since when does suder like UW ? Oh, yea, since after years of bashing UW , fighting against UW, but toward the end of the budget being long over due, he showed us he needs them, and he needs them on his side to win this next election. People do your homework on his history on UW and other topics before shaking his hand .
Anonymous (December 10, 2007 @ 9:25am):
Wiley is definitely a mixed bag, but I see Ashok's comments as likely correct in terms of his long-term legacy. Looking back, he's gotta be thinking it would have been more fun and easier to give in to students' demands.
frank rojas (December 10, 2007 @ 11:12am):
If you want a top quality university you should be prepared to pay the price. Check the tuition at other similar state schools and then stop your whining. Atending a quality school is a lifetime investment that pays off in many ways.
Anonymous (December 10, 2007 @ 4:11pm):
"If you want a top quality university you should be prepared to pay the price. Check the tuition at other similar state schools and then stop your whining. Atending a quality school is a lifetime investment that pays off in many ways."
When has "it's bad but look at how worse everyone else is!" ever been a good excuse?
Anonymous (December 10, 2007 @ 6:12pm):
Kumar's comments are totally legit. Wiley is more like a corporate CEO rather then the chancellor of a academic institution. He was a total autocrat!
Anonymous (December 10, 2007 @ 10:58pm):
Kumar's are out-of-touch.
Anonymous (December 12, 2007 @ 7:40pm):
Wiley really blew it, in my opinion. He
mistreated Paul Barrows and Melany Newby,
angered the legislature, and even had Gover-
nor Doyle telling UW to fire Barrett. Let's
hope our next leader is a major improvement.
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