Four days after University of Wisconsin
Chancellor John Wiley's announcement he would step down from his
position this summer, students are already anxious to be a part of
the search-and-screen committee to find his replacement.

Jeff Wright, chair of the Associated
Students of Madison Shared Governance Committee — the group in
charge of screening students to sit on the committee — said he has
already received inquiries about the committee, and he expects to
receive even more.

"We’re going to get a lot of people
from a lot of different student organizations and units across
campus," Wright said. "There will be people from both within and
outside ASM, and I’m looking forward to seeing it unfold."

Wright said qualified students should
be aware of the responsibilities being a chancellor at a major
university entails, including overseeing research, funding, faculty
and student oversight, as well as "strengthening the educational
experience on campus."

"I think as long as you have
generally a good working knowledge of what the position entails and
what students are looking for, if you are in touch with the student
body, I think you’ll make a pretty successful search-and-screen
member," Wright said.

Wright said he anticipated equal
representation on the entire chancellor search-and-screen committee
between students, staff, faculty and administration.

Along with ASM chair Gestina Sewell,
Wright will meet with UW System president Kevin Reilly next week to
discuss the process and qualifications for determining the student
committee representatives.

Wright said he is looking forward to
the process of finding student representatives, but said "it’s
going to be both fun and challenging."

"It’s fun because it’s a high-profile
committee, so we know we’re going to get a lot of student
applications across campus and we’re going to try to select the best
students who would serve on the committee," Wright said. "But
it’s challenging at the same time because it’s up to us to screen and
select really responsible and engaged students, and sometimes that’s
not easy to do."

Current Board of Regents member and
former president of the committee David Walsh, who will be chairing
the Board of Regents search committee, said he looks forward to
working with student representatives.

"They certainly offer a perspective
on things that’s different, and I would expect them to fully
participate … and hopefully raise some issues and ask some
questions that other people may not have thought of, that may have
higher priority with them," Walsh said.

Student perspective is important to the
committee, as they bring issues to the table that other members have
not thought of, Walsh said.

Walsh said he was pleased with UW
students who are already expressing interest in joining the
committee, but said the response is typical of a chancellor search at
any university.

"We get the same response everywhere.
We have more students here — 40,000 — you’ll get more here than
at Whitewater," Walsh said. "There’s always a good group of
students who want to be actively involved in this."

Wright stressed the importance of
student representation on the committee, as it is required by UW’s
shared governance policies.

"I think it’s a great opportunity for
any student across campus to get involved in the governing of our
university," Wright said. "That’s really what it’s about; it’s
about students having a place at the table, being able to provide
valuable input as to who the next chancellor will be."

Individuals interesting in applying for
the student position on the committee can e-mail ASM Shared
Governance at [email protected].