We are both accountable to the student body for our actions and responsible for engaging the student body in our work. Our power is in our numbers, and we cannot realize that power without effective communication to you, our constituent students, about our interactions with administrators to hold them accountable to you.

We hope the following evaluations will become an Associated Students of Madison tradition: a means of recording, reporting on and improving the relationships that ASM grassroots committees and their student leaders have built with administrators and elected officials. Each evaluation highlights student ally-ship, issue advocacy, transparency, outreach and responsiveness.

Dean of Students Lori Berquam has worked closely with ASM this past year. For transparency, Berquam on numerous occasions provided helpful information and would often suggest further contacts that can assist in student issues. For transparency, we rate Berquam as strong. Berquam sought to effectively outreach to the student body. She was present at many ASM meetings and regularly met with leadership on student issues. She sought to connect with students in ASM and on her advisory board, ranking her strong in outreach. 

Berquam was involved in a variety of student issues, however there were many times when projects brought to her attention were not given further attention. She provided the Multicultural Learning Community in Lakeshore project with limited assistance. She gave creation of a fall break lip service but no official support. ASM’s Vote Campaign was often passed on to assistants, but little follow-up was done outside of meetings. 

Dean Berquam needs improvement in student ally-ship. We agreed that Berquam responded to student inquiries and emails when prompted. However, she often canceled Dean of Students Advisory Board meetings and rarely followed up with issues that especially concerned students, such as the Multicultural Learning Community project in Lakeshore. Dean Berquam needs improvement in responsiveness. 

Lastly, for issue advocacy, we saw Berquam work in a limited role for student issues. This is exemplified very clearly in the treatment of the Dean of Students Advisory Board. On this committee, Dean Berquam discussed repetitive issues such as the ESFU chant and was passionate about issues that are often trivial or non-student issues such as homecoming. Advocacy in regards to Mifflin was, overall, a poor attempt at advocacy, and issues that needed attention such as space for the Ballroom Dance Association in Gordon Commons were not pursued. Overall Dean Berquam needs improvement in issue advocacy.

Paul Evans, Director of UW Housing, worked closely with us on a variety of issues such as the Multicultural Learning Center, Knapp House and Gordon Commons renovations. In regards to ally-ship, Evans goes 10 percent of the way, and students must make up the remaining 90 percent. Evans refused to allow for Ballroom Dance Association space in the new Gordon Commons, even when complete cost coverage was offered. A tentative agreement was set up that would provide space in two years, preventing this group from recruiting and operating for a two-year period.

In setting up a Multicultural Learning Community in Lakeshore, Evans placed building interest entirely on students and was not willing to aid in building awareness. In both ally-ship and advocacy, we determined Evans needs improvement. Evans regularly failed to give out numbers or timelines that would be helpful to student issues. Meetings were often held after issues were decided to make the appearance that students were involved. 

We agreed that Evans did not show a spirit of shared governance, and transparency efforts were inadequate. In terms of responsiveness, Evans would often act only when carbon copied with other campus administrators. Emails were not always responded to in a timely manner, and often issues were clearly viewed as unimportant. For example, the Knapp House for Graduate Students interviews were undervalued, and there was little responsiveness on this issue. In addition, efforts to reach out to students about their concerns on some of these issues were almost nonexistent. For both outreach and responsiveness, Paul Evans was inadequate.

Damon Williams, the vice provost for diversity and climate, worked with students this year on the Center for Equal Opportunity press release, the mock lynching incident and diversity forums. For ally-ship, Williams was extremely helpful in mobilizing students in response to the CEO release in the fall. However, there were questions about the response to the mock lynching incident, and the response was inadequate. Our press release was not taken seriously enough, and no steps were taken to deal with these situations in the future. Williams was adequate in student ally-ship. 

Williams often did not engage faculty and was not in touch with the schools of social work or education on issues. Also, when heavy discussions of diversity play out in ASM, no resources or support came from Williams’ office. As well, no strategic diversity plan has thus far been produced, and there is a perceived lack of faculty and student support. In issue advocacy, Williams was inadequate. 

In regards to transparency, there are serious concerns in communication, and often the progress of programs was not made public. For example, the PEOPLE Program, which needs to be analyzed for its effectiveness, cannot be evaluated because this information is not available. 

Transparency efforts were inadequate. Williams listened to ideas but didn’t often seek them out. The Advisory Board on Diversity and Climate met once or twice a semester this year, and outreach through shared governance mechanisms is minimal. We were pleased with the diversity forum that was held, however to be more successful this event needs to be more regular and recruited to more people. 

Vice Provost Williams needs improvement in outreach. Williams was proactive about setting monthly meetings with Diversity Committee leadership and initiated emails. The quick mobilization in response to the CEO release shows effective responsiveness. Vice Provost Williams was strong in responsiveness.

Interim Chancellor David Ward often discussed shared governance and ASM in his tenure. Ward worked closely with the University Governance Ad-Hoc Committee Report and proved to be an ally in this issue. The task force on UW Restructuring also saw heavy communication and advocacy for a student presentation. Important references were given to assist in student projects; however, we saw minimal following up on behalf of the chancellor with the contacts referenced. 

Ward was adequate in student ally-ship. Shared governance was commonly discussed by the chancellor, and he was a proponent of the system and sustainability. Yet there was a significant push for strategic tuition increases and recruitment of out-of-state students, despite often discussing affordability. Chancellor Ward was adequate in issue advocacy. 

There were concerns about going into mediation with Adidas without consulting shared governance groups, and even when addressed at meetings with students, Ward often went around the issue to not directly discuss it. Ward needs improvement in transparency. Ward was not as much a public face on campus and was more a facilitator, depending on others for outreach. 

The chancellor needs improvement in outreach efforts. Recognizing the span of the chancellor’s role on campus, we felt the chancellor was responsive in meetings and followed up eventually to student inquiries and issues. For this reason, Chancellor Ward was adequate in responsiveness.

Allie Gardner ([email protected]) is the chair of ASM.

David Gardner ([email protected]) is the chief of staff of ASM.

Brianna Barth ([email protected]) is the Student Activity Center governing board chair of ASM.

Hannah Somers ([email protected]) is the legislative affairs chair of ASM.

Sade Johnson ([email protected]) is the university affairs chair of ASM.

Ade Afolayan ([email protected]) is the press office director of ASM.

Zachary DeQuattro ([email protected]) is the nominations board chair of ASM.

Beth Huang ([email protected]) is the shared governance chair of ASM.

Niko Magall?n ([email protected]) is the diversity chair of ASM.