The Associated Students of Madison is taking issue with University of Wisconsin administrators because of alleged “side-stepping” in the student appointment for the search-and-screen committee for the new dean of the School of Education. This conflict could result in a claim brought to the Student Judiciary by ASM.

UW officials deny any wrongdoing.

Eyal Halamish, chair of ASM’s Shared Governance Committee, said two students were appointed by administrators to join the process to search for the replacement of School of Education Dean Charles Read, who will retire June 30.

However, state law requires the selection of these students is up to ASM, according to Halamish.

“ASM should be the one [UW] turns to,” Halamish said.

He added ASM is willing to take any legal action necessary, saying UW broke the law.

“We’re willing to take [the complaint] to Student Judiciary or any court that would be necessary,” Halamish said.

Despite ASM’s claims, UW Provost Peter Spear said the students were selected using the University System Board of Regents’ rules stating recommendations should come from a student organization within the School of Education, and that work does not have to be exclusively with ASM.

But, Spear added UW believes there is significance in student inclusion in the hiring process, adding the university is very committed to shared governance.

“We think it’s very important having students involved in search and screen,” Spear said in a phone interview. “There is a disagreement about who recommends the students.”

Despite the disagreement from the administration’s side, Halamish said ASM plans to continue a selection process where two students will be picked to participate in the search-and-screen process.

“We represent every student organization on this campus,” Halamish said, adding the School of Education does not have a student government.

Though ASM has shown willingness to find two students, Spear said the decision is already made. He added ASM’s appointment of two new people to the search-and-screen committee would remove the pair already chosen for the job.

ASM has not seen its last chance to appoint students to a search-and-screen committee. The impending retirement of dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Elton Aberle will necessitate a new committee made up of staff, faculty and two students.

Spear proposed a process to ASM where administrators will choose one of the members from a CALS student organization and student government would select the other, which was met with opposition.

“There is a difference of opinion about whether the student representatives should be selected by the student organization of the school for which the dean is being hired or by the campus-wide student organization (ASM),” Spear wrote in an e-mail.

“If you’re a student in CALS, how would you feel about some other organization on the search committee?” Spear added during the phone interview.

Halamish said he believes ASM has a fundamental difference in its makeup.

“These are students from clubs [and are] not representative of the student body,” he said.

–Matthew Dolbey contributed to this report.