The Associated Students of Madison will select two University of Wisconsin students for representation on the Dean of Education Search and Screen committee, even though university officials already selected two undergraduates to do the job.
The Search and Screen committee was assembled to help find a replacement for Dean of Education Charles Read, set to retire in June. The committee consists of at least nine faculty members, two members of the academic staff, two classified and civil service employees, one dean, one community member and two UW students.
The conflict is over the interpretation of a Wisconsin State Statute, which states that university students have the right to govern over student policies and student issues. According to Eyal Halamish, ASM Shared Governance Chair, the administration should have looked to ASM to select the students. UW administrators, however, turned to student organizations within the School of Education, according to Secretary of Faculty David Musolf.
ASM members believe the law has been broken because the administration did not follow the statute and previous court cases.
According to Halamish, ASM has spoken with lawyers who are willing to represent the group in court because the administration is likely to dismiss its student selections in favor of the students previously elected.
“The administration might be likely to reject whatever ASM does. When [the administration] messes up they don’t like to look at their failures,” Halamish said.
Halamish and ASM have continued their selection process and plan to present two students to serve on the committee by next week. ASM received 27 applications, which were narrowed down to 14 on Tuesday night. Interviews will take place Thursday night and a decision will likely be reached over the weekend.
The UW administrators believe they followed the state statute and turning to organizations in the specific college is appropriate, according to Musolf.
“It is very important to have students who have a vested interest in the college,” Musolf argued. “It should be students who are active within the school or college.”
Halamish disagrees because the student body did not elect the students the administration selected.
“The students chosen [by the administration] were not elected, so they do not represent the students,” Halamish said.
Anita Bertram, an ASM School of Education representative who applied to be on the committee, said she believes the administration did not follow the correct procedure.
“There is a more legitimate process in place already,” Bertram said. “[The administration] should go through the correct process.”
Despite the conflict, Musolf stressed the importance of reaching a solution.
“I’m hopeful that we will get through this and every one can agree,” Musolf said. “We want a student voice, we want student participation and we want students who are close to the action in the college.”
For Halamish, there is a bigger issue at hand.
“It’s about a larger principle where the administration tries to bypass a lot of what we do,” Halamish said. “We want to remind that student body and the administration that we represent the students.”
