[media-credit name=’BEN SMIDT/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]The dean of the College of Letters and Science, Gary Sandefur, spoke to the Rotary Club of Madison Wednesday on the current state of the largest college at the University of Wisconsin.

In a packed ballroom at the Madison Concourse Hotel, Sandefur spoke to Rotarians about “what’s new and exciting in the UW College of L&S.”

Sandefur addressed his own career, the current state of L&S and what makes the college unique to UW.

“I don’t know if being dean is the best job, but it’s a very exciting one,” Sandefur said. “People tell me L&S is where they found their life’s passion.”

Sandefur spoke of the integrity of the L&S school, stating the college is central to academic excellence at UW.

“As dean, I need to preserve this value and the value of all people,” Sandefur said.

Letters and Science is the largest and most diverse college at UW, teaching 90 percent of freshman credits. The college lays claim to over half of the academic buildings on campus, consisting of 39 departments, five professional schools and more than 50 interdisciplinary research centers.

Sandefur said L&S classes are the educational foundation for UW students studying in various professional schools, including the schools of business, engineering, pre-medicine and pharmacy.

Reiterating the school’s tradition of integrity, Sandefur presented examples of reputable alumni from the college, including Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur and 2004 Pulitzer Prize winners Lowell Bergman and Anthony Shadid. Shadid is one of two L&S alumni who have served as journalists reporting from the front lines in Iraq.

To maintain L&S’s reputation, Sandefur told the Rotarians more funding will be needed due to the amount of new students enrolling in the college.

“With the increasing number of students at L&S, we need more scholarship support to overcome barriers of economic cost,” Sandefur said.

There were 5,630 students enrolled in L&S last semester, he stated, 73 percent of whom worked a part-time job.

Sandefur said the success of L&S has drawn attention from universities that are constantly trying to attract professors to their programs, and added UW has been criticized for having the lowest professorial salaries in the Big Ten.

“We have built a stellar group of professors in L&S. It is my job to make sure we don’t lose our professors [to other universities],” Sandefur said. “Of course, we try to steal theirs, too.”

According to UW Provost Peter Spear, Sandefur has done well as dean of L&S since he began in August 2004.

“Gary is our new dean and has done an excellent job of working with faculty, staff and students,” Spear said.

Spear said Sandefur continues to keep the college moving forward and improving, “despite the budget challenges we all face.”

Sandefur expressed concern over recent tuition increases, but said he is optimistic about Gov. Jim Doyle and the state Legislature.

“The big concern, of course, is the state budget,” Sandefur said. “[But] from what the governor and members of state Legislature have been saying, the state budget this year will be better than the last.”