A special Board of Regents committee met Thursday with representatives from various University of Wisconsin System campuses to further discussions on revising the current faculty disciplinary policy.

The meeting — at which faculty, academic staff and student representatives were invited to participate — was the latest installment in a series of committee meetings that collectively have extended beyond a year.

After having proposed several revisions to the current disciplinary policy in its previous meetings, the committee looked to representatives from UW campuses across the state to deliver input before the revisions are forwarded to the Board of Regents.

"It is important for us to come together with a resolution, something we can all live with so that we can speak with one voice when it goes to the Legislature," said Peggy Rosenzweig, regent and committee member.

UW System general counsel Patricia Brady said the committee will make a recommendation to the full board, consider faculty input and then have the board vote. The approved policy would then be forwarded to the state Legislature for final consideration.

Regents present at the meeting said the time schedule they are hopeful for includes a vote on the revisions at their December meeting in order to pass the policy on to the Legislature by January for the beginning of its session.

Concerns expressed by faculty representatives present at the meeting included questions about the policy's attention to due process — a point that has been highly contentious since the committee's first meetings, but has gone through several revisions reflecting faculty suggestions.

The committee also debated whether the problem with the old policy was substantive inadequacy or ineffective enforcement.

"Policy can only be as good as it is enforceable," said Michael Maguire, vice-chair of the UW-Extension academic staff council. "Is the special committee certain that the cases that brought this issue to the floor had more to do with policy than the enforcement of policy?"

Committee member and UW professor Walter Dickey said that there was "no doubt about it" that there was an inherent problem with the current policy, which inhibits speedy action in dealing with egregious behavior.

Dickey referred to the three cases that set the policy revision into action. The highly publicized cases came about last year when it was revealed that three UW faculty members convicted of felonies remained on the payroll.

In response to public outcry, Regent President David Walsh appointed the special committee to review the current policy and propose revisions that would expedite the dismissal process for felonious faculty.

The committee's attempt to create an expedited process has been a very long one, regent Rosenzweig said.

"We joke about how long this has taken," she said. "But I think … so many people put a lot of thought in to this."

She, along with other committee members, noted the importance of faculty input to their revisions, as many suggestions have led the committee to make substantive changes to their proposal.

Some faculty representatives voiced concerns over how their input will be recorded in the final draft, as many have referred to a state statute that they say requires shared governance in issues regarding dismissal.

UW professor Larry Kahan said that "in order to be consistent with the law" a final policy proposal would have to reflect collaboration with UW's "several faculties."

Walsh assured that as president of the board he "would do anything" to try to come to agreement with the faculty.

"Our mission is to teach young people," he said. "You don't do it unless you get along."

The committee agreed on revisions to their proposed draft, which will be considered by the full Board of Regents at its December meetings.