An ad hoc committee formed by the University of Wisconsin Faculty Senate to give an opinion on the necessity of graduate school restructuring will not present its report this week as was originally intended.
Chair of the University Committee Bill Tracy said the committee is currently in its final edits of the report.
Tracy explained the committee meets on Friday, so when something that needed to be reviewed and changed came up, they did not want to release the report until after this Friday’s meeting, when they will be able to look over the changes.
Some of the top researchers on campus sit on the committee, Tracy said.
“They are taking the report very seriously. They’re not going to release something that they’re not [confident in],” Tracy said.
Tracy hopes the report, which was initially scheduled to come out Jan. 1, will be ready next week.
The committee was formed in response to Provost Paul DeLuca Jr.’s plan to restructure the graduate school’s research department by dividing the role of current Dean of the Graduate School Martin Cadwallader and creating the new position of vice chancellor for research, which would report directly to the chancellor.
The Faculty Senate decided to review the matter, focusing on the current needs of graduate school research institutions.
Some staff members were confused by DeLuca’s proposal while others outright denied the need for a restructuring.
Atmospheric and oceanic sciences professor Grant Petty previously told The Badger Herald he and fellow staff members did not understand why restructuring was needed, adding the proposed plan lacked the details needed to understand it.
A series of five town hall meetings last semester found similar confusion, with some faculty members voicing concern the plan seemed to be “fast tracked.”
The finished report will be presented to the University Committee, which will use the report to make recommendations to the provost. The provost will then create a plan to present to the Faculty Senate.
Another ad hoc committee, created by Academic Staff Executive Committee, released its report recently, saying the graduate school does not need to be restructured.
