Campus community invited to forums on new UW-Madison business model

The campus community is invited to be part of a discussion about a new business model for the University of Wisconsin–Madison in a series of forums with Chancellor Biddy Martin next week.

Martin has talked recently about the New Badger Partnership, a proposal that calls for changes to the university’s way of doing business that would strengthen the long-standing partnership between the university and the state of Wisconsin.

“We want to safeguard the investment of generations of Wisconsinites in this university and be part of the solution to the state’s problems,” Martin says, noting that the discussion takes place against the backdrop of the state’s short-term budget crisis and fundamental long-term economic challenges. “Greater flexibility for the university, combined with reasonable forms of accountability and more effective operations, can strengthen the university’s position and its ability to serve the state.”

At the forums, Martin and other UW–Madison administrators will talk about trends in the financing of higher education and changes that could be applied in Wisconsin.

There will also be ample time for Martin to take questions, responses and ideas from students, faculty, staff and community members in the audience.

The sessions will be held on: 

• Monday, Oct. 18, 3:30-5 p.m., 3M Auditorium, Room 1106, Mechanical Engineering Building, 1513 University Ave.
• Tuesday, Oct. 19, noon-1:30 p.m., Plenary Room, Grainger Hall, 975 University Ave.
• Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2-3:30 p.m., Friends of the Waisman Auditorium, Waisman Center, 1500 Highland Ave.