At the December 12, 2017 meeting of the UWEC University Senate, Senators voted resoundingly in favor of a resolution affirming its support of open, transparent shared governance.
The motion was introduced in response to events at UW-Superior and UW-Stevens Point earlier that fall in which administrators announced plans to unillaterally eliminate or suspend major and minor programs on their campuses without following established governance procedures.
In passing the resolution, the UWEC University Senate not only expressed its disapproval of the actions of administrators at UW-Superior and UW-Stevens Point, it also expressed its support for the UWEC administration's tradition of abiding by the long tradition of cooperative, democratic, and open governance--in which powers of governing the university are shared with students, staff, and faculty.
Union members introduced the resolution and played instrumental roles in ensuring its passage through behind-the-scenes deliberation and statements of public support. Without the open channels of communication maintained by UFAS-UWEC with union members at UW-S and UW-SP, the passage of the resolution would have been impossible.
The full text of the resolution is available here: uwec_resolution_condemning_academic_policymaking_by_administrative_fiat_revised4endnotes.pdf