Academic Staff Document #448 
February 14, 2011

Principles for the New Badger Partnership (NBP)GovernanceThese principles are critical to maintaining a pre-eminent teaching and research enterprise at UW-Madison, allowing us to retain and enhance the diversity of the university community and to maintain high-quality higher education for the citizens of the state. The following are essential: 

• Shared governance, as articulated in Chapter 36.09 of the current state statutes, must be preserved. 
• University employees not covered by Chapter 36.09, including represented and non-represented classified staff, have the ability to advise the university administration. 
• Academic freedom must be protected. 
• Legislation that in any way infringes on the right of university faculty, staff and students to teach, conduct research or engage in service on topics of their own choosing is unacceptable. 
• Terms of faculty employment, including faculty control over hiring and tenure as articulated in Chapter 36.09(4) and 36.13 of the current state statutes, must be preserved. 
• Terms of academic staff employment, including appointments and procedural guarantees as stated in Chapter 36.09(4m) and 36.15, must be preserved. 
• Terms of student participation in governance, including consultation with the chancellor on disposition of segregated fees, as articulated in Chapter 36.09(5), must be preserved. 
• The existing right of university faculty, staff and student employees to be represented by unions must not be infringed. 
• All university employees must have the right to due process. Structures for external arbitration and external oversight for classified employees must be consistent with those articulated in Chapter 230.44 and Chapter 230 Subchapters III and IV. 
• Partnership agreements with private entities must protect the intellectual property rights of the university, and of university faculty, staff, and students. Such agreements must not infringe on academic freedom. 

Finances 
These are the core principles of financial flexibility: 

• Continued state funding of the state’s traditional share of cost-to-continue is essential to the existence and success of UW-Madison. 
• The university must be allowed to retain money saved, without threat of seizure, for its own purposes. 
• Higher education must be affordable and accessible to all the families of Wisconsin. The university must provide need-based financial aid, and provide it largely as grants in order that students of modest means in good academic standing may successfully complete their degrees in a timely manner. 
• Employee benefits currently provided by the state must continue to be available to eligible university employees. The university has the right to provide other benefits to any university employee.
• The university will ensure fairness and equity in employment practices and salaries, including for instance prevailing wage for construction projects. Internal University Processes for Deliberation on the New Badger Partnership 

Internal University Processes for Deliberation on the New Badger Partnership

Proposals arising from the New Badger Partnership initiative will be vetted by appropriate university groups. These groups will include, but are not limited to: University Academic Planning Council, school/college academic planning councils, University Committee, Faculty Senate, Academic Staff Executive Committee, Academic Staff Assembly, Associated Students of Madison, Council for Non-represented Classified Staff, and employee unions.