Faculty Senate OKs restructuring of research enterprise

With action that supporters said elevated the role of research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the Faculty Senate Monday approved a motion to restructure the university’s research enterprise.

The motion supported by the Faculty Senate at its last meeting of the academic year would retain a close relationship between research and graduate education within the Graduate School and create a new position of vice chancellor for research and dean of the Graduate School.

The reorganization is intended to improve the administration of more than $900 million of research funds across all fields of study. Growth in research at the university has put UW–Madison in the top five institutions for research expenditures for more than 20 years, bringing with it greater administrative demands.

Bill Tracy, professor of agronomy and chair of the University Committee, said the move brings UW–Madison’s research enterprise to the level of its peer institutions while expanding shared governance and maintaining elements of a structure that’s been successful for the university.

“We wanted to make sure that we didn’t make big, big changes that might harm (the research enterprise) down the road, and we didn’t,” Tracy said after the meeting. “But at the same time, we created more governance. The faculty has more input and oversight into research, which we thought was important.”

The motion approved by the Faculty Senate also moves the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs under the direction of the vice chancellor for administration, and expands and supports the roles of the four divisional Graduate School associate deans.

Tracy said the motion would create a structure that meets the Faculty Senate’s four objectives: Maintaining UW–Madison’s preeminence in research and graduate education; keeping the administration of graduate education and research in one unit; retaining shared governance in research enterprise administration; and creating a position of vice chancellor for research.

After Chancellor Biddy Martin and Provost Paul DeLuca presented a proposal for changing the research enterprise structure last year, ad hoc committees put together by the Faculty Senate and Academic Staff Assembly weighed in with their own recommendations.

DeLuca said the motion addressed administrators’ concerns by establishing a defined position for vice chancellor of research and consolidating some research functions in the Office of Research Policy.

“This is a real step forward and we’re going to go to a better place,” DeLuca said after the vote.