What happened at UW Stevens Point (UWSP) is tragic, and we cannot allow it to happen at Oshkosh. At a shared governance meeting last fall, when I asked our Chancellor about his take on UWSP’s attack on the social sciences and humanities, he did not condemn it. I understood him to say that he thought their Chancellor was simply complying, doing what he was called upon to do.
Education for the 21st century is enhanced by including, not excluding or undervaluing, the traditional and classical disciplines of the Liberal Arts and Sciences. They remain relevant. If we are to lead, and not just serve, in the economy of the future, our students need more than business degrees, service degrees, and vocational training. We need minds trained to think, adapt, and innovate, and that is what students who graduate with COLS degrees excel at doing.
In my opinion, each person, every department and program in COLS, large and small, is an essential part of the College and the University as a whole. The University needs COLS to be strong, because what you, the faculty and staff, do is at the heart of the Wisconsin Idea. I still believe in it.
I can see that what each of you does, and what you have to offer, is valuable, even if it is currently undervalued by some leaders in the UW System and our state government. This is something we can work on changing – but we will need to look beyond our differences, support each other, and work together.
What we can and should do to address our financial situation at Oshkosh is restructure the way we take in revenue. Our Chancellor could take immediate steps that would proactively and humanely address our current financial issues. We need to let go of the plateau.
In this letter, I am speaking only for myself, and not as a representative of the University or my program.
With this letter, I pledge to use my personal resources and time to assist in strengthening and unifying the College of Letters and Science (COLS) at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.
In my opinion, program prioritization is a nasty and unnecessary business, a way of charging a group of token representatives with the task of betraying and bullying the most vulnerable, giving an appearance of consent to ideas, actions, and goals that take our university in the wrong direction. We need to remember where we come from. We need to remember that unity and university share the same root. We need to think about what that means.
We are one. An injury to one is an injury to all.
If we turn against each other, the damage done may be irreparable. Our current losses will take decades to repair.
We need to be patient, have faith, and commit to rebuilding our legacy, just as those who came before us have done. It will not serve to bide our time, hang on until retirement, and consider ourselves well out of it and glad to be so. That only works in a fair and ethical environment. We do not have that.
When we stand together to save one person in COLS, one FTE, one major, we save the college as a whole. Each win becomes everyone’s win. We are stronger together.
If our former Dean of COLS, a professor of mathematics, were reading this, I can imagine him saying something profound and encouraging to us about the root of unity, any complex number that gives 1 when raised to some positive integer power n. I feel the loss of his presence in the Dean’s office every day. I miss him. Although I am glad he is our Provost, that role serves a different purpose, and we can no longer rely solely on him to do our damage control.
We need to step up. The people in COLS with the most courage and the most political clout need to rise to the occasion and advocate for those who are overlooked, out of favor, or afraid to speak. Those who self-promote by undermining others they see as competition for resources need to stop, and do so immediately. This is the risk, the cost, and the great challenge of solidarity. We will be called on to make some personal sacrifices, occasionally accepting, even celebrating, someone else’s gain as our win.
This is also where a strong union and committed union leadership can make a difference. Our union does not have the right to bargain, but we continue to advocate and represent in the workplace. We are trained how to do it, and federal law and UW System policy protect us when we serve in these roles. If you are an outspoken advocate, you really should consider joining your union - you almost can’t afford not to.
In my opinion, there are frustrating limits to what can be accomplished by the shared governance system in the current climate. You may have felt this, too. A strong union is still relevant.
The faculty and instructional academic staff are organizing. The university staff are organizing.
I am proud to say openly that I serve as president of our university staff union, WSEU AFSCME Local 579.
I want to ask you to do something difficult. I want to ask you to find time to sit down and relax. Then, ask yourself how things are going for you and your colleagues at work.
How does it feel when you read about transparency and accountability, and know at the same time that many of the recent administrative decisions were made over the course of years without meaningful consideration or sufficient response given to employee feedback and shared governance participation?
Would you like to have more of a voice? Would you prefer to invest your time in work that mitigates destructive, divisive, and ill-considered decisions and policies?
If you haven't already, I want to invite you to join the movement to save our UW.
Talk with Jeff Pickron about joining the faculty and instructional academic staff union, AFT Local 6506.
If you are university staff, or non-managerial, non-instructional academic staff, ask me about AFSCME.
In solidarity, with appreciation,
Heidi Frey, President
WSEU AFSCME Local 579
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