Chancellor Biddy Martin recently made news by rearranging her staff following the departure of former Chancellor John Wiley's top aides, Casey Nagy and Deb Lauder, as well as by establishing a relationship with the controversial Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, a lobby Wiley opposed for its economic and political stances.
In addition to replacing the two aides leaving the chancellor's office, Martin plans to reorganize her staff by adding a vice chancellor of communications. The new vice chancellor will handle the university's strategies in dealing with communication, state relations and economic development.
The implications of these moves show a chancellor willing to step out of the shadow of her predecessor, something Martin will need to do as she further establishes herself at UW-Madison, especially considering the unique problems that will be brought by the continuting economic crisis.
If Chancellor Martin feels having a vice chancellor for communications will help her achieve her goals and bring better prosperity to the university, so be it. Martin has an agenda for the university that she needs fulfilled, and any tools necessary for effectively instituting this agenda are welcomed. Martin has hopes for the future of this university, and for that future to be realized, she has to make her own changes and pave her own roads. This is particularly applicable to her budding relationship with WMC in light of previous criticisms.
A lobby that traditionally promotes deregulation and opposes taxes, WMC is certainly a group whose policies are not congruent with the majority of UW-Madison's students. However, WMC also represents a potentially vast source of funding - something the university badly needs. Furthermore, the Wisconsin Idea promotes the university's labor as fruits for the business of the state - of which WMC is a major part - so they should have a vested interest in the prosperity of Wisconsin's flagship university. It's a relationship that could have vast potential and must be pursued by Martin.
Until the Chancellor's actions and decisions bear specifically positive or negative results, we can only wait with tempered optimism in the long run. Martin clearly has a vision and knows best how to further it for UW-Madison's future.
