Despite professing a lack of details about UW-Madison's relationship with the state at three student forums, a drafted letter obtained by The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel revealed Wednesday that Chancellor Biddy Martin advocated for the university's separation from the UW system, and knew it was likely.
""I appreciate knowing that Governor Scott Walker wants to provide flexibility and intends to propose public authority status for UW-Madison,"" the chancellor said in a letter to Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch Jan. 7.
According to the letter, UW-Madison would have its own governing body, whose members would be appointed by the governor and university.
The board would have the ""authority to set and manage tuition,"" according to the letter.
Although Martin has said specifics would not be available until after the release of the governor's budget Feb. 22, many plans about economic relations with the state are outlined in the letter, including funding, insurance issues and sovereign immunity among others.
""There is always a point in the development of plans when they aren't fully formed or even really formed at all and where you need a certain amount of discretion while they are under development,"" Martin told The Daily Cardinal Monday.
Associated Students of Madison Chair Brandon Williams said Martin did not give the student government specifics about the partnership in their meetings.
""In our conversations with the chancellor nothing like this has come up, which is kind of leaving us feeling a little bit like we were left in the dark in this process,"" Williams said.
In the letter, Martin explains how each part of the plan, especially flexibility from the state, would benefit the university.
""If UW-Madison were to be separated from UW System, the university could be a test case that paves the way for other institutions in the system to benefit from such flexibilities,"" Martin said in a separate statement.
Speculation that Chancellor Martin was keeping information regarding the New Badger Partnership from the student body arose earlier this month after the release of an e-mail between ASM Chief of Staff Tom Templeton and the chancellor's chief of staff.
Templeton said in the e-mail that he had met with the chancellor a few weeks earlier, and that she would give the ASM chairs documents regarding the New Badger Partnership ""with the understanding [they] would keep them secret and not make them public.""
Templeton said his use of the word ""secret"" was a poor decision and he wanted the information in order for student's voices to be heard on the issue.
Martin said the use of the word ""secret"" was unfortunate because ""it makes it seem like there was some sort of conspiracy.""
""It was a period when we were trying to put together the principles and the evidence for those principles and we didn't yet have what was worth sharing,"" Martin told The Daily Cardinal.
Whether or not UW-Madison will be separated from the rest of the university system will become clearer when Walker introduces his budget Tuesday.
