As the university prepares for a law permitting concealed weapons to go into effect, a UW-Madison Faculty Senate committee proposed a policy that would prohibit university employees from carrying weapons on campus Monday.
The University Committee proposed the policy, which suggests no university employee would be allowed to carry firearms or weapons at any time they are engaged in work-related activities, unless approved in advance by the chancellor or ""designee,"" usually a police chief.
Under the legislation, if an employee violates the policy, they would be subjected to ""discipline or dismissal"" from UW-Madison.
The body voted to not apply the policy to university law enforcement officers.
While the legislation would apply to UW-Madison employees, students are allowed to carry concealed weapons on university grounds under the law.
According to the law, employers are allowed to prohibit employees from carrying weapons in university buildings and at university events, but cannot do the same for students.
The faculty senate said they plan to post signs prohibiting individuals from carrying concealed weapons in university buildings to protect students, faculty and staff from potential danger stemming from weapons on campus.
The University Committee said they worked with campus administrative legal services and human relations personnel to draft the policy.
According to University Committee Chair Brad Barham, the committee hopes the Faculty Senate approves the policy in a timely matter with the concealed carry legislation going into effect Nov. 1.
""We wanted to get this in front of Faculty Senate hopefully before then so we have the policy of the university stated clearly and preemptively,"" Barham said.
