You may have heard about the incredible gift that we announced this past weekend, from John and Tashia Morgridge. Maybe it’s the amount that got your attention: $100 million. That’s the largest single gift from… Read More
Blank’s Slate
Budget in Brief offers transparent view of UW–Madison budget
As I’ve written in a previous blog, there is no more important item on my agenda than the next biennial state budget. One of the tools I hope will help legislators, alumni and other stakeholders to… Read More
A new budget model: More flexibility and transparency
I held a conversation with each of the deans before I started in this job and heard from almost every one of them that the budget model at UW-Madison no longer worked effectively. I and… Read More
This year’s most important topic: Budgets
It’s a biennial budget year here in Wisconsin and as soon as the November elections are over, the 2015-17 state budget will be the focus of much of the work of our elected state leaders…. Read More
Diversity: A campus priority
One of the most important things that happens when you go away to college is that you meet and get to know people whose experiences are very different from your own. You get to live… Read More
Welcome back to Fall 2014
One of the things I love most about working on a campus is the bustle of activity that comes each year when students return in the fall. Nothing equals the rush of energy, anticipation, and… Read More
Is an English professor a scientist?
At a Faculty Senate meeting last April, in a discussion about the reorganization of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education position, I said something about the VCRGE working with scientists across campus. One… Read More
Campus safety, sexual assault and high-risk drinking
It’s SOAR (Student Orientation, Advising and Registration) season here on campus and every day, I see groups of incoming students and their parents receiving an orientation to campus and to student life at UW-Madison. Although… Read More
Big Ten presidents and chancellors address student athlete issues, NCAA reform
The following is a statement signed by myself and other leaders of the Big Ten universities regarding NCAA reform and challenges to the current collegiate athletics model. June 24, 2014 ROSEMONT, Ill. – While testifying last… Read More
A trip up north: My visit to Superior & Ashland
One of the goals during my first year as chancellor was to visit each of the University of Wisconsin System’s 13 four-year campuses. I was on the southern shore of Lake Superior this week, in… Read More