Statement on UW System President Search

United Faculty and Staff (UFAS) calls on the University of Wisconsin–Madison and UW System to:

1) Require all students, faculty, and staff who will be on campus to be vaccinated for COVID-19. 

2) Continue to require masking and social distancing. 

3) Continue to require frequent testing among unvaccinated staff, students, and faculty and implement randomized testing among all staff, students, and faculty, regardless of vaccination status. 

4) Utilize best practices for improved ventilation. 

5) Institute a more flexible policy on remote or hybrid teaching modalities for all faculty, instructional academic staff, and graduate instructors. 

6) Increase investments in UW–Madison’s mental healthcare resources to address the mental health challenges accompanying a year and a half of death, illness, and disruption. 

7) Allow for broad flexibility in remote work arrangements for all campus workers.

To sign on

The Beck-Elder Award was created in recognition of meritorious service to the Wisconsin University Union by Anatole Beck and Joe Elder to further shared governance, academic freedom, and to protect employee rights. To honor Professor Beck, WUU has written a piece about his extraordinary life and service to the UW-Madison.

Wisconsin University Union Executive Committee is launching a new initiative, the Beck-Elder Awards, to provide funding in support of governance and a democratic workplace on campus. The full announcement with details on how to apply is viewable as a GoogleDoc here.  Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis, with initial evaluation typically within a month.