Chancellor Beverly Kopper announced today the selection of Susan Elrod as provost and executive vice chancellor for Academic Affairs. Dr. Elrod currently serves as the interim provost and vice president for academic affairs at the California State University, Chico. She will join UW-Whitewater on April 15. “I am so pleased Susan Elrod will join us…
University
City, Culture, Local Government, Newspapers, School District, University
Whitewater’s Mentoring Gap
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Looking back ten years (or nine in the case of UW-Whitewater), one finds at the helm of Whitewater’s public institutions leaders who so very much embodied Old Whitewater: Steinhaus, Brunner, Coan, Telfer (beginning in ’07). They were the perfect representatives of Old Whitewater, where Old Whitewater is an attitude, not an age: narrow, grandiose, mediocre, producing…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, Crime, Law, University
Attorney General Schimel’s Support for Senate Bill 656
by JOHN ADAMS • • 3 Comments
Late last month, Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel joined law enforcement officials at a press conference to announce his support for a bill that would offer amnesty for underage drinkers who report incidents of sexual assault (whether reporting as claimants or bystanders). The bill (Senate Bill 656) would assure that someone could report an…
Blogging, City, Culture, New Media, Newspapers, Press, School District, University
Revisiting Kozloff’s ‘Dark, Futile Dream’
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
About a year ago, I wrote a post on an off-campus meeting at which local notables and a search consultant (Jessica Kozloff) discussed a replacement for Richard Telfer. A story on that meeting, published in the Daily Union, is one of the best accounts of insiders’ thinking. See, from that newspaper, UW-Whitewater chancellor session held, http://www.dailyunion.com/news/article_f042575e-a63a-11e4-bcd8-939679ffcc09.html.…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, Law, Public Relations, University
Contrasting Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel and Media Relations Director Sara Kuhl
by JOHN ADAMS • • 3 Comments
In December, Laura Dunn, Esquire and four of her clients, all with experiences within Wisconsin as sexual assault survivors, met with Wisconsin’s Attorney General, Brad Schimel, to discuss their concerns about how the UW System is addressing sexual assault complaints. See, UW sexual assault survivors meet with AG, seek meeting with UW system leaders @ Channel…
School District, Sports, University
The Value of Sports
by JOHN ADAMS • • 5 Comments
Whitewater has had athletic successes in our district and on campus. Our high school and local university have witnessed impressive state & national accomplishments. Few cities have done so well. It’s been my pleasure to attend and cheer for Whitewater’s high school and college teams. I was graduated from another school, but like so many…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, Misconduct, Public Relations, University
About That Accreditation at UW-Whitewater…
by JOHN ADAMS • • 4 Comments
Last week, UW-Whitewater’s administration announced, in oddly grand terms, the results of an accreditation review from the HLC. (That would be the ‘Higher Learning Commission,’ one of dozens of self-designated accrediting organizations of the same ilk.) One reads that the accreditation was ‘a weighty stamp of approval’ of our campus administration’s actions. The accreditation was nothing of…
Sports, University, UW System
At UW-Whitewater, Far More Championship Rings Than Actual Athletes & Coaches
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
I wrote yesterday of Beverly Kopper’s remark that Richard Telfer’s only weakness was not having enough rings for all his championships. Needless to say, Richard Telfer had no championships at UW-Whitewater: he wasn’t a coach or athlete. When I first read Kopper’s remark months ago, it wouldn’t have occurred to me that non-athletes were – literally…
University
The Former Chancellor’s Only Weakness
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Months ago, as then-Chancellor Richard Telfer was preparing for retirement, then-Provost Beverly Kopper thought about his career, and spotted only one weakness: Chancellor Richard Telfer has only one weakness, according to Beverly Kopper, provost at UW-Whitewater. This weakness isn’t being a bad listener or not being able to do his job. His weakness is only…
Sports, University
Coach Timothy Fader, Vindicated
by JOHN ADAMS • • 2 Comments
Coach Timothy Fader, a nationally-recognized coach who was dismissed from his position as head wrestling coach at UW-Whitewater, is now the head wrestling coach at UW-Eau Claire. As Whitewater’s current chancellor likes to be clear, I will be, too: Coach Fader would never have been hired elsewhere in the UW System if there had been any…
University
UW-Whitewater dean of students dies of natural causes, chancellor says
by JOHN ADAMS •
At WISC-TV Channel 3000 there is a published report this afternoon on the death of UW-Whitewater’s dean of students, Mary Beth Mackin. The story includes a statement from UW-Whitewater’s chancellor. Readers will find the story at UWW dean of students dies of natural causes, chancellor says @ WISC-TV Channel3000.com.
Assault Awareness & Prevention, City, Law, University
The Nature of the Federal Title IX Complaints Against UW-Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
The two, separate federal complaints that sexual assault survivors have filed against UW-Whitewater are complaints against that institution for the failure to comply with lawful requirements for handling these alleged survivors’ claims (regardless of the underlying facts in any given claimant’s case). (That’s why, when Title IX complainants seek federal recourse, they say that they have…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, Crime, Official Misconduct, University
Chancellor Kopper’s Belated Statement on Another Federal Complaint
by JOHN ADAMS • • 9 Comments
Today, only after publication of an account of a second Title IX complaint against UW-Whitewater from a second sexual assault survivor, Chancellor Kopper finally chose to issue a statement in her own words (assuming that she wrote it). I have published that statement in full, at the bottom of this post. (For the story on…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, Crime, Official Misconduct, University
A Second Sex-Assault Survivor Files Federal Complaint Against UW-Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS • • 3 Comments
Raechel Liska, aged 22. Photo from Channel 3000. Link to Ms. Liska’s video interview, available online. Raechel Liska, aged 22, an honors student and Army ROTC candidate at UW-Whitewater, has filed a sexual discrimination action with the U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Division, against our local university. This is the second federal action that…