Tuesday, March 5, 2013 - The Daily Cardinal

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Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Faculty offer criticism of campus initiatives By Cheyenne Langkamp the daily cardinal

The Faculty Senate heard reports Friday on the progress of two campus initiatives, Educational Innovation and changes to university alcohol policy, both of which received criticism from various faculty members. In February, the University of Wisconsin-Madison announced it would join other peer institutions in partnering with Coursera, an online learning company, to pro-

vide free online courses available to the public called Massive Online Open Courses. The senate heard a short presentation from Dean of the Division of Continuing Studies Jeff Russell, who has been involved in the university’s plans to create four MOOCs that will be made available to the public in the fall and spring. Russell said the pilot courses are an extension of the campus Educational Innovation strategy, championed by UW-Madison

Ward advocates for MOOCs University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor David Ward advocated for alternative and innovative learning techniques at UW-Madison, including the newly instated Massive Open Online Courses, in an article for the Wisconsin State Journal Monday. Ward said the university must continue to update its learning techniques to keep up with

new technology and demands of more students. Ward highlighted the “Educational Innovation” initiative he started upon returning to campus to “rethink” current curriculums and class formats. He said he believes UW-Madison’s four pilot MOOCs will continue his efforts in the future. sam cusick

Chancellor David Ward and Provost Paul DeLuca, which aims to identify new and more efficient modes of teaching and learning. However, Sara Goldrick-Rab, faculty senator and professor of educational policy studies, questioned the university’s plan for assessing the success of the courses, especially given current university revenue constraints. “Revenue generation and savings seem to be very important,” Goldrick-Rab said. “And as we all know, there’s really no business model for MOOCs.” Russell said the university does not yet have a complete plan for evaluation and emphasized the intent is not to monetize the courses but to collaborate with peer institutions in learning new teaching strategies from the courses. Also in the meeting, University Health Services Director Sarah Van Orman presented the findings of the Event Alcohol Sales and Service

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Plan Commission recommends demolishing three buildings to make way for apartments By Meghan Chua the daily cardinal

City officials approved an apartment proposal requiring the demolition of three residence buildings Monday despite concerns about affordable housing

in the area. Potter Lawson and Fiduciary Real Estate Development proposed constructing a 12-story, 317-unit apartment complex, including two and a half levels of underground parking, at 415

grey satterfield/the daily cardinal

A proposed development would demolish three low-cost housing units to make way for a new apartment complex.

W. Johnson St. geared toward young professionals. Eric Lawson, Potter Lawson’s project representative, said of the three buildings slated for demolition under the proposed plan, two appear in a downtown Madison building development plan as “obsolete or underutilized.” Madison’s Plan Commission approved demolition of those structures, located at 415 W. Johnson St., 424 W. Dayton St. and 226 N. Broom St. The commission approved the proposal along with a condition that developers agree to assist current tenants in those buildings with relocating. Ald. Marsha Rummel, District 6, said monthly rent in the existing structures is around $550 to $750, a price under the market rate. But according to Lawson, efficiency units in the new development will likely cost just under $1,000 per month. Lifelong Madison resident and former University of Wisconsin-Madison student Damon Terrell said affordable housing “matters deeply and intimately” in Madison. Terrell said the city should

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Abby Becker/cardinal file photo

Christian Hansen dropped out of the District 8 alder race and said personal and financial reasons contributed to his decision.

Hansen drops out of District 8 race, Resnick unopposed Campus-area alderperson candidate Christian Hansen confirmed Monday he plans to drop out of the race for Common Council’s District 8 seat due to events related to personal finances. Hansen, a University of Wisconsin-La Crosse graduate, ran approximately a three month campaign against incumbent Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, to represent the district which encompasses most of campus, including university residence halls and off-

campus housing. In an interview with The Daily Cardinal, Hansen said he is unable to campaign any longer due to obligations he must fulfill to the Madison Community Cooperative as its board member representative, as well as to ensure he is able to pay his rent. “I cannot sacrifice members of my co-op and the work we do for each other,” Hansen said. “There

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Preferred Name Policy available to students beginning in fall semester At an Associated Students of Madison Diversity Committee meeting Monday, members announced a new university policy will officially go into effect next semester allowing students to change how their name appears in different locations around campus. Diversity Committee Secretary Madison Tully said she is working with the LGBT Campus Center, the dean of students and Office of the Registrar to work out the details of the Preferred Name Policy. In the pilot program that will begin in August, students will be able to specify the name they

would like to be identified by on class lists. The policy is geared toward groups such as international students that go by an English name and certain members of the LGBTQ community. “If your name is legally Jane but you go by James, then on a class roster it would have your legal name, but then also your preferred name,” Tully said. “Then when the teacher is calling role you don’t have to out yourself.” Tully said she and other campus leaders are working to obtain this option for additional places names are listed, such as

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“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”


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