Get involved

We hope you will benefit from the site and its links to other information. We invite you to be a part of academic staff governance through its many elective, appointive, and volunteer opportunities. Click on “My Committee Interests” to let us know which committees are of interest to you.

Who Academic Staff are

Academic Staff positions are either unique to higher education and/or provide direct support for academic programming and/or develop and implement policies at UW-Madison. UW-Madison academic staff are respected professionals who contribute daily to the quality and reputation of a University recognized and respected around the world.

Academic staff are those unclassified employees who are not faculty. Faculty are defined in Wisconsin statutes as those university employees with a title of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, or instructor. So if you are an unclassified employee, and don't have a one of those four titles, you are academic staff. Academic staff include a wide range of titles such as researcher, dean, scientist, clinical professor, lecturer as well as other non faculty titles. For futher information, see the Unclassified Title Guidelines. Both faculty and academic staff have a voice in shared governance of the University.

Academic Staff Committees

UW-Madison academic staff serve on both elected and appointed committees related to governance and shared governance. This site will help you understand the work of various committees, so that you can identify one or more that fits your interests and time available.

Serving on a committee is a great way to meet others on campus and to make a contribution to the community. The Nominating Committee, along with the Academic Staff Executive Committee (ASEC) and the Secretary of the Academic Staff, are interested in hearing from anyone interested in serving on a committee or running for elected office in the governance structure. Contact the Chair of the Nominating Committee or the Secretary at dlsilver@wisc.edu.

Information about governance and participation opportunities is available at: http://acstaff.wisc.edu/. You can get involved in a mentoring program for academic staff or join a number of committees or governance bodies. If you are interested in participating in governance activities, you should discuss your interest with your supervisor. Or, seek advice from current members. Current members are listed under “Committees.”

There are also service opportunities in your college, school, department, or unit. One of them may be involvement in a Committee on Academic Staff Issues (CASI). CASIs advise the Dean or Director on issues pertaining to or affecting academic staff members in that unit. Ask around to find out about these more local opportunities.