Timeline
All-college meeting summary and video
Last week members of the CALS community gathered at the spring all-college meeting to hear updates on college planning and objectives, budget cuts, building projects, the Extension transition, the state budget process, and progress toward goals related to college structure, …
Departmental plans outline path for college’s future
At the end of December, all CALS’s academic departments submitted five-year plans delineating departmental strategies in the following areas: Goal 1: Strengthen the Research Portfolio Goal 2: Strengthen Academic Programs Goal 3: Strengthen Extension Programs and Outreach Activities Goal 4: …
Enrollment data and trends
At the January department chairs’ meeting, Dean Kate VandenBosch led a discussion with the chairs about undergraduate admission and enrollment trends within the college. A number of departmental five-year plans include ideas for new courses to attract additional students. Planning …
Departmental five-year plan and funding request review process
CALS departments submitted their five-year plans at the end of the calendar year. These plans are part of the college’s overall planning strategy (see question #2) and are in response to the CALS Organizational Redesign Committee’s recommendations. Some departments also submitted …
CALS APC approves discontinuation of poultry science major
At their December 18, 2018 meeting, members of the college’s Academic Planning Council (APC) voted to discontinue the poultry science major. The program has no enrolled students. Following this approval, the UW–Madison University Academic Planning Council (UAPC) will need to approve …
CALS All-College Meeting summary: Time of change, time to grow
Around 100 people attended the All-College Meeting held on Wednesday, Nov. 14. The meeting featured presentations by various CALS leaders, followed by a Q&A session. Highlights from the meeting are summarized below. A recording of the meeting can be watched …
Frequently asked question about process to change an academic program
There has been some discussion about and confusion around the process for adding new or discontinuing academic programs, so we have added an FAQ to orgredesign.cals.wisc.edu. What steps are necessary to change an academic program? In Dean VandenBosch’s eCALS welcome …
Frequently asked question about teaching
At the beginning of the process, we committed to providing answers to frequently asked questions about the redesign on the project page. We have a question to add to the existing list: How do departments choose between teaching during the …
Funding request forms for fall FY19 released
The second round of funding requests is due to Associate Dean Angie Seitler by December 31, 2018. Departments should use these forms to submit their requests (one form per request): Request for Bridge or Short-Term Funding Fall FY19 Request for Faculty …
CALS leaders announce new budget approach for summer session
At the recent department chairs meeting, CALS Administration announced the college will follow a new approach for summer session budgeting beginning with summer term 2019. Based on historical revenue generated by CALS summer programs, UW–Madison assesses CALS approximately $1 million …
Increases in administrative fees for Fund 136 Fee-for-Service accounts begin Jan 2020
This fiscal year (FY19) CALS will increase the administrative fees assessed on 136 fundsfrom 2% to 3.5% (a 1.5% increase) and then from 3.5% to 5% in FY20 (an additional 1.5% increase). The increasing fees will cover additional expenses incurred by …
Fall semester welcome and college updates from Kate VandenBosch
The following message was sent from Dean Kate VandenBosch to CALS faculty, staff and graduate students on Sept. 7: Greetings, With the start of the fall semester, I want to send a warm welcome to the CALS community. We begin …
Five-year plan template
Last week, Dean VandenBosch provided departments with a template and guidance document for five-year planning, as well as the most recent data available for measuring performance. Departments will add this information into their individual plans. The data, documents and resources …
Updates from the department chairs’ retreat
The annual CALS department chairs retreat was held last Wednesday and included a college update from the dean before digging in to some redesign-related topics. After an overview of where we are in the Organizational Redesign, the chairs reviewed options …
Schedule update
A friend of mine was recently shocked to find out that, as a university employee, I don’t get summer break. Few of us do and, while the scarce population of students on campus is palpable, a lot of work is …
Frequently asked question about graduate programs
At the beginning of the process, we committed to providing answers to frequently asked questions about the redesign on the project page. We have a question to add to the existing list: How will graduate programs change as a result …
Spring 2018 bridge funding for academic departments announced
The college recently announced nearly $175,000 in fund 101 bridge funding to departments who have experienced a faculty departure or other change in their faculty ranks. Ten departments submitted requests by the May 31 deadline. Bridge funding is a temporary …
Dean expected to respond to department concepts in July
All departments in CALS submitted a concept document proposing a future structure to merge, collaborate or remain as is. In a recent communication to department chairs, Dean Kate VandenBosch noted, “We received responses representing a variety of new approaches to …
Five-year plan questions answered
How will five-year plans be used? Plans will be used in a variety of ways to enhance our ability to set and meet goals to benefit the college, our students and our stakeholders. Here are four primary ways the plans …
Departmental five-year plans and schedule
Dean Kate VandenBosch released early drafts of a planning template and guidance document that departments will use to outline priorities and activities for the next five years. Five-year plans were recommended in the Organizational Redesign Committee’s report from December 2017. The planning templates will continue to …
Difference between UW-Madison (101) and Extension (104) fund reallocation
At this stage of the college’s Organizational Redesign, budget discussions are focused on UW-Madison funding. Also known by its fund number (101), these 101 dollars are distributed to UW-Madison by UW System and include all state-controlled funds (tuition and tax revenues). Fund …
Departments able to request funding for faculty positions
The Organization Redesign Committee recommended the college adopt a new model for allocating state funding (tuition and General Purpose Revenue) from vacated faculty lines. They recommended that departments retain 50% of the funding for that line, providing greater autonomy to …
VandenBosch makes departmental recommendations
Recently, Dean Kate VandenBosch sent letters to department chairs with individual recommendations to help focus each department’s structure exploration. Recommendations were either to explore a merger with one or more departments, explore a collaborative with one or more departments or …
VandenBosch says college redesign will position CALS, students for future success
Last week, Dean Kate VandenBosch sent an op-ed piece to editors of Wisconsin agricultural media outlets summarizing how the design will position the college and our students for future success. Here is the text of the piece: Many people in …
VandenBosch outlines Redesign path and questions about “collaboratives” are answered
This week in eCALS Dean VandenBosch outlined a path to new departmental configuration in the college and we released some answers to your questions about “collaboratives.”
Documents and information available
Desired Outcomes for Achieving Robust Departments summarizes ideal characteristics of strong departments within CALS. During the redesign, departments should consider how to achieve these outcomes. Exploring Options for Departmental Structure and Developing a Concept Document outlines organizational options for departments, a …
Some common questions answered
Find answers to frequently asked questions posted to the FAQ section. These answers will be regularly updated with commonly asked questions about the redesign. Submit your questions via e-mail to calsdesign@lists.wisc.edu.

Data used by committee available now
Data reviewed by the CALS redesign committee, along with feedback they gathered from faculty and staff, is now available. Information includes: Peer institution structures Results from the Oct., 2017 All College Meeting survey Department information summaries provided by APIR and …
Dean responds to Organizational Redesign Committee report
Over the last year, the CALS Organizational Redesign Committee has considered possible changes in structural organization and resource allocation to make CALS more resilient now and into the future. To make recommendations, the committee researched peer institutions, looked at global …
All-college meeting video and survey
There was an impressive turnout at the all-college meeting on October 24. In fact, there weren’t enough tables! Despite the great attendance, there were, of course, a number of CALS faculty and staff who were not able to attend the …
CALS Org Redesign Committee shares ideas via preliminary report, Oct. 24 All-College Meeting
On Aug. 29, the CALS Organizational Redesign Committee presented its preliminary report at the annual Department Chairs’ Retreat. The chairs provided feedback and there was a productive discussion to inform the design for the college. The committee will continue to develop and …
Summertime fun with the CALS Organizational Redesign Committee
Though committee members will hopefully make time for the beach this summer, they are taking the CALS Organizational Redesign work very seriously and will work throughout June, July and August to develop recommendations for a future design of the college. …

Committee Co-Chairs Video Update
On Tuesday, May 2, Leann Tigges and Mark Rickenbach, co-chairs of the CALS Organizational Redesign Committee, provided an update to the CALS Academic Planning Council (APC). Their update was recorded and you can see the video here.
CALS Organizational Redesign Committee continues work
It is hard to believe it is April. Tulips are popping out of the ground and we can begin to see the end of the semester as it nears. We are happy to announce that, despite the speed in which …
CALS Organizational Redesign Committee update and request for ideas
Update The twelve members of the CALS Organizational Redesign Committee meet bi-weekly. In the past month, we have focused on analysis and discussion of the organizational structures of peer institutions, and on identifying the other kinds of data that we …

Project timeline
CALS Organizational Redesign Committee begins work
Dean VandenBosch charged the CALS Organizational Redesign Committee to: evaluate trends, data and peer institutions (including identifying comparative advantages for CALS at UW-Madison); analyze key functions to invest in because of comparative advantage and/or strength; prioritize what needs to be …
College announces organizational redesign project
At Friday’s all-college meeting, Dean Kate VandenBosch and Senior Associate Dean Dick Straub announced the CALS Organizational Redesign Project that will officially launch in January, 2017 with recommendations expected to be complete and delivered to the CALS Academic Planning Council …
Committee members invited
The following people were selected as a result of those nominations. Invitations were sent in early December and all agreed to serve on the committee: Brian Fox (professor and chair, biochemistry) Paul Fricke (professor, dairy science) Irwin Goldman (professor and …

All-College Meeting: Designing CALS for the Future – Dec. 9
The theme of the upcoming All-College Meeting on Dec. 9 is “Designing CALS for the Future.” This event gives you, as a member of the CALS community, an opportunity to share your thoughts regarding trends in agricultural and life sciences …
Request for committee nominations
In November, 2016, co-sponsors of the CALS Organizational Redesign project, Dean Kate VandenBosch and Senior Associate Dean Dick Straub asked department chairs to nominate up to three people to serve on the CALS Organizational Redesign Committee, also welcoming self-nominations. The co-sponsors wanted …