Martin admits plan to split Madison campus from rest played a factor in her departure

• University of Wisconsin-Madison

University of Wisconsin-Madison

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MADISON - The outgoing chancellor at UW-Madison says she could have stayed longer, if it wasn’t for her failed plan to split the campus from the rest of the university system.

Biddy Martin tells WISC TV that the political turmoil from the issue would have made it hard for her to continue. She’s leaving this month to become the next president of Amherst College in Massachusetts. The move comes after the state Legislature refused to accept her plan for the Madison campus to be run by its own 11-member board, with the power to set its own tuition and make its own policies.

Martin said she does not regret her failure to fully tell UW System President Kevin Reilly and the Board of Regents about the changes, until after her memos to the Walker administration were leaked out. She said it was the only way to move forward and produce major changes. But Martin admits the strategy made her job of leading the Madison campus more challenging. Governor Scott Walker had asked lawmakers to approve the split of the Madison campus as part of the new state budget. Lawmakers did agree to give all UW campuses a little more autonomy – but Walker says the Madison split is still a good idea, and he’ll keep pushing for it.

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