Faculty Defect From Texas Publics, Citing Censorship Fed up with the state’s censoring of Plato, Joan of Arc and Romeo and Juliet, humanities professors are leaving Texas public institutions in pursuit of academic freedom.

Faculty at Texas's public universities are leaving for jobs in other states following new rules on what topics are allowed to be taught in the classroom. Many faculty leaving are in the humanities and say students are "deeply upset" and "freaking out" and will suffer the most under the new policies.

UW Regents tell lawmakers about dissatisfaction with president they fired • Wisconsin Examiner Regent President Amy Bogost and Regent Timothy Nixon said President Jay Rothman had been told about the changes the regents wanted to see.

ICYMI: Regent President Amy Bogost and Regent Tim Nixon testified at a Senate committee hearing last week. Republicans on the committee expressed concern over the Regents' decision to fire UW System President Jay Rothman and demanded more transparency. The two Regents stood by their decision.

Meet the 2026 Academic Staff Excellence Award winners "This year’s recipients represent the full breadth of academic staff excellence" and embody the Wisconsin Idea, says Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin.

Congratulations to the ten UW-Madison employee recipients of the 2026 Academic Staff Award: Donna Cole, Paolo Desiati, Lisa Jansen, Stephen Jordan, Baoli Liu, Joseph Nosek, Katy Oksuita, Joe Savard, Anna Tumarkin, and Tianlu Zhang.

University of Wisconsin–Madison Ranked #1 on Peace Corps’ 2026 Top Volunteer-Producing Colleges and Universities

UW-Madison tops the 2026 list of large colleges and universities producing Peace Corps volunteers. UW-Madison has produced the second-most Peace Corps volunteers since the organization was created more than 65 years ago. international.wisc.edu/university-o...

Fired Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman tells AP he was 'blindsided' by his ouster Fired Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman tells The Associated Press in his first interview since the ouster that he was “blindsided” by the move but has no hard feelings and is unlikely t...

Former UW System President Jay Rothman tells AP that he was "blindsided" by his firing but is unlikely to file a lawsuit related to the firing. He also said that the 18-member board needs to build consensus and provide clear direction.

University of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman has been fired. Board vote was unanimous. Story to come.

UW Board of Regents to consider firing President Jay Rothman at Tuesday meeting The Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents will meet Tuesday to discuss whether to fire Jay Rothman from his job as president of the the university system.

The UW System Board of Regents will meet tomorrow to consider firing President Jay Rothman. Last week, Rothman said he had been asked to resign or be fired but would not step down. Today, Regent President Amy Bogost said that Regents have been discussing Rothman's future in "good faith" for months.

Inside the ‘minefield’ of Indiana’s intellectual diversity law The measure aims to promote diverse viewpoints in classrooms. But some experts say it's part of a troubling trend to restrict certain speech in classrooms.

Higher Ed Dive takes a look at Indiana's controversial law that requires the state's public colleges and universities to expose students to diverse viewpoints. The law, in effect for less than two years, allows students and staff to report faculty and instructors they believe are violating the law.

National survey of NIH-funded researchers shows precarious state of U.S. science — ‘This is like the Titanic’ A nationwide STAT survey of NIH-funded researchers reveals that, a year after Donald Trump's return to the White House, many scientists are reeling

STAT on one year after Trump's cuts to federally-funded research: "Rather than waning, the impacts of the administration’s seismic changes to science funding are intensifying, causing researchers to drastically scale back the ambition of their work and driving some to shut down their labs entirely."

Evers vetoes GOP efforts to limit rulemaking, prohibit rights of nature ordinances • Wisconsin Examiner Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoed Republican bills Friday that would have limited state agencies’ rulemaking abilities.

Last week, Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a pair of bills that PROFS opposed: SB 498, a bill that would purported to protect free speech and academic freedom on campus, and SB 652, a bill that would have eliminated race-based programs offered at the state's public colleges and universities.

Meet the 2026 Distinguished Teaching Award winners The thirteen faculty members named as this year’s honorees will be recognized at a ceremony in April.

Congrats to the 13 UW-Madison faculty members chosen to receive a Distinguished Teaching Award: Brandon Bloch, Christy Clark-Pujara, Colleen Conroy, C. Shawn Green, Tiffany Green, Raquel Kennon, LB Klein, Melissa Kono, Jonathan Martin, Kevin Mullen, Sam Pazicni, Sean Schoville and Łukasz Wodzyński.

Iowa House OKs Bills Affecting Public University Curricula The Republican-controlled Iowa House passed three bills last week that would order curricular and other changes at the state’s three public universities: the University of Iowa, Iowa State University ...

The Iowa House passed 3 bills affecting the state's public universities.Two bills relate to general education requirements and eliminates any requirements that might include DEI or CRT. The third bill limits presidential search committees to 5 voting board members who can keep searches secret.

Two US states warned suspension of new tech visas for universities will hurt science Move by Florida and Texas could be 'devastating' for research and other sectors experts warn amid concerns bans could spread

After Texas & Florida temporarily banned universities from hiring H1B visa holders, think tank warns other states may follow, with harmful consequences: "Recruiting to fill these faculty positions with top scientists is already challenging without arbitrary restrictions like these new H-1B pauses."

Ohio State Quickly Finds a President The flagship skipped a national search and tapped an insider, Ravi Bellamkonda, to be its next permanent president less than a week after his predecessor resigned.

Ohio State sidestepped shared governance and a traditional presidential search process after the Board of Trustees named Provost Ravi Bellamkonda to be OSU's next president. President Ted Carter resigned over an "inappropriate relationship" with someone seeking public funding for her business.

The Big Ten’s Revolving Door Eight of the 18 presidents or chancellors at Big Ten institutions have left their positions since early 2025, with a ninth planning to step down for another job later this year.

When Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin steps down in May, she will be the 9th Big Ten president or chancellor to leave their position since early last year, and the longest serving leader has been in their job for fewer than 6 years. What are some of the factors that have led to such dramatic turnover?

UW-Madison lukewarm on 3-year degrees despite UW system’s blessing Wisconsin’s public universities can now develop reduced-credit bachelor’s degree programs, potentially saving students time and thousands of dollars.

Regents recently made revisions to a policy on academic programs, opening the door for individual institutions to offer a 3-year bachelor's degree. UW-Madison has not discussed the option and Interim Provost John Zumbrunnen said he doesn't anticipate the widespread offering of a 3-year degree soon.

Indiana Governor Signs Bill to End Low-Earning Degrees Indiana’s governor has signed into law a bill that aims to eliminate all academic programs at the state’s public universities and at Ivy Tech Community College that fail a new federal earnings test.

Indiana Governor Mike Braun signs legislation that would require the state's public universities and Ivy Technical College to eliminate any degree program that cannot show that graduates in those programs earn more than average salary of an Indiana high school graduate.

UW-Madison picks interim provost as permanent second-in-command The selection of John Zumbrunnen, the only internal finalist, provides some stability during a period of transition as Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin departs this spring.

The selection of John Zumbrunnen, the only internal finalist, provides some stability during a period of transition as Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin departs this spring.

University of Iowa seeks to cut 7 degrees The proposed eliminations follow a mandated review that flagged undergraduate majors and master’s degrees deemed to have low enrollment.

The University of Iowa has identified 7 degree programs for elimination and will seek approval from the Regents to do so next month. Programs slated to be cut: bachelor's and master's degrees in African American studies and bachelor's degrees in women's studies, three languages and applied physics.

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Most Conservative Students Don’t Feel Persecuted on Campus A new survey of college students contradicts Republican rhetoric that campus culture is hostile to right-wing views.

Counter to partisan talking points, a Gallup/Lumina survey finds a majority of college students feel comfortable expressing themselves on campus and that faculty create a classroom environment that supports both students with unpopular opinions and those students who might be upset by such views.

UW-Madison's La Follette School moving to new home after $57M upgrades Built in 1880 on Bascom Hill, historic Music Hall is set to become Herb Kohl Hall. The university received a $30 million gift for the construction project.

UW-Madison's La Follette School of Public Affairs announced a $30 million gift from Herb Kohl Philanthropies: $20 million for renovations to Music Hall, the School's new home, and $10 million for programming. Music Hall will be renamed Herb Kohl Hall following renovations.

UW-Madison faculty concerned new teaching requirements will limit research capacity, reduce staff autonomy Wisconsin Act 15 mandates University of Wisconsin-Madison professors teach a minimum of 12 credit hours each year beginning in September.

UW-Madison Education Professor Taylor Odle tells the Daily Cardinal that UW System's new mandatory teaching load policy for faculty and staff was a condition of rushed budget negotiations and that "good public policy is not made with last minute concessions behind closed doors."

Professors Are Being Watched: ‘We’ve Never Seen This Much Surveillance’

New laws and university policies in several states has left some professors feeling the chill of censorship or self-censorship. Ohio, Florida and Indiana require faculty to post syllabi in searchable databases, and North Carolina will do the same in the fall.

UW-Madison saw 17 percent cut to federal research funds in Trump's first year The University of Wisconsin-Madison saw a 17 percent decrease in federal research funding since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, according to outgoing Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin.

ICYMI: UW-Madison sees a 17 percent cut in federal research funds in 2025. Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin to members of the Board of Regents: "This decline also has a double whammy aspect: (375) fewer newly funded grants, plus a number of existing grants (145 grants) that were terminated midstream."

UW-Madison lost $27 million to federal research cuts, Jennifer Mnookin says UW-Madison saw an overall 17% decline in federal research funding last year, and new awards were down 30%, Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin told the UW Board of Regents.

Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin tells the Board of Regents that UW-Madison lost $27 million due to federal research cancellations or stop work orders in 2025. Overall research funding fell 17 percent, and there was a 30 percent drop in new research awards.

Vote on UW Missing-In-Action project funding bill delayed; GOP cites partial veto concerns • Wisconsin Examiner An Assembly committee put off a vote Wednesday due to concerns by GOP lawmakers that Evers would use his partial veto on the bill.

An Assembly committee put off a scheduled vote on a PROFS-supported bill that would fund UW's MIA Recovery & Identification Project. The Republican chair said the bill was removed due to concerns about Gov. Evers using his veto power in the "extreme" on bills with funding attached.

TIME ranks UW-Madison among top 20 universities in the world The rankings are based on the resources a university devotes to teaching and research, academic performance, innovation and economic impact, and global engagement.

TIME ranks UW-Madison second-best public university in the United States and 20th best among public and private institutions worldwide. The University of Michigan ranked number one among US public universities.

UW-Madison Chancellor says her role prepared her for Columbia University job Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said her experience leading UW-Madison during a "complex time," which included encampments, DEI and federal funding cuts, prepared her to head the Ivy League university.

PROFS President Michael Bernard-Donals says the hiring of a new chancellor may cause some faculty to feel uneasy: "Sometimes there’s continuity with the prior leaders’ initiatives, but sometimes there isn’t. And so, we start up again with a different set of priorities, and that causes some unease."

Is Columbia’s New President Up to the Task? Jennifer Mnookin, chancellor of UW-Madison, will be the Ivy League institution’s fourth leader in less than four years.

The Chronicle asks if UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin is up to the task of leading Columbia following campus protests in 2023 and and federal investigations in 2025. Faculty members from UW-Madison and UCLA and former Columbia president Lee Bollinger say she is the right person for the job.