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Telfer confirmed as UW-W chancellor

The UW System Board of Regents confirmed the appointment of Richard Telfer as the 15th UW-Whitewater chancellor Thursday at its June meeting in Milwaukee.

Telfer, who has a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from UW-Madison, started at the university 23 years ago as an instructor in the College of Education before moving up the administrative ladder to interim chancellor last year.

“I’m very pleased that President Reilly and the Board of Regents have confidence in me,” Telfer said Friday morning.

“We’ve done a lot of positive things in the past year, and we hope to continue those,” he said, citing the university’s strategic plan and a proposed growth agenda for 2009.

Telfer replaced the university’s first woman chancellor, Martha Saunders, who took a position at the University of Southern Mississippi last spring.

A campus committee made up of faculty, students and community members began the search process, and UW System President Kevin Reilly interviewed the five candidates, including Telfer, on May 7.

System spokesperson David Giroux said Reilly found Telfer to be unique from other candidates because his entire career had been spent at UW-Whitewater.

“He has a great sense of community and very strong support from members of the public,” Giroux said.

The board made the confirmation decision unanimously in closed session, Giroux said.

Giroux said Regent Danae Davis made the observation that having a candidate internal to the UW System emerge from a strong national pool speaks highly of the talent on UW campuses.

Telfer was the first UW official to issue a statement Tuesday about how UW schools are able to help in the wake of the closing of the General Motors plant in Janesville, Giroux said.

“That’s evidence of what you get when you have someone who knows the lay of the land and has a pulse on the community,” he said. “There’s no learning curve with (Telfer).”

The System also confirmed chancellors for UW-Madison and UW-Parkside, Giroux said. There are two more chancellor vacancies in the UW System, which should be filled by the end of the calendar year, he added.