Category: UW

Chancellor Blank: Public Research Universities are Centers of American Innovation and Education

by Michelle Felber • April 21, 2015 • Comments Off

Chancellor Rebecca Blank offers her view on public research universities and their role in Tuesday’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Blank writes that top public research universities like the University of Wisconsin-Madison play an important role in keeping the United States at the forefront of the global economy by educating the majority of skilled workers. At the same time, public research universities conduct basic research that is essential to future innovations:

“The importance of research universities in educating top scientists, engineers and doctors is well understood. But the second part of our mission is equally important and often forgotten or misconstrued. Those who criticize our faculty for not teaching enough fail to recognize that teaching is only half their work.

At a research university, faculty are expected to actively engage in producing and publishing research results. And most faculty are expected to raise the money needed to support their work by writing proposals to federal agencies, foundations and private industry.”

Blank acknowledges that funding for research has slowed in recent years, with potentially devastating consequences as other nations increase their research funding.

“This nation’s public research universities are centers of American innovation and education. Maintaining these institutions and maintaining strong federal funding for their research on big, complex and important problems is critical to keeping this nation competitive in today’s global economy.”

The full article is here.

PolitiFact on UW-Madison Faculty Research Dollars

by Michelle Felber • March 24, 2015 • Comments Off

PolitiFact Wisconsin recently examined Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca’s statement that the average UW-Madison faculty member brings in almost $250,000 in grant money each year. Barca made the statement in an interview with WisconsinEye on March 12, saying Governor Scott Walker’s proposed $300 million budget cut to UW System could harm faculty research on campus.

PolitiFact found Barca’s statement to be “mostly true.” UW-Madison’s Data Digest shows that in 2012-13, 59 percent of faculty brought in more than $525 million in external grants, which averages $242,000 per faculty member.

March 25 State Budget Forum

by Michelle Felber • March 20, 2015 • Comments Off

PROFS will host a forum to discuss the 2015-17 state budget at 3:30 pm on Wednesday, March 25 in the Wisconsin Idea Room in the Education Building, 1000 Bascom Mall. This event is free and open to the public.

State Representative Chris Taylor (D-Madison), former Department of Administration (Thompson and McCallum) Secretary George Lightbourn, and Associate Vice Chancellor for Government and Corporate Affairs Charles Hoslet will share their expertise and take questions.

Questions at the forum include:

What is the likelihood public authority will remain in the budget?
What flexibilities can the university expect if public authority is removed?
Will the $300 million budget cut be reduced? If so, by how much?
How will tenure and shared governance look in Board of Regent policy?
What is the timeline for the budget and how can the budget change?

Legislative Fiscal Bureau budget papers can be found here once they are published.

Nygren and Knudson Announce New Plan for UW System

by Michelle Felber • March 18, 2015 • Comments Off

Representatives John Nygren (R-Marinette) and Dean Knudson (R-Hudson), co-chair and member of the Joint Finance Committee, respectively, announced they will recommend changes to Governor Scott Walker’s budget plan for UW System (below).

The legislators said they will work to reduce the $300 million cut proposed by the governor, but will not support full public authority for the system, saying the university indicated it was not interested in significant change:

“(I)t is clear from their response that the Regents, Chancellors and university administrators are not ready for this level of independence. We believe the legislature must maintain control and supervision over the university system.”

Nygren and Knudson also support tuition increases for graduate and out-of-state students while continuing to freeze tuition for two more years. They also want campuses to spend down reserves.

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Vos: Budget Cut is Deeper Than What I Would Have Done; Legislature Could Change Tenure

by Michelle Felber • March 13, 2015 • Comments Off

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) told WisconsinEye senior producer Steve Walters he believed Governor Scott Walker’s proposed $300 million cut to the University of Wisconsin System budget was too large and he would support a smaller cut if state revenues allow.

Vos, appearing with Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) on Civil Dialogue, also said he does not support full public authority status for the system. The full video is embedded below. Remarks about the UW System begin at the 13 minute mark and continue for about 7 minutes.

Vos said Board of Regent action last week suggests the Regents are unlikely to implement major changes to tenure and “all these different things,” making full public authority unnecessary. He questioned the need for public authority if the board is going to protect the status quo and fears a large tuition increase would be the outcome of public authority.

Instead, Vos said he supports specific management flexibilities in procurement and building projects. Vos later told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the legislature has the ability to end tenure and shared governance.

Barca told Walters the budget proposal would devastate the UW System and would result in increased time to degree for students and the loss of faculty members to other universities. Barca also noted the average UW-Madison faculty member brings in an average of $250,000 in outside funding which would also be lost.

With regard to flexibility, Barca said he supports flexibility, but increased autonomy would make up only a small percentage of the budget cuts.

AAUP Statement on Proposed UW System Public Authority Plan

by Michelle Felber • March 12, 2015 • Comments Off

American Association of University Professors President Rudy Fichtenbaum released a statement (below) yesterday calling for the University of Wisconsin System administration to oppose the proposal to transform UW System from a state agency into a public authority.

Fichtenbaum says the proposal could profoundly undermine tenure, due process, and shared governance. In particular, he is concerned about the statutory removal of these faculty rights.

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On Point with Tom Ashbrook: Testing The ‘Wisconsin Idea’ Of Public Higher Education

by Michelle Felber • February 19, 2015 • Comments Off

Today’s first hour of On Point, a National Public Radio radio talk show hosted by Tom Ashbrook, featured a discussion of the Wisconsin Idea, Governor Scott Walker’s proposed budget cuts for the University of Wisconsin System, and how they relate to the the governor’s national political ambitions. Audio is below.

University of Wisconsin-Madison history professor John Sharpless and academic staff member Noel Radomski, director of WISCAPE, were joined on the panel by two members of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel staff — higher education reporter Karen Herzog and columnist/blogger Christian Schneider.

Regent President Michael Falbo on Increasing Faculty Workload

by Michelle Felber • February 10, 2015 • Comments Off

Michael Falbo

Michael Falbo, President of the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents, recently spoke with WisconsinEye senior producer Steve Walters. A two minute video excerpt is below.

The pair discussed Governor Scott Walker’s budget proposal, including the governor’s recent remark that the university’s budget situation could be improved if faculty taught one additional class each semester.

When asked to react to the governor’s remark, Falbo said, “certainly it’s true if they (faculty) taught another class there would be some efficiencies from that.” Falbo went on to say any changes to faculty workload would not happen quickly and would be the result of a collaborative process with all involved.

The full 18 minute video interview is here:

UW System President Ray Cross: Proposed Cuts Would Seriously Damage System

by Michelle Felber • February 9, 2015 • Comments Off

University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross appeared on UpFront with Mike Gousha Sunday, February 8. Video is below.

Cross told Gousha that the $300 million proposed cut could seriously damage System campuses, citing recruitment and retention of faculty at UW-Madison a large concern.

UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank told the Board of Regents last week that two high-profile candidates withdrew their names from consideration for faculty positions recently, each citing state budget turmoil as a factor. Cross said these examples are very troubling.

Cross believes that a $300 million cut is not inevitable and said that he, along with the Board of Regents, will work in the coming weeks to convince legislators to lessen the cuts.

Chancellor Blank to Board of Regents: These Cuts are Too Large

by Michelle Felber • February 6, 2015 • Comments Off

University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank addressed the UW System Board of Regents yesterday, first touting the accomplishments of the university, but ultimately sharing her fear that proposed budget cuts could seriously harm the institution.

UW-Madison faces a $91 million budget shortfall in the coming fiscal year:

$23 million continuing cut from 2013
$57 million proposed cut (UW-Madison’s historic share of UW System total)
$3.5 million loss due to elimination of state funding for the Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative
$2.5 million loss due to the elimination of municipal service payments by the state
$5 million set aside for faculty retention

The chancellor likened the cut to 650 faculty positions or 1,083 staff positions. That amount would also fund five of the university’s smaller colleges — Business, Law, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Veterinary Medicine.

Blank told regents that raising tuition at the professional schools and out-of-state students could bring in $18.5 million per year. Raising the cap on out-of-state students from 27.5 percent to 30 percent would add almost $19 million a year. Even with these additional revenue streams, less than half of the anticipated funding gap would be filled, resulting in major cuts to faculty and staff as well as student support services.

Blank is especially concerned that faculty at UW-Madison will be an easy target for recruitment by other top universities. Faculty salaries lag behind peers, and the median salary offer by a competitor last year was 42% higher than the UW-Madison salary. The chancellor told the regents the current budget situation has caused the university to lose three potential hires in the past week, including one nationally known researcher.

Blank closed her remarks with the following:

“Never has higher education been more important to the young people around the state. These cuts are too large. They are too large for the state. They are too large for the university.”

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