Category: UW System

June Regent Meeting

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uw system logoThe University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents will meet at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Thursday and Friday, June 4 and 5. Livestream coverage is available here.

The board meets in committee Thursday morning, while the full board meets Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. All meetings will be held in the UW-Milwaukee student union, 2200 East Kenwood Boulevard.

The Audit Committee will review and approve an audit plan, discuss the new waste, fraud and abuse hotline, and hear a report from the Chief Audit Executive.

The Research, Economic Development, and Innovation Committee will hear updates on UW-Milwaukee’s outreach and economic development efforts and Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation trade missions. The committee will also participate in a panel discussion on the state’s angel and venture capitalists and funding university startups.

The Capital Planning and Budget Committee will discuss proposed building projects and hear updates on the State Building Commission action and and 2015-17 capital budget. PROFS lobbied hard for the Chemistry Building Project and is pleased the Joint Finance Committee approved bonding for the project.

The Education Committee will approve several new degree programs, hear a presentation on M3, a Milwaukee student success initiative, and hear an update from a UW System vice president. A resolution on tenure is also on the agenda, but without supporting documentation.

The Business and Finance Committee will discuss several contractual agreements, review policies related to UW-Madison’s Human Resources Design program, and consider changes to chancellor and senior administrator search and screen procedures.

PROFS is very concerned about the proposed changes and offered this statement to members of the Board of Regents.

Thursday afternoon, the full board will discuss the 2015-17 biennial budget, hear presentations from host UW-Milwaukee, and recognize outgoing Regent President Michael Falbo and retiring UW-Whitewater Chancellor Richard Telfer.

On Friday, UW System President Ray Cross will address the board and provide an update on recent events. The board will also hear committee reports and approve action.

New Regents

Governor Scott Walker recently appointed three new members to the board. Michael M. Grebe and Drew Peterson replace outgoing members Michael Falbo and David Walsh, and will serve seven-year terms. UW-Whitewater student James Langnes III replaces UW-L Crosse student Anicka Purath as the traditional student regent and will serve a two-year term. The appointments are subject to Wisconsin State Senate confirmation.

Michael Grebe Grebe is executive vice president and general counsel for HUSCO International, a global manufacturing company in Waukesha. He graduated Dartmouth College and the University of Wisconsin Law School. He was previously a partner at the law firm Quarles and Brady.

Drew Peterson Peterson is vice president of external affairs and corporate communications for TDS Telecommunications Corporation in Madison. He graduated from Ripon College and earned an MBA from UW-Madison. He served on the board as representative of the Wisconsin Technical College System Board for the past two years and continues with a regular appointment.

James Langnes III Langnes, a UW-Whitewater student majoring in finance, will serve as the traditional student regent. Langnes was recently appointed to fill a vacancy on the Whitewater Common Council. He is originally from Lake Geneva.

 

 

Joint Finance to Discuss UW System Friday, May 29

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Joint Finance Committee Hearing RoomThe Joint Finance Committee is scheduled to meet at 10 am tomorrow, Friday, May 29 in Room 412 East in the State Capitol.

Livestream coverage is available on WisconsinEye. Links to Legislative Fiscal Bureau budget papers are here.

First on the agenda is the University of Wisconsin System. The committee must decide if they will adopt Governor Scott Walker’s proposal to slash UW System funding by $300 million over the biennium. Legislative leaders have already said they oppose transforming UW System into a public authority.

Other UW System items on the agenda:

The committee will also discuss the Departments of Natural Resources, Transportation and Revenue and consider changes to sales and income taxes. Funding for the Milwaukee Bucks arena in Milwaukee rounds out the agenda.

PROFS is carefully monitoring the UW System budget discussion and continues to lobby members of the Joint Finance Committee for the best possible budget for the university and its faculty.

Follow PROFS on Twitter and Facebook for the latest information.

 

Legislative Fiscal Bureau UW System Budget Papers

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The Joint Finance Committee is scheduled to vote on motions relating to the University of Wisconsin System this week. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau has prepared budget papers with possible alternatives to those offered by Governor Scott Walker in his budget proposal:

The committee may decide to forego individual motions and instead vote on a single omnibus motion, as it did with K-12 last week.

Joint Finance Committee to meet Tuesday and Thursday

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Joint Finance Committee Hearing RoomThe Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee will meet Tuesday and Thursday this week in Room 412 East in the State Capitol. Livestream coverage is available on WisconsinEye.

Executive action will be taken on the following topics:

Tuesday

  • Higher Educational Aids Board
  • Educational Communications Board
  • Office of State Employment Relations
  • Department of Health Services — Institutions and Mental Health
  • Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
  • Environmental Improvement Fund

Thursday

  • Department of Administration — Hearings and Appeals
  • Department of Administration — Information Technology
  • Investment Board
  • Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board
  • Department of Children and Families — Departmentwide
  • Department of Children and Families — Children and Families
  • Department of Children and Families — Economic Support and Child Care
  • Department of Children and Families — Child Support
  • Shared Revenue and Tax Relief — Direct Aid Payments
  • Shared Revenue and Tax Relief — Property Taxation
  • Shared Revenue and Tax Relief — Property Tax Credits
  • Shared Revenue and Tax Relief — Local Revenue Options

Legislative leaders said recently they do not expect to consider motions relating to the University of Wisconsin System until the last week of May. PROFS continues to meet with legislators to advocate for the best possible budget for UW-Madison and its faculty.

Legislative Update

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Capitol_tulips94_10State Budget Update

The 2015-17 biennial budget process continues. The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee began meeting in executive session last month, but has yet to consider motions relating to the University of Wisconsin System.

Committee leaders have said they would like to conclude its work by the end of May, with the budget bill then moving to Senate and Assembly for their consideration. The entire process is expected to conclude in late June.

Public authority out of budget  Representative John Nygren (R-Marinette) and Senator Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) announced today that the public authority plan for the University of Wisconsin System was dead and the committee would instead consider granting the university greater budget and management flexibilities.

Meetings with legislators  PROFS continues to meet with key legislators and lobby on behalf of faculty, focusing on senate resolutions on state budget cuts and shared governance and funding for the Chemistry Building project. Members of the PROFS steering committee have met with more than a dozen legislators and staff since the beginning of the year.

Size of budget cuts While some legislative leaders have expressed a desire to lessen the size of the cut to UW System, both Governor Scott Walker and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) said revenue estimates expected later this week are likely to be lower than hoped and the first priority is K-12 education.

Fitzgerald also said he had less of a commitment to decrease the cut after the Board of Regents approved tuition increases on out-of-state and professional students earlier this month. Despite the unpopularity of the proposed cut — one poll found seventy percent of the state opposed — Fitzgerald said some legislators still have a “bitter taste in their mouths” after the budget surplus issue of the last biennium.

Tuition Freeze Governor Walker said in his budget errata message last month he intends to limit tuition increases to no more than the annual change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) after a two-year freeze. UW System President Ray Cross said tying tuition increases to CPI “is not compatible with the agile, market-driven, and competitive entity the state needs us to be.”

Many higher education experts believe the plan to be unworkable: “Because the costs associated with running universities naturally exceed the costs of basic goods and services as represented in the CPI, limiting tuition increases to increases in the CPI is the wrong yard stick to use and is also very likely to reduce the ability of Wisconsin universities to offer the same quality as they have in the past,” said Professor Michael McLendon of Southern Methodist University.

Board of Regents

The UW System Board of Regents does not have a May meeting scheduled, but will meet in Milwaukee on June 4 and 5. Governor Scott Walker is expected to name three new regents this month as Regent President Michael Falbo, Regent David Walsh and traditional student Regent Anicka Purath complete their terms.

Three UW-Madison faculty members will serve on Regent task forces on shared governance and tenure – Biomedical Engineering Professor Beth Meyerand is a member of the shared governance task force, while Kinesiology Professor Dorothy Farrar-Edwards and Plant Pathology Professor Patricia McManus will serve on the tenure task force.