The Faculty Senate will will consider a resolution on declining state budget support for higher education in Wisconsin when it meets on Monday, December 5. The Senate passed a resolution in support of funding for higher education at the November meeting, and some senators expressed desire to offer a stronger resolution. The new resolution recognizes the impact of budget cuts over the past decade and offers examples of adverse impacts, past and future, if the fiscal crisis of the university is not addressed.
The resolution reads, in part:
. . . the Faculty Senate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison calls on the governor, state legislators, business leaders, university administrators, and other civil society organizations to cooperate in the forging of a new social compact that reinvigorates the shared public-private financial and organizational commitment to sustaining top quality higher education institutions in Wisconsin. This shared commitment is essential to the future vitality of the state’s economy . . .
. . . The faculty Senate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison hereby pledges to do its part to develop local innovations in financing and organization that contribute to the compact, but that it must a shared public and private effort, one where the state commits to providing the financial support and/or flexibility to make such a compact work. This effort must build on Wisconsin’s ideals of cooperation, hard work, and open, transparent, and democratic processes.
The Senate meets at 3:30 pm in Room 272 Bascom Hall. The agenda for the meeting, including links to meeting documents, is available here.