A February 5 editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel argued for increased flexibility for the University of Wisconsin System:
The universities should have more room to set their own tuition, more room to do their own purchasing, more room to make their own travel plans and more room to develop and execute their own building projects. In the past, Gov. Scott Walker has supported such reform; we urge him and the Department of Administration to do so now.
The paper noted that UW-Madison Interim Chancellor David Ward and UW-Milwaukee Chancellor Mike Lovell will address the Special Task Force on UW Restructuring and Operational Flexibilities tomorrow (Wednesday, February 8). The legislative task force has been meeting monthly to discuss increased flexibilties for UW System and is expected to issue its recommendations this summer.
The paper went on to support a proposal offered by the faculty at UW-Milwaukee. In a letter to the task force last month, the University Committee at UW-Milwaukee recommended a separate governing board for its campus. The proposed board would work with the Board of Regents and oversee the implementation of new flexibilities in the areas of compensation, purchasing, resource allocation, and tuition.