Tag: UW System

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UW Business Partnerships Could Help State’s Economy

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The editorial board of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel lauds Chancellor Rebecca Blank for her efforts to foster collaboration between UW-Madison and industry in an effort to improve the state’s economy.

“UW prepares thousands of young people each year for a world that is changing before their very eyes as global competition forces U.S. companies to be smarter and leaner. Those are major challenges for a state such as Wisconsin, which is still so dependent on manufacturing and old-line industries. Good for Blank for recognizing the central role UW can play.

Chancellor Rebecca Blank visited the Milwaukee area last week, speaking to the Wisconsin Innovation Network about the role research plays in driving economic growth, visiting longtime research partner GE Medical, and touring UW-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences

The full editorial is here.

Regents to Discuss UW System Budget Proposal

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uw system logoThe University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents is meeting at UW-Oshkosh today and tomorrow, August 21 and 22. Livestream coverage of the full board meeting is here.

Regents committees will meet Thursday morning, while the full board will meet Thursday afternoon and Friday.

The board will consider UW System’s state budget request Thursday afternoon. The proposal includes $95.2 million for the “Talent Development Initiative,” the implementation of new performance measures, and statutory language changes related to compensation, including the ability to offer merit pay increases.

The budget request notes that Governor Scott Walker directed state agencies, including UW System, to submit proposals that assumed no new funding, but UW System discussed its intention to request an budget increase with members of Governor Walker’s staff.

Budget request highlights:

  • $30 million for a competitive grant program targeting six areas critical to the state’s economy: agriculture, finance, insurance/real estate, healthcare, manufacturing, transportation, and water research.
  • $27.3 to cover a pay plan funding gap. Historically, UW System funds about 30 percent of a pay plan increase with tuition dollars. The two-year tuition freeze has led to a funding gap, with many campuses holding insufficient reserves to cover the pay plan. 
  • $24.4 million to increase the number of college graduates statewide, with much of the funding directed to the Course Options program, a program that allows high school students to earn college credits. Additional funding would expand the Flex Option degree program, improve the credit transfer system, and assist working and first-generation college students.
  • $22.5 million in one-time funding to assist with the creation of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) jobs. The money will be available to individual campuses through a competitive grant process.

UW System also plans to implement several accountability measures:

  • To meet or exceed the current goal of 80,000 undergraduate degrees conferred by 2025-26
  • To enroll at least 32 percent of Wisconsin high school graduates immediately after graduation
  • To meet or exceed the current plan to improve second-year return rate
  • To meet or exceed the current plan to improve the six-year graduation rate.

 

August 2014 UW System Board of Regents Budget Request

State Supreme Court to Rule on Voter ID, Act 10 and Domestic Partnership Registration Thursday

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court will issue opinions on three extremely high profile cases tomorrow morning, Thursday, July 31:

Act 10  The court will rule on the constitutionality of Act 10, a law that severely restricted collective bargaining by most public employees. Several lawsuits followed passage of the bill, but the law has been upheld every time, including in federal court. The state court is considering whether Act 10 violates workers’ rights to free assembly and equal protection under the law.

Voter ID  The court will consider two cases that argue the state’s voter identification law is unconstitutional. One lower court struck down the law, while another has upheld it. Tomorrow’s ruling will not affect an earlier federal ruling that found the law unconstitutional and is being appealed.

Domestic Partnerships  The court will rule whether or not the state’s domestic partner benefits passed in 2009 violate Wisconsin’s constitutional ban on gay marriage and civil unions passed three years earlier.

 

June Board of Regents Meeting

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uw system logoThe University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents is meeting at UW-Milwaukee today and tomorrow, June 5 and 6. The regents will meet in committee Thursday morning and in full Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. Video and audio stream of the full meetings is available here.

Four new regents are participating in their first meeting — José Delgado, Eve Hall, UW-Madison student Nicolas Harsy, and UW-La Crosse student Anicka Purath.

The board will discuss the 2014-15 annual budget and begin discussion on the 2015-17 biennial budget process. UW System President Ray Cross told the Wisconsin State Journal he expects the current tuition freeze to continue into the 2015-17 biennium. Governor Scott Walker recently expressed support for a continued tuition freeze.

Chancellor Rebecca Blank has repeatedly said she would like to raise professional school tuition to levels similar to peer institutions, but Cross said the timing is not right for such an increase and tuition will be frozen for all undergraduate and graduate students, regardless of residency.

The board will also discuss plans to spend down financial reserves. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports the current budget will spend down about 15 percent of the reserves, much of it coming from tuition reserves. UW System will carryover about $61 million in unspent tuition in 2014-15, down from $151 million one year ago.

 

Joint Committee on Finance to Discuss UW System Plan on Cash Balances

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Joint Finance Committee Hearing RoomThe legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance will meet at noon tomorrow, Tuesday, May 6, to vote on more than a dozen requests for approval, including UW System’s plan for auxiliary reserves. The Joint Audit Committee approved a revised plan last month. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau analysis of the plan is here.

The committee will be asked to consider how the university accounts for federal indirect cost reimbursement. UW-Madison maintains a significant balance of those funds, which are not subject to a reporting threshold under the proposed guidelines.

The committee will meet in Room 412 East of the State Capitol. Audio and video coverage will be available on WisconsinEye.

Edited to reflect change in meeting time from 11 am to noon.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Additional Two-Year Tuition Freeze

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The editorial board of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel offered its opinion on Governor Walker’s proposal to extend the current tuition freeze for two additional years. University of Wisconsin System campuses are currently in the first year of a two-year tuition freeze implemented as part of the 2013-15 biennial budget.

The editorial notes that continuing the freeze will be popular with students and their families, but seems opportunistic in an election year. The freeze also raises important questions about how the state intends to fund UW System in the future:

Wisconsin students deserve affordability, but they also deserve a quality education — the kind of education the system has provided throughout its history. And a quality system requires quality faculty, staff and research facilities. Which, in turn, means paying competitive salaries and providing adequate funding for those facilities.

UW System President Ray Cross told the Journal Sentinel last week that he thought an additional one-year tuition freeze might be possible given current financial reserves, but a two-year freeze was unexpected. The editorial concludes that a one-year freeze with greater management flexibilities might have made more sense:

That strikes us as the more prudent option, unless the state is willing to come up with additional funding for the university to maintain affordability and quality for students. What the universities need is greater flexibility from state control — not more, mindless, politicized control. As we asked earlier: What sort of university system does the state want? Let your governor and legislators know.

Your opinion is important. Information on how to contact the governor or your legislators is here.

Governor Walker Proposes Additional 2-Year Tuition Freeze

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Governor Scott Walker announced Friday morning that he would propose an additional two-year freeze on University of Wisconsin System tuition. The governor said his proposal was a direct result of the recent disclosure that UW System will finish the fiscal year with about $1 billion in reserve. Last year, the governor called for a two-year tuition freeze after the university was found to have just over $1 billion in reserve.

The governor’s plan came as a surprise as the UW System Board of Regents met for a second day in a regularly scheduled meeting. UW System President Ray Cross responded quickly, saying that he will continue his work with the governor and legislature while thoughtfully and judiciously managing and explaining UW System resources. Cross told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he had discussed the possibility of a one-year extension of the tuition freeze with the governor’s staff about a month ago, but the conversation had been casual.

The Regent Audit Committee and Budget and Finance Committee met Thursday morning and revealed cash balance projections for FY 2013-14. UW System will finish the year with almost $1.1 billion in reserve, about half coming from tuition.

UW System officials say that about 80 percent of the funds are committed on some level (see below). UW-Madison’s share of the reserve is about $600 million, and Cross told the Journal Sentinel that UW-Madison is among the handful of campuses that could survive three to four years on cash balances without implementing major budget cuts.

fy 2013-14 reserves

Senate Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges to Vote on Classified Research Bill

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Inside CapitolThe Senate Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges will hold an executive session today to vote on Senate Bill 578, a proposal that would allow classified research on University of Wisconsin System campuses. A System administrative policy currently prohibits such research.

The bill will go to the Senate on April 1 if approved today. An amended version of companion bill (AB 729) passed the Assembly February 20. The original bill included language that would allow exemptions to the state’s open records law, but that language was removed after Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee Chair Representative Stephen Nass (R-Whitewater) said he would not schedule a vote on proposal if it included the exemption.

PROFS worked with the authors of the legislation and is registered in favor of the bill. This statement was given to the senate committee at a public hearing on March 5.

The committee will also vote on several appointments to the UW System Board of Regents and Wisconsin Technical System Board. Governor Scott Walker announced three regent appointments last week and named UW-Madison student Nicolas Harsy to a two-year term as the non-traditional student regent yesterday.

Senate Committee to Discuss Bill Allowing Classified Research on Campus

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The Senate Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges will meet at 11 am tomorrow, Wednesday, March 5 in Room 400 Southeast of the State Capitol to discuss legislation (SB 578 and AB 729) that would allow classified research on University of Wisconsin System campuses. A UW System administrative policy currently prohibits such research.

The original bills included language that would allow exemptions to the state’s open records law, but that language was removed after Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee Chair Representative Stephen Nass (R-Whitewater) said he would not schedule a vote on proposal if it included the exemption. The open records provision was removed and an amended version of AB 729 passed the Assembly on February 20.

PROFS worked with the authors of the legislation and is registered in support of the bill. PROFS supports the legislation because it ensures faculty will have a say in any decisions regarding classified research on campus and some faculty have expressed interest in doing classified research.

Legislative Committee to Vote on Bill Allowing Classified Research on Campus

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The Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee will meet at 9 am Tuesday, February 18 in Room 328 Northwest of the of the State Capitol to vote on three bills, including one that would allow classified research on University of Wisconsin System campuses. A UW System administrative policy currently prohibits such research.

A public hearing on Assembly Bill 729 was held last week. Committee chair Representative Stephen Nass (R-Whitewater) expressed concern over the portion of the bill that would allow exemptions to the state’s open records law and said he would not schedule a vote on the bill until the provision was removed.

Representative Mike Kuglitsch (R-New Berlin), the bill’s primary sponsor, agreed to remove the provision (Assembly Amendment 1 to AB 729), and the committee will vote on the amended bill tomorrow.

PROFS worked with the authors of the legislation and is registered in support of the bill. PROFS supports the legislation because it ensures faculty will have a say in any decisions regarding classified research. Additionally, some faculty have expressed an interest in doing more classified research. 

ETA 2/18/14: The amended bill was approved by the committee with little discussion.