Wisconsin Student Lobby

Members of the Joint Committee on Finance:

We are Wisconsin Student Lobby (WSL), a student organization on the University of Wisconsin Madison campus. In your upcoming discussion of the proposed Budget Lapse and its implications for the University of Wisconsin System, we hope that you will consider the following:

It is proposed that the UW System take a $65.6 million cut, 38% of the total lapse. This after the system received a $250 million cut in the current biennial budget, bringing UW funding down to 7% of the total state budget. This most recent of many state attacks will threaten the educational quality provided by the University of Wisconsin System and expected by the citizens of Wisconsin.

Continued cuts to the University of Wisconsin System will not only hurt the students of these institutions but will undermine the crucial role that the university system has within Wisconsin’s economy. As one of the largest public education systems in the country, the University of Wisconsin employs more than 32,000 workers and has an annual statewide economic impact of over $10 billion.

Both the importance of maintaining the quality of our higher education system and the significance of these institutions to the state have slipped out of focus as the University System has become an easy target for legislative cuts. As students within this system, Wisconsin Student Lobby recognizes the detrimental consequences that these continued cuts will have. In the absence of any significant response from UW System President Reilly and his administration, we feel that it is our responsibility to defend our education from these cuts.

We understand that the state faces difficult times and we know that all entities within the state must share the burden of this lapse. We feel, however, that the proportion of this burden that the university must carry should be on par with our share of the budget. That is why we ask you to correct this disparity and reduce our share of the lapse to $12.2 million, or a proportional 7%.

Demanding that the University System continue to shoulder a disproportionate amount of the proposed lapse will threaten the quality of Wisconsin’s higher education, undermine the economic benefits that it provides, and will send a clear signal that our children’s future is simply not a priority.

Sincerely,
Wisconsin Student Lobby

Wisconsin Student Lobby Letter to JFC on Budget Lapse

Members of the Special Task Force on UW Restructuring and Operational Flexibilities:

We are Wisconsin Student Lobby (WSL), a student organization on the University of Wisconsin Madison campus. As you continue to discuss certain topics revolving around possible changes to the University of Wisconsin System, we hope that you consider several ideas.

As one of the top research institutions in the country, UW-Madison faces some unique challenges unlike those encountered by any other body within the that University of Wisconsin system. We must strive to produce the nation’s most cutting edge research, compete for students both nationally and internationally,  and vie for the talents of accomplished instructors and administrators from around the world to ensure that we continue to provide the highest quality education.

Ensuring the continued success of this institution brings numerous benefits not only to the Madison community, but also to the entire state of Wisconsin. According to a March 2011 report, the University of Wisconsin- Madison alone contributes $12.4 billion annually to the state’s economy. Through its direct operations and affiliated organizations, the campus supports over 128,000 jobs. In order to retain these benefits for the state, the shackles that have been placed on UW-Madison must be unlocked. Several steps must be taken in this effort:

• Loosen the regulations around the construction of new facilities so that state-of-the-art buildings may be provided to our faculty and students
• Allow UW-Madison to establish a pay plan for all of its employees
• Grant the ability for the campus to purchase equipment and supplies in a way that the campus best sees fit
• Delegate the power to establish tuition and fee rates to the campus

We believe that these newly approved powers should not simply rest with the Chancellor or their designees, but should continue to be controlled by a governing body. Therefore, we encourage you to consider creating a Board of Trustees for the Madison campus that would retain institutional connections to the current UW System Board of Trustees, similar to the proposal by UWM University Committee in their January 24^th letter.

If you have any further questions regarding either our position or our proposal, please feel free to contact us at any time. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Wisconsin Student Lobby

Wisconsin Student Lobby Letter to the Special Task Force on UW Restructuring and Operational Flexibilities.doc

The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents convened in Milwaukee today to analyze the changes to the 2011-2013 proposed biennial budget.  After the Joint Finance Committee omnibus motion was approved last week, the Regents took the time to study the budget that will be proposed to the State Senate and Assembly later this month.

Under the proposal, the University of Wisconsin System will receive a $250 million cut over two years, and UW Madison will receive a cut of $94.4 million over the biennium.  This cut is significantly reduced from the initially proposed $125 million cut that the JFC reallocated.  The overall System cut has remained the same.

Among the changes, the University of Wisconsin System also gains significant autonomy from some of the state’s regulations.  ”We did make significant gains in areas of flexibilities,” one System budgetary executive said to the Regents.  He noted that the committee moved to give the system new freedom in the areas of personnel management and pay plans, construction, and procurement.  He also explained how the new provisions would give the system greater financial management by giving state appropriation in the form of a block grant.  Previously, these funds were more closely managed by the state.

One particularly concerning component of the omnibus motion was the proposal to change the system’s access and use of telecommunication services.  According to the System’s breakdown of the budget bill, “The amended bill would prohibit UW System institutions from beingmembers of WiscNet, Internet2, and other nonprofit consortia.”

University officials were strongly against this provision.  Vice Chancellor for Administration Darrell Bazzell said this amendment would make it so that “[the UW] will be one of the only schools in the country not allowed to participate in these types of networks.”  He also said that the changes would make some of the University’s research more difficult.  ”[This is] the largest threat I’ve seen to our enterprise since I’ve been here,” added UW Madison Provost Paul DeLuca.

The Board of Regents quickly approved a motion opposing the changes.

Senator Harsdorf and Representative Strachota have proposed a University of Wisconsin omnibus bill that would amend Governor Walker’s 2011-13 budget.  The changes would alter the proposal for UW Madison flexibilities, the Public Authority Model, and the cuts to the UW System.  You can read the omnibus bill here.  It is expected to be taken up in the Joint Finance Committee meeting tonight.

The motion deletes the proposed “Public Authority” status for the University of Wisconsin – Madison.  Instead, UW Madison would remain an institution within the UW System, subject to the Board of Regents.  The bill also maintains the $250 million base cut to the UW system, but “would specify that the Board of Regents would allocate the GPR base reduction to each UW institution as it has under previous budgets.  Under this motion, it is estimated that UW-Madison’s share of the GPR base reduction be $47.2 million annually compared to $62.5 million under the bill.”

Additionally, the omnibus would prohibit the UW System from increasing resident tuition by more than 5.5% annually.  Accompanying this, the bill would create two separate budgeting allocations, one “block grant” for general funding and one debt service appropriation.  Block grants would allow the UW System to control the funding it receives more than under the current law.

The proposal also creates changes to the pay plans and personnel systems of university employees.  Under this, UW Madison and UW System would each create their own systems.  Additionally, “beginning July 1, 2013, the Board of Regents would bargain as the employer with UW System employees…and UW-Madison would bargain as the employer with UW-Madison employees who are members of bargaining units.”

More changes would occur under capital planning flexibilities, purchasing rules for items related only to the UW System and higher education, and new accountability reporting requirements.

Finally, the bill would create a special task force to analyze whether further changes to structure and operation of the UW System are necessary.  This group would address additional operational flexibilities in the areas of UW governance structure, employees and tuition.

Chancellor Martin had this to say on the omnibus motion:

The proposal offers varying degrees of administrative flexibilities, with the more significant gains in human resources, purchasing, travel and budget. These flexibilities – proposed for all UW System institutions – will allow us to be better stewards of our limited resources.

We are pleased that the deal struck by lawmakers, which includes a major study of how UW System is organized, acknowledges the need for change and adopts some of the principles we outlined in the original New Badger Partnership. That study will focus not only on structure and governance, but also on issues of access, affordability and quality.

It is unclear at this point whether the proposed changes would be adopted by the Joint Finance Committee.  Voting on this proposal should occur tonight or tomorrow if necessary.