Here & Now

UW System Officials Brace for Budget Cuts

Frederica Freyberg:

First, Governor Walker’s cut hit the UW System. Wisconsin Public Television is part of the University. The cut comes along with allowing it new independence from the state.

Scott Walker:

And I asked the Legislature to give our bold reform idea a serious look. As the father of a UW student, I have a real interest in the success of our state system and I believe that this will make the University of Wisconsin stronger in the years to come.

Frederica Freyberg:

Governor Walker is talking about new flexibility his budget gives the UW. But when it comes to the $300 million cut to the system, University administrators are saying the cuts are just too big and any savings that come from becoming a public authority are relatively small and won’t come in time to alleviate the pain of the cuts. UW-Madison chancellor Rebecca Blank told the Board of Regents yesterday that she has a $91 million hole to fill by July. She says a cut that size is equivalent to eliminating 650 faculty members or 1,000 staff members. Blank says what’s worse, she expects other schools around the country to try and hire away her best professors, especially as most states have increased their investment in higher education the last five years, while Wisconsin has been cut.

Rebecca Blank:

We already have our first casualty from this budget debate in terms of our faculty. The School of Medicine and Public Health was in the final throes of hiring a really top researcher into directing one of their centers, and that individual, who was making his final decision this past week, sent an email saying that he is not coming, he’s been following the news in Wisconsin and he’s afraid if he comes here we will not be able to invest in research to be the sort of place that he wants to be at. Okay? And that will be only the first of many casualties as a result of what’s happening in this state and of the many newspaper articles not just in Madison, but around the country, about disinvestment in higher education in Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:

Chancellor Rebecca Blank received a standing ovation after her heated remarks concerning the budget cuts. The $300 million system cut only the only thing making people’s blood boil. As part of the spending plan, the Governor set out to strike portions of the 110-year-old guiding mission statement known as the Wisconsin Idea from state law. The new version of it does insert language that the university’s mission is to, quote, meet the state’s work force needs, but it would have gotten rid of phrases, including one that said public universities should search for truth. When fury erupted over striking some language, the Governor first defended the changes and then said it was a drafting error. By Thursday, his office had put out a statement explaining the changes to the revered Wisconsin Idea, saying it was a miscommunication with budget staff. System president Ray Cross accepted the Walker administration’s apology for what happened.

Ray Cross:

With respect to the, I’ll use this word, controversy over the UW mission statement, the Governor’s office has just recently issued a statement which explains what happened and I think he does a very good job of that. And I’d like to thank him for that. I have also had to shut my phone off because while that was happening, I was receiving a call from Michael Hiefitz at DOA to apologize for what happened.