Zac Schultz:

One of the areas of the state budget yet to be finalized includes the University of Wisconsin System, of which we at PBS Wisconsin are a part of. And that budget could come with complications as earlier this week Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said he wanted to see the system budget cut by $32 million in an effort to force the schools to eliminate positions connected to diversity, equity and inclusion otherwise known as DEI. Joining us now is UW System President Jay Rothman. Thanks for your time today.

Jay Rothman:

Good to be with you. Thank you.

Zac Schultz:

Speaker Vos says efforts related to DEI are a left-wing religion and indoctrination. How do you respond to that?

Jay Rothman:

I would step back Zac and really look at the budget overall because when we started the process, we had recommended a 4% increase in each year of the biennium, which I thought was reasonable in light of inflation being at 8% last year and 5 or 6% this year. We knew we wouldn’t even keep pace with inflation. And now there’s discussion at least of a potential cut to our budget and the gulf between those two is huge. And that gulf really is going to threaten accessibility for our students in this state and it’s going to threaten affordability in the state of Wisconsin, and that’s really what we’re focused on. We’re focused on helping Wisconsin win the war for talent. We don’t have enough engineers and nurses and data scientists and so forth in the state. Those jobs are going to leave our state unless they’re filled here, which is going to hurt Wisconsin’s long-term economic viability. And as I think about the accessibility piece, I, in April, I asked our chancellors to look at the branch campuses and look at are they viable long term. How do we make them viable? How can we adjust them? That piece is ongoing. We recently retained Deloitte to help look at structural deficits in our universities and help us try to close those by 2028 consistent with our strategic plan. So this is a serious issue. That funding gap is enormous and I think we have to look at longer term, what are we going to do for the state? What is in the best interest of the state of Wisconsin? That’s why the system exists. That’s why I took this job is to help the state of Wisconsin. I’ve been a resident in this state my entire life. That funding gap creates a real issue for us.

Zac Schultz:

Speaker Vos says in terms of hiring more nurses and engineers, he thinks money is not being well spent on positions connected to DEI investments. Do you agree with that?

Jay Rothman:

When you look at the gulf, we’re talking nearly half a billion dollars in terms of that gulf, and I appreciate the concerns around DE & I, but I look at it and say it’s that gulf, that investment, and we’ve been dealing with shrinking budgets for 10 years in the system. There is a point at which you cannot do this any longer and it is threatening accessibility, but it’s also threatening affordability. You look at it and you say we are — we did a study last year that said we are the most affordable public university system in the Midwest and we are proud of that. We think that is important for the state of Wisconsin, and to have our universities be affordable, but that’s being threatened by the lack of investment that’s going into our universities, and that’s what my focus is.

Zac Schultz:

The system just announced a new chief diversity officer has been hired. Were there any thoughts to waiting on holding that announcement? Did you think that the connection between that and the budget would cause conflict?

Jay Rothman:

That position has been in place at the system for many years. It was in position with President Cross. It was in a position — that position was there with President Thompson. So we were simply filling a vacancy. That search started last November for that position.

Zac Schultz:

So Governor Evers says that he’s threatened to veto the entire state budget if the UW’s budget is cut in this way. Have you reached out to either the speaker’s office or the governor’s office to talk specifically about DEI and the budget?

Jay Rothman:

We’ve had a number of conversations with both the legislators across the board. What’s been reassuring to me is the bipartisan support for the UW system in the legislature. We’ve certainly had conversations with Governor Evers. The veto in my mind is down the line. We’re hopeful we can make our point that why investment in the UW system is an investment in the people of the state of Wisconsin. That’s what we’re focused on, because I do worry. I think we have to look back, and if I’m still on this earth 10, 15, 20 years from now, this is a critical period about accessibility and affordability in our state.

Zac Schultz:

For the people that are listening to this interview that do support DEI and the mission involved with that, they’re not hearing very much from you speaking specifically about your support for those efforts in those programs. What would you say to them?

Jay Rothman:

I have reiterated on a number of occasions my support for DEI. I came from the private sector. In the firm that I was in, we focused on that because it was good business, it was important, and my support for DEI has not wavered.

Zac Schultz:

Slightly connected to the budget, the UW School of Engineering building was not approved by the Republicans on the Joint Finance. Is that another area that you’re pushing for or do you think that one — that ship has sailed on engineering for now and right now it’s just on the system budget?

Jay Rothman:

I think we continue to advocate for engineering. It was the top priority in our capital budget and I think the logic for building that building is compelling. There is enormous student demand for it. The applicants, we can’t even satisfy anywhere near the number of applicants that are there. We know there are jobs available for those engineers, and critical jobs including in the state of Wisconsin. We know that the business community is very supportive of that building. We know that we need to expand the — because it’s not the number of graduates, it’s also the world class research that’s done there. We need to enhance the facilities so that we can continue to grow that world class research that redounds to the benefit of the state and finally, you look at the private support. Well over a hundred million dollars of private money goes into that building. This is a building that I would think the legislature would look at and say, “we need to build that building.” For those reasons, we think that argument is compelling and we are going to continue to advocate for that engineering building.

Zac Schultz:

We just have a few seconds left but do you think some of this in-fighting is about political posturing, or are there real concerns the Republicans will cut your budget?

Jay Rothman:

I think — I look at the gulf. It’s not just the cut in the budget; it is that gulf and are we going to invest in the UW system. We are the best talent magnet this state has. We are the best developer of talent this state has. That is critical as we move into a technology-driven knowledge economy. Where are we going to be five, 10 and 15 years from now? The investments that are made today or the investments that are not made today will define Wisconsin’s future.

Zac Schultz:

We’ll leave it there. UW system Jay Rothman, thank you for your time today.

Jay Rothman:

Thank you very much.