Here & Now

System Employees Feel Squeeze Under UW Budget

Frederica Freyberg:
In other budget news, leaving leaders decidedly less pleased, the Republican majority on the budget writing committee reduced a proposed funding increase and continued a tuition freeze for the UW System. The move would give the system about $58 million, less than half of what the governor proposed. And $45 million of it would only be released if the Legislature approves. Joint Finance Committee Co-chair Representative John Nygren made the case.

John Nygren:
There will always be a desire from some to spend more. And there will always be an opportunity for us to have those conversations. But first and foremost, we need to realize that there are expectations that have to be built into any resources that we provide for, any taxpayer-funded entity here in our state. It’s my hope that this motion, that those conversations do take place and at the end of the day, the UW System is stronger because of it.

Frederica Freyberg:
UW System President Ray Cross said the vote felt like a kick in the shin saying, “Today’s vote was a missed opportunity and shortsighted. The UW System is the best investment the state can make to develop its workforce and attract and retain talent. The UW System budget is reasonable, specific and responds to workforce needs. We need at least $60 million to keep up with the inflation alone. The motion would provide $45 million with significant strings attached. By not addressing these financial challenges, we are severely hamstrung in our ability to continue to grow vital programs and high-need fields that the people of Wisconsin expect and demand.”
Before we introduce our next guest, we should mention Wisconsin Public Television is part of UW-Madison. At Madison, faculty are weighing in on the budget action for the UW. A faculty organization called PROFS agrees with Cross saying the budget vote this week was a missed opportunity to reinvest in the UW System. Chemistry Professor Judith Burstyn joins us now. Thanks very much for being here.

Judith Burstyn:
Thank you for asking me.

Frederica Freyberg:
The message from Republican budget writers seems to be that the economy is booming, tuition revenue from out of state students and grad students is up and the last state budget provided a really healthy boost in funding. How do you respond to that?

Judith Burstyn:
So the faculty members work on the front lines of the UW System. We know firsthand that in order to continue to address the needs of our students and drive our state’s economy, we need greater investment from the state. And as chair of a major department at UW-Madison, I deal on a daily basis with the realities of a very competitive academic marketplace. Our competitors know that Wisconsin’s had an issue with the state not supporting our university and our faculty are targets.

Frederica Freyberg:
So you’re suggesting that there is a retention problem for potentially the best and the brightest here at the university?

Judith Burstyn:
There has been and there continues to be a significant retention problem.

Frederica Freyberg:
Because I know that on Joint Finance, John Nygren, the co-chair was talking about how Democrats say that the university has been cut more than a billion dollars since 2011. John Nygren said yes, but they’ve been able to make it up because of the, “tools of Act 10” whereby staff has had to contribute more into their health care and into their pension funds. He said that it basically evens out but you’re suggesting that Act 10 also still has some issues for faculty deciding to leave.

Judith Burstyn:
So there has been a history at UW-Madison, our salaries have always been below those of peer, comparable institutions to UW-Madison. But the reality was that because of our good, state benefits package, we would argue that that was one of the pieces. And that benefits package has been eroded. Those resources never really became available for the university to use because they had been associated with fringes and it’s just coming out of the pockets of the faculty and the staff at the universities.

Frederica Freyberg:
In terms of students, what does your organization believe will be the practical effect of a budget if it looks like this in its final form?

Judith Burstyn:
So in preparing for the current budget debate, the UW System worked very hard to develop a reasonable budget proposal that focused on student success and making it easier for students to get into STEM and other high demand fields. The governor’s budget was very similar to what the regents proposed but then also went a step further and funded the freeze, that is, didn’t just freeze tuition but also paid for the revenue that would have been lost. Universities don’t have many sources of revenue. Our public institutions have as their resources tuition dollars and state dollars and that’s what funds our educational mission.

Frederica Freyberg:
How bad in your mind from your organization’s perspective is this?

Judith Burstyn:
The situation for UW System and UW-Madison is that we’ve sustained many years of tuition freeze and budget cut and although last biennium there was a small increase, it did not cover the inflationary costs and again, the loss of this funding for the tuition freeze essentially is a budget cut again to the university because these are inflationary costs and they’re not covered. It means that student access, student support is not going to be funded.

Frederica Freyberg:
Another matter was the funding of a 2% pay increase for staff and faculty but funded only 70%. Then what happens?

Judith Burstyn:
Well, that means that the additional 30% is going to come out of other programs in the university. There’s relative little flexible dollars within the university. It’s primarily driven towards the educational mission and that means those funds are more likely than not to come out the educational mission of the institutions.

Frederica Freyberg:
And what do you and faculty members of your group think about the fact that most of the increase approved by Joint Finance, that being $45 million, would only be released with the Legislature’s approval?

Judith Burstyn:
The people making — who are best suited to make the decisions for UW System are the Board of Regents and the leadership of the UW System institutions. And I don’t see any compelling reason for the Legislature to micro manage those decisions. I would also comment that our governor has broad experience in education. He understands how to deliver effective educational programs. He understands the value of education and also the expertise of the individuals who laid these institutions and I would trust them to do the work that they need to do.

Frederica Freyberg:
We need to leave it there. Professor, thanks very much for joining us.

Judith Burstyn:
You’re welcome.