In this raging debate over whether UW-Madison should become a public authority and separate from the rest of the University of Wisconsin System, a smaller model for such a concept might be the UW Athletic Department. In the early 1990s, UW Athletics became a separate item in the state budget after years of being lumped into the overall UW-Madison budget appropriation. That separation initially led to greater scrutiny of athletic department spending by state lawmakers, but eventually gave way to less intrusiveness once Richter and Co. led the department out of debt and began building what is now a profitable, self-sufficient entity. Speaking of the current separation proposal, it?s interesting to hear members of the UW Board of Regents oppose the move on the grounds that it implies a second-class attitude toward the smaller campuses. A show of hands, then, on who followed the Badgers to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., and who was there to see UW-Whitewater win its second straight NCAA Division III title in Salem, Va.
Office of Strategic Communication