Like so many other issues, Chancellor Martin?s new Badger Partnership proposal all boils down to one thing: Money. Or, rather, a lack thereof. Over the past 10 years, the amount of UW Madison?s budget coming from the state has declined at least 10 percentage points. That translates to millions of dollars. Now throw in multiple years of economic woes and the overwhelming election of state government officials who do not place higher education funding high on their priority list and you have the perfect context for administrative turmoil and uncertainty about the future. Whatever happens, one thing is for sure: Tuition is going to increase. In an attempt purported to minimize that increase, Biddy has proposed the Badger Partnership, which would partially sever this great institution from the state. In almost any other context, this plan would have virtually no chance of being adopted. However, given the current environment, it could very well represent the best hope for the university.
Office of Strategic Communication