Category: Campus life

Tough recipes for tough times. Except in academia.

When Gov. Jim Doyle proposed a leaner budget for state operations, it included cuts of $63.4 million for the University of Wisconsin-Madison over the next two years.

That seemed in line with cuts to state agencies and the idea that in difficult economic times, there has to be some belt-tightening across the board.

But UW-Madison wants to take a few notches off that scrimping with a new plan called the â??Madison Initiative for Undergraduates.â?

When Chancellor Biddy Martin introduced her new Madison Initiative for Undergraduates, she did so in front of dozens of University of Wisconsin student leaders, including members of this editorial board. Instead of holding a press conference with solely university administrators, legislative leaders and other supporters, Martin opened the doors of her home to hold informal roundtable discussions on her innovative plan.

This signaled an important part of Martinâ??s plan â?? incorporating students, answering their questions, hearing their praise and receiving their critiques. She fielded initial support and resistance from students at the dinner and devoted herself to listening more.

None of us looks forward to tuition hikes, especially since all too often the benefits appear intangible or altogether nonexistent.

Tuition will rise this coming year, that much is a given regardless of which UW System university you attend. At UW-Madison, tuition will rise even with a supplemental charge under Chancellor Martinâ??s recently proposed Madison Initiative for Undergraduates.

The initiative, which would increase tuition by an additional $250 per year for in-state students and $750 per year for out-of-state students and would also be matched dollar for dollar by private fundraising, is pitched as a â??pledge to quality, value and affordability.â? Many probably react with the same instinctive question upon hearing the initiative: â??Just how does a tuition hike equate to affordability again?â?

A state lawmaker says the UW-Madison is trying to “soak” students with a proposed tuition surcharge.

State Representative Scott Suder says the plan to charge students an extra $250 a year, if their family makes more than $80,000 a year, amounts to a tax on students. He says it’s not fair to raise the expectations of what students have to pay, after they’ve already started attending the school.

The University of Wisconsin at Madison might be called a victim of its own successes. The stateâ??s flagship institution has recruited prominent faculty, but has been forced to enter bidding wars with wealthy private institutions just to retain them. On top of that challenge, budget cuts and cost increases have made it difficult for the university to fill positions vacated by retiring baby boomers, leaving faculty lines open and forcing the university to cut course offerings.

The challenges facing Wisconsin are systemic, and they have only been exacerbated by the economic downturn, according to Biddy Martin, who was named chancellor a little more than six months ago.
â??The traditional revenue sources havenâ??t been able to keep pace with the cost of higher education, certainly not at a major research university,â? Martin said.

Students and staff raised questions and concerns at a campus forum Monday regarding the University of Wisconsinâ??s initiative to increase tuition.

The tuition increase is an effort to fund more tenure-tracked staff as well as other projects to keep improving the university.

During the event sponsored by the Associated Students of Madison, Chancellor Biddy Martin addressed student issues and explained in detail the reasons behind the increase.

Chancellor Biddy Martin and the Associated Students of Madison will create a student oversight committee to help implement the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates, Martin announced Monday at a forum about the initiative.

â??Iâ??d like to get their advice in advance of making decisions about expenditures, and let them be the messengers to the campus,â? Martin said.

ASM Chair Brittany Wiegand said the committee will likely operate through the Shared Governance Committee of ASM. While seats on the committee will be limited in number, Wiegand said any student will be able to apply.

University of Wisconsin students expressed both concern and support Thursday at the first of two campus forums on Chancellor Biddy Martinâ??s Madison Initiative for Undergraduates, which would increase tuition, financial aid and academic services for students.

The forum focused on student perspectives with prominent issues being the transparency of initiative fund spending, how students are supposed to pay the tuition increase and the voice of students in the spending process.

The initiative is focused on adding faculty to the College of Letters and Science, which has lost 65 to 70 professors since 2004, Martin said.

UW-Madison’s Chancellor wants to make Wisconsinâ??s flagship university more affordable for low and middle income studentsâ?¦by raising tuition.

Chancellor Biddy Martin says the University has far less need-based financial aid than any other Big 10 university, with $20-million in unmet aid every year. To close that gap, the Chancellor’s Madison Initiative for Undergraduates is calling for a $250 annual increase in tuition over the next four years for in-state residents, and $750 annually for out-of-state students. Martin says the increase would not affect students whose families make $80,000 or less.

â??Itâ??s going to be harder for low and middle income families to send students to UW-Madison in these times than it already was,â? says Martin. â??Our students need even better preparation for these challenging times and the economy they face as graduates than they have ever needed.â?

UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin explained her newly proposed initiative to students and listened to their feedback at a forum Thursday.

The Madison Initiative for Undergraduates would propose a supplemental charge in tuition to improve educational quality for undergraduates while helping to make UW-Madison affordable to all students.

Chancellor Biddy Martin unveiled a bold plan that would raise the tuition bills of most UW-Madison students in an effort to preserve the quality of the institution, while also making more need-based financial aid available to those who are being priced out of the state’s flagship university.

“Her honeymoon is over now,” said Noel Radomski, director of the Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education, a think tank on campus. “She’s putting out a bold proposal. But this is a very good service, and I truly mean that, to put this out on the table for the public, the students, the faculty and staff to look at.”

The Critical Badger picked up on the Madison Initiative. Some good criticism by â??Country Bobâ? in the comment minefield. This caught my eye:

$80,000 is very arbitrary, and doesnâ??t take into account a studentâ??s expected financial contribution (EFC). A family with two kids in college making $82,000 per year is much different than a family with one kid making $79,000 per year.

Totally true! But with a little work the details can be sorted out â?¦ but the devil is in the details. Seems like things are moving in a positive direction at UW after more than a few years of asking each other what we should do.

A proposed surcharge would raise UW tuition $1000 for instate students and $3000 for out of state students by the year 2013.

The increases will be phased in over the next four years. Instate students will pay $250 more a year during that time, while out of state students will pay $750 more.

“When this proposal is fully implemented in four years, tuition and fees at UW-Madison will continue to be among the lowest in our peer group, defined as the Big Ten,” reasoned Biddy Martin, UW Madison chancellor.

The school hopes the increase will fill in a $20 million dollar annual budget gap. The ultimate goal is for the money to increase the quality of education while making the university more affordable to lower income students.

In wake of the announcement of an initiative that would increase tuition, financial aid and academic services for University of Wisconsin students, Chancellor Biddy Martin will host a forum tonight to field questions, comments and concerns of students and other community members.

The Madison Initiative for Undergraduates would increase in-state tuition by $250 and out-of-state tuition by $750 per year over a four-year period, after which rates will top out at $1,000 and $3,000, respectively, more than current rates.

The funding brought in by the initiative would allow for increased financial aid, the restoration of faculty seats and the improvement of studentsâ?? academic experiences.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin on Wednesday proposed increasing undergraduate tuition at the state’s public flagship school by $250 to $750 per year for four years to pay for increases in financial aid for needy students and to add faculty and student services in high-demand areas.

The plan, dubbed the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates, relies on more affluent families and private donors to subsidize financial aid for lower-income students and improvements to undergraduate education at a time when Gov. Jim Doyle is calling for budget cuts throughout the university system.

UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin reiterated her new initiative for increasing tuition and financial aid to students, faculty and staff in a news conference Wednesday at Bascom Hall.

If passed by the UW System Board of Regents, Martinâ??s Madison Initiative for Undergraduates would result in a possible $40 million increase to tuition and financial aid over the next four years.

Martin said she hopes her plan will better prepare students for the current state of the economy.

â??This has to be addressed now, not despite the terrible economic circumstances â?¦ but because of them,â? she said.

At a meeting with student leaders Tuesday, University of Wisconsin Chancellor Biddy Martin took the first 6 1/2 months of her term spent fact-finding and listening and turned it into a bold proposal to increase funding to attract tenured faculty, need-based financial aid and student services â?? calling it the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates. The plan would institute a gradual increase in tuition costs over the next four years â?? in-state students would pay an extra $250 per year every year while the increase would be $750 for out-of state students. After four years, this would mean an increase of $1,000 from current levels for in-state students and an increase of $3,000 in out-of state tuition.

In her first significant action since taking the helm at Wisconsin’s flagship university, UW Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin has announced a new initiative, which she calls a major effort to preserve the quality of an education there, and improve its affordability.

Most University of Wisconsin-Madison undergraduates would eventually pay $1,000 more per year under a long-term plan outlined Wednesday to improve quality and increase financial aid.

Undergraduates from Wisconsin would pay a $250 supplemental tuition charge starting next fall while nonresidents would be hit with a $750 charge. The charges would increase by the same amounts the following three years – for a total in the 2012-2013 school year of $1,000 for residents and $3,000 for nonresidents.

Students from families that earn $80,000 or less – about 6,500 of the schoolâ??s 29,000 undergraduates – would receive enough financial aid to offset the increases.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin is proposing a four-year plan to increase undergraduate tuition to maintain the school’s quality.

Martin wants students from Wisconsin to pay a supplemental tuition charge of $250 starting next school year. The charge would grow by $250 per year through 2013.

Out-of-state students would pay a $750 supplemental charge next fall, and it would increase by that amount through 2013.

Those charges would be on top of any statewide tuition increase.

Six months into her tenure, UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin announced a plan Wednesday that would essentially levy a surcharge on undergraduate students from higher-income families, responding to what she called an â??urgentâ? need to improve affordability and the quality of undergraduate programs.

After listening to students, parents, alumni and others over the past few months, Martin said sheâ??s repeatedly heard that class sizes are getting too big, too many classes are taught by non-tenured faculty and access to high-demand courses and majors is difficult.