Gov. Scott Walker, a possible contender for the Republican presidential nomination, on Tuesday proposed a new spending plan for Wisconsin that relies on borrowing and spending cuts, including deep reductions to state universities, and steers clear of tax increases.
UW–Platteville is facing millions of dollars in budget cuts for its 2015–16 academic year at the time it could face part of a proposed $300 million UW System budget cut.
In addition to unprecedented budget cuts to the University of Wisconsin UW system, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker struck “the search for truth” and the Wisconsin Idea from the university’s mission in his executive budget bill unveiled last night.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker wants to require drug testing for those seeking a variety of public benefits, dramatically cut funding to the University of Wisconsin System and greatly expand a private school voucher program under a budget he delivered Tuesday that comes as he takes more steps toward a presidential run.
Highlights of Gov. Scott Walker’s $68.2 billion two-year state budget released on Tuesday:
Walker’s proposal to disband the Educational Approval Board, an out-of-the-spotlight agency that decides whether for-profit colleges can operate in the state, comes after the board appeared to conflict in recent years with Republican lawmakers over a proposal to set standards for retention and job placement at for-profit schools.
Lawmakers in both parties are questioning whether a proposed $300 million cut to the University of Wisconsin System is too large.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s state faced a big budget deficit. To solve it, he plans to decimate one of the most respected and productive university systems in the country. And he plans to spend hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars for a professional basketball arena.
UW-Madison officials also prepared to negotiate relief from a hard hit from Walker with legislators and with campus allies, bringing in a state Capitol veteran as a lobbyist and producing a simple, slick summary of its budget that showcases the numbers that make its case.
I am a full professor at UW-Whitewater, having taught there for 34 years. Faculty at UW-Whitewater teach eight classes per year, generally twice as much as UW-Madison faculty. Academic staff teach nine classes per year. We do not have teaching assistants to help us with our grading, and we provide much more one-on-one contact with students.
A former student who has spent years protesting how University of Wisconsin System officials manage student fees was acquitted Tuesday of a disorderly conduct charge filed after he tried to enter a disciplinary hearing for a student with similar views in 2013.
Noted: ? Cut state funding for the University of Wisconsin System by 13%, freeze tuition for two years, and starting in July 2016 free the system from some state rules on personnel, procurement and building projects.
Walker’s autonomy plan has nothing to do with what he tries to pass off as a better way to free the university to gain efficiencies and, in turn, “save” taxpayers money. It has everything to do, though, with the $300 million he can use as a downpayment on the state’s $2 billion budget deficit. Walker not only needs to cover that deficit, but come up with enough additional spending cuts so he can fulfill his promise to make yet more tax cuts in the next biennium.
Gov. Scott Walker unveiled a $68 billion two-year spending plan Tuesday night that calls for a sweeping expansion of private school vouchers, consolidating control over environmental regulation and natural resources, sharp cuts for the University of Wisconsin System and defunding public television and radio.
A great state needs a great state university — as a source of educational opportunity, vital research and economic development. The founders of Wisconsin understood this, making provision in the first state constitution “for the establishment of a state university, at or near the seat of state government.” That provision also speaks of linking the great state university in Madison with “colleges in different parts of the state as the interests of education may require.” And it outlines strategies for supporting and sustaining higher education in Wisconsin.
UW-Milwaukee will have to slash $40 million from its budget if Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed $300 million cut to the University of Wisconsin System becomes law. The state faces a $283 million shortfall in the current budget, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, and a $2.2 billion structural deficit in the next two-year budget cycle.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s 2011 fight with public-sector unions sparked huge protests—and elevated him into a national figure in conservative politics. Now, as he eyes a run for president, he is targeting another group on the public payroll: university professors. (Subscription required.)
If Gov. Scott Walker and his legislative allies support education, they have a strange way of showing it.
President Obama’s call to make community college free was one of the most sweeping proposals in his State of the Union address. It was immediately controversial, with some alarmed by its expense, some praising its ambition, and some questioning the details. We’ll feature some arguments on both sides here on Grade Point. Here, two union advocates write that a similar program in New York has been a success. Interviewed: Sara Goldrick-Rab.
Three Democratic lawmakers from Dane County on Monday said Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed $300 million cut to the University of Wisconsin System would damage the local and state economy and the quality of a UW education.
UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank outlined a strategy Monday at a meeting of the university’s Faculty Senate, where members unanimously adopted a resolution opposing the proposed cut to the UW System in the state biennial budget.
Walker has said he will propose cutting $300 million from the University of Wisconsin System, about a 13 percent reduction, over the next two years while also freezing tuition. In exchange, Walker wants to give the UW System more freedom from state oversight and laws, a move that university officials have sought for years to give them greater control of their own operations. Much of the debate in the Legislature is expected to focus on the size of the proposed cut and just how much latitude to give UW as it moves toward a public authority model.
To preserve his past property and income tax cuts and avoid a gas tax increase, Gov. Scott Walker’s budget would cut state universities by $300 million over two years and borrow the more than $1billion needed for state roads.
In the six weeks before word began leaking out about unprecedented budget cuts Gov. Scott Walker had in mind for the University of Wisconsin System, efforts already were underway to negotiate a deal that would satisfy the governors desire for something “BIG,” while reducing the impact on campuses.
Gov. Scott Walker will unveil his next two-year state budget on Tuesday night, fleshing out the details on what he wants to cut to fill Wisconsin’s budget shortfall.
Much about what Gov. Scott Walker planned to propose in his state budget remained unknown Monday, but that didn’t stop Democrats from blasting details that have come to light so far and arguing the second-term Republican is focused too much on pleasing a national audience at the expense of Wisconsin as he looks at a presidential run.
The UW System Board of Regents will honor a UW-Madison assistant professor Friday for his success with and support of diversity on campus.
On Tuesday, Walker will propose a roughly $70 billion two-year budget plan that must solve a shortfall of about $2 billion. Among other things, it is expected to include a dramatic $300 million cut to the University of Wisconsin System in exchange for more autonomy, flat funding for K-12 public schools, agency mergers and borrowing for road projects rather than raising gas taxes or vehicle fees.
We Are Wisconsin, a labor-backed advocacy group formed in the 2011 “uprising” protests of Gov. Scott Walker’s first biennial budget, is organizing a campaign to stop steep cuts to the University of Wisconsin System penciled into his third biennial spending plan.
To say the state can cut $300 million from the University of Wisconsin System without affecting the quality of education and research is simply not true. Far from saving money, failing to invest in higher education will results in a further lag on our already lagging economy compared to our neighbors.
Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed budget cut of $300 million to the University of Wisconsin System comes as other states, nationally and in the Midwest, have inched up funding for higher education, restoring support lost during the economic recession. More increases are expected in coming years.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s recently unveiled higher education budget plans would only exacerbate the burgeoning student loan debt crisis.
Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to slash $300 million in funding from the University of Wisconsin and in return for greater autonomy would make it make it harder for low-income and minority students to go to college there, said affiliates of WISCAPE Wisconsin Center on the Advancement of Post-Secondary Education, a UW-Madison think tank on post-secondary education.
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Faculty Senate is calling for a full and open analysis of Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to give the UW System autonomy from state government.
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: A governor suggests that educators have a sweetheart deal, and, by golly, he’s going to do something about it on behalf of Wisconsin taxpayers. He will supply a set of “tools” to get the job done.
The implication from the headline is that faculty and staff have more time and effort they can give. This is more of the “politics as usual” from the Walker administration. As Gov. Walker stated, “divide and conquer.”
Once again, Gov. Scott Walker has hit the nail on the head. The proposed $300 million cut to the University of Wisconsin System over a two-year period with an increase in its responsibility to self-manage its financial decisions is overdue “UW System cuts could bring layoffs,” Jan. 28.
Still, when I hear System officials complain that Walker’s cuts and tuition freeze could cause layoffs, I also hear the sound of the world’s smallest violin playing mournfully in the background.
The governor’s proposal would grant the System greater autonomy over purchasing and the like, which, in the long run, will afford substantial savings. But it is the short-run cut in state support that should concern all of those who value the University. It’s a baffling recommendation given the state’s economic recovery and the governor’s claims to have repaired the structural deficit. Perhaps some in the governor’s circle assume UW is just another state agency. This is, frankly, akin to saying the Green Bay Packers are just another NFL team.
Speaking on WKOW-TV’s “Capitol City Sunday,” UW-Madison Atmospheric Science professor and the president of faculty lobbying group PROFS Grant Petty said Gov. Walker’s comment about teaching more was out of touch with the responsibilities of faculty who he said work an average of 63 hours per week at UW-Madison, combining teaching, research, mentoring and more.
Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal came through with the flexibilities that University of Wisconsin System leaders have been asking for, but the catch is what drew ire last week
The price of freedom from state regulation has gone up for the University of Wisconsin.
With blizzards in the Midwest today and returning to New England, some colleges and universities in both regions are calling off classes.
Gov. Scott Walker announced details of his 2015-2017 budget proposal that would turn the University of Wisconsin System into a public authority, extend the tuition freeze and cut funding by $300 million. In anticipation of the governors biennial budget address on Tuesday, a dynamic conversation already has begun among policy-makers, members of the UW and citizens in the state.
Last weekend, news reports began to swirl about potentially massive budget cuts to the University of Wisconsin System. On Tuesday, Gov. Scott Walker confirmed the worst: UW System campuses are slated to take a combined $150 million base budget cut over two years, so $300 million total in his upcoming 2015-17 biennial budget proposal.
The private, non-profit foundation, entrusted with managing the lion’s share of UW-Madison’s intellectual property portfolio, is ranked sixth in the world in patents obtained for new technologies, with 160 patents issued to WARF in 2013.
Noted: Lovell said in response to a reporters questions that he is worried about unprecedented budget cuts Gov. Scott Walker is proposing for the UW System.
While University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross has said its too early to know whether proposed state budget cuts will lead to layoffs, he indicated on a radio talk show Thursday morning that will look first at the “back office.”
There is only one word for Scott Walker’s comments about the University of Wisconsin faculty: demeaning.
Sen. Steve Nass of Whitewater, one of the system’s toughest critics and vice-chair of the Senate’s universities committee, has warned the plan would allow regents to raise tuition at will starting in 2017.
People don’t understand what university professors do, UW System president Ray Cross said Thursday as he panned Gov. Scott Walker’s suggestion that professors work harder to absorb his planned $300 million cut to the system.
University of Wisconsin System president Ray Cross on Thursday blasted recent comments by Gov. Scott Walker that UW faculty should teach more classes and work harder in a radio interview.
University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross has ordered system employees to immediately implement cost-saving moves after Gov. Scott Walker announced he wants to slash the system’s funding over the next two years.
“They might be able to make savings just by asking faculty and staff to consider teaching one more class per semester,” Walker told reporters Wednesday in Madison … Vince Sweeney, vice chancellor for university relations at UW-Madison, said the most recent survey data found UW-Madison faculty spend 50 to 70 hours per week teaching and supporting students, participating in research and other activities. “It should be noted that many also bring in millions of dollars in grant funding that is a direct boost to the Wisconsin economy,” Sweeney said. Grant Petty, president of PROFS Inc., the professional group representing UW-Madison professors, said he doesn’t know any UW faculty who don’t already spend 50 hours a week or more doing what are considered the “essential duties” of their job.
Hoping to improve national and local understanding of sexual assault, the University of Wisconsin will be one of 28 universities that will participate in one of the largest surveys ever conducted on the issue.
With less than a week to go before Gov. Scott Walker formally rolls out his proposed 2015-17 state budget, a clash of rhetoric is swirling around the governors proposed $300 million cut to the University of Wisconsin System.
University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross bristled on a Thursday radio talk show at Gov. Scott Walker’s remarks the day before that faculty and staff could teach more classes and work harder.
Faculty and staff in the University of Wisconsin System should be “teaching more classes and doing more work,” Gov. Scott Walker said during an interview Wednesday morning with a Milwaukee conservative radio talk show host.
Faced with a massive $300 million budget cut, University of Wisconsin officials might want to revisit a radical idea: Actually making professors teach.
A bill being considered by Republican lawmakers could require chancellors of UW System schools to approve every decision made by student governments that use segregated fees.
