Category: State news

University of Wisconsin System administrators are preparing to meet with representatives from the Legislative Audit Bureau after the Bureau released a report that showed the UW System devotes nearly four times as many financial and personnel resources to administration as it formally counts.

Wisconsin taxpayers would have saved $2.4 billion in 2002 – or $438 per resident – if state and local government spending had been at the national average, according to a study being released today.

Republican leaders are making the idea of a constitutional amendment on government spending and taxation a central issue in legislative elections. The idea is of particular concern to the University of Wisconsin.

Despite major budget cuts to the UW System, the number of UW System employees earning more than $100,000 has increased in the past six years, according to the results of an audit released Friday.

Although it faces record-breaking budget cuts, the University of Wisconsin System hired several dozen employees between March 2003 and March 2004, according to a new report by the state Legislative Audit Bureau.

This story includes a list of key findings from the UW System administrative audit.

State auditors say the University of Wisconsin System is undercounting by almost 10 percentage points what it spends on administration and is adding jobs at a time when state money to higher education is decreasing.

During a rally on Library Mall that drew more than 1,000 UW-Madison students Friday, U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold hammered his Republican opponent, Tim Michels, on issues ranging from student loans to health care to the war on terror.

A massive new report from the state Legislative Audit Bureau says the University of Wisconsin System devotes almost four times as many financial and personnel resources to administration than it formally counts and that despite recent state budget cuts, has managed to add several dozen more employees.

University officials clashed today with state auditors over adminstrative staffing and funding levels.

State Sen. Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau is expected Friday to become the Republican leader in the state Senate. Sen. Mary Panzer, R-West Bend, who was routed in the Republican primary Tuesday, will resign from the leader’s post at a caucus.

For those students who made their way to the polls Tuesday, it quickly became evident their interest in the primary election this year was not shared by the majority of their classmates.

Wisconsin’s high school graduates may be better prepared for college than a decade ago, but the likelihood they will pursue higher education has declined, according to a national report released this week.

Gov. Jim Doyle is setting up a new statewide panel to help local citizens’ groups aid police, firefighters and other emergency workers during disasters.

Despite a $250 million budget cut hanging over his head, Kevin Reilly maintained an optimistic air as he relayed his future plans to the Board of Regents Thursday morning.

The salaries of faculty, top administrators and other employees of the University of Wisconsin System continue to lag those of their peers at other institutions. And in some cases, the universities are not paying administrators the minimum of their established salary range, according to data presented to a committee of the UW Board of Regents on Thursday.

The New Voters Project merits encouragement, even with the glitches that have developed. The national, nonpartisan campaign aims to register 265,000 new voters ages 18 to 24 in Wisconsin and five other states considered battlegrounds in this year’s presidential election.

Former UW Regent Nino Amato took his tuition-freeze message to the Capitol Tuesday but, just as when he offered it to his fellow regents, he didn’t get very far

The hottest news in American health insurance may be Wisconsin’s stunning success at controlling costs for public workers and retired public employees. Other states are clamoring for advice on how it’s done.

The University of Wisconsin System has unveiled its 2005-07 budget outline, and it is sure to create controversy both among the general public and the Legislature.

MENASHA � University of Wisconsin System president-elect Kevin Reilly says it�s time to convince Wisconsin legislators that funding a 2005-07 budget heavy on financial aid also will pay off for the state.

Incoming University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly is calling for the state to reinvest in the university system, provide more financial assistance to students and pledging his support of encouraging collaboration between UW-system schools.

More than 67,000 Wisconsin residents between the ages of 18 and 24 have registered to vote as part of a national project to increase political participation among young adults.

The state could face a nearly $1 billion cash flow problem in its general fund in early December, Administration Secretary Marc Marotta said. That warning was included in a request for legislative approval of up to $800 million in short-term operating note authorization.