University of Wisconsin-Madison chancellor Rebecca Blank expects the university will face a cut in the next state budget.
Blank believes budget cut coming
WKOW-TV 27
Category: State news
Decision makers have yet to respond to rumors of UW-Madison, System split
Daily Cardinal
Days after The Wisconsin State Journal reported Gov. Scott Walker was considering splitting UW-Madison from the rest of the UW System in his budget proposal, neither state Republicans nor System officials have confirmed or denied the allegation.
UW awards more merit payments than any other state agency
Badger Herald
University of Wisconsin rewarded exceptional staff performances with more than 1,637 merit payments in 2014, the most awarded by any state agency.
White-nose syndrome spreading among Wisconsin bats
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: In January, scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and National Wildlife Health Center in Madison reported that bats with white-nose syndrome use twice as much energy in hibernation as healthy bats. The paper was published in December in BMC Physiology.
Candidate James Daley says he has no opinion on 1960s civil rights rulings
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: Daley spoke to reporters on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus after addressing the board of the Wisconsin Technology Council, where he said he was reluctant to overturn state laws and would give deference to legislators.
MLK celebration’s message resonates
Appleton Post-Crescent
Noted: Perhaps it was Gloria Ladson-Billings, the University of Wisconsin professor and longtime education advocate, who delivered a stirring keynote address, reminding the audience that King’s message wasn’t just about a dream. It was about acting on the dream.
Splitting UW System, UW-Madison from state being discussed at Capitol
Wisconsin State Journal
The universities would operate as a public authority, under an idea being discussed.
Scott Walker acknowledges considering more autonomy for UW System
Wisconsin State Journal
But he won’t expand on the internal discussions until his Feb. 3 budget address.
Scott Walker acknowledges considering more autonomy for UW System
Wisconsin State Journal
Gov. Scott Walker acknowledged Monday that his administration is considering granting more autonomy to the University of Wisconsin System.
On Campus: UW-Madison student government opposes possible split from state
Madison.com
It didn’t take long for some opponents to line up against a possible decoupling of the state’s universities from the state.
Walker keeping quiet on plans for University of Wisconsin
Wisconsin Radio Network
As he continues work on his proposed biennial budget, Governor Scott Walker says he’s still looking at possible plans for the future of the University of Wisconsin System and its flagship campus.
Yahara Watershed cleanup project gets $1.6 million federal grant
Wisconsin State Journal
Noted: The grant is aimed at helping reduce phosphorous and sediment loads that are slowing clean-up efforts of area lakes. Project partners include UW-Madison’s Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems.
Focus turns to Walker’s plans for budget
AP
Gov. Scott Walker is expected to paint a grim picture when he delivers his plan in a few weeks for balancing the state budget, which would stand in sharp contrast to his upbeat State of the State speech.
More state contracting: More wasted money?
WisconsinWatch.org
Each year, as a state law requires, the Wisconsin Department of Administration produces a Contractual Services Purchasing Report. It tracks spending by state agencies and the University of Wisconsin to outsource tasks ranging from information technology to janitorial work. State workers have long argued that they could be doing many of these jobs for less.
Cybersecurity lab to open in UW Research Park
Wisconsin State Journal
A laboratory designed to host classified cybersecurity research has been built at the University Research Park on the West Side. It comes after last year’s approval by the state Legislature of classified research at University of Wisconsin System labs.
UW’s Sara Goldrick-Rab says Obama’s free community college plan is ‘smart and bold’
Capital Times
President Barack Obama’s proposal to make community college free is “both smart and bold,” says Sara Goldrick-Rab, the UW-Madison education policy analyst who has focused her research on making college affordable.
UW-Madison researchers earlier proposed free community college, advised Obama
Wisconsin State Journal
Two UW-Madison professors last spring proposed making the first two years of college free. “Students will not face any costs for tuition, fees, books or supplies, and will receive a stipend and guaranteed employment at a living wage to cover their living expenses,” wrote Sara Goldrick-Rab and Nancy Kendall, who study educational policy at the university. “Unsubsidized, dischargeable loans of a small amount will also be available for those who need them.”
GOP bill would make failing public schools charters
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: The results from different tests would have to be compared by UW-Madisons Value-Added Research Center, which studies how to measure student learning. Brad Carl, associate director and researcher at the center, said while that was technically possible, it would not be the most reliable way of comparing the performance of different schools.
Give UW-Madison the right to work — Camille Haney
Wisconsin State Journal
Gov. Scott Walker and the Legislature should give UW-Madison the right to work without micro-management. Take off the shackles that bind UW’s hands.
UW System prez says university funding key to state’s future
WisBusiness.com
Speaking to the Madison Rotary Club yesterday, Cross acknowledged the state is facing a tough budget and the university system shouldn’t be exempt as lawmakers manage scarce resources. But he said the university should be viewed as a partner and investment, rather than an expense.
Bill would force persistently low-performing public schools to be made into charters
Wisconsin State Journal
The legislation also asks that UW-Madison’s Value-Added Research Center provide the new board a list of alternative tests “acceptable for statistical comparison” with the tests adopted by the superintendent. It also requires the research center to work with the board and DPI to review alternative tests proposed by schools, and asks that it equate the scores between the different tests. Brad Carl, associate director of the center, said while it’s possible to do that, the most accurate way to compare test takers is to have all students taking the same test on the same academic standards.
On Campus: Tax-deductible gifts for college funds can be made through April
Wisconsin State Journal
Wisconsin’s college savings plan, EdVest, now allows contributions to count for 2014’s taxes as long as they’re made by April 15, the deadline to file tax returns.
UW-Madison gives most workers merit pay in 2014 among state agencies
Madison.com
The campus awarded 1,637 raises, more than one-third of the total 4,704 increases from January through October, to employees including custodians, academic department and program staff and information systems workers.
Scott Walker lists his priorities for Wisconsin Legislature before right-to-work bill
Capital Times
He offered some possibilities for finding efficiencies. One, he said, was in more flexibilities for the UW System in hiring and financial matters.
UW-Madison soils lab to consolidate with Marshfield lab
Madison.com
For over 100 years, UW-Madison researchers have conducted dirt, plant and agricultural tests for Wisconsin farmers at a laboratory on Mineral Point Road to further agricultural research in the state. But later this year, the Soil and Plant Analysis Laboratory will be consolidated with a second lab in Marshfield.
Plant-chomping deer having dramatic impact on forest change, study says
Madison.com
The study, from a research group led by UW-Madison botany professor Donald Waller, says deer account for at least 40 percent of the change seen in the forests over the past half-century or so.
Tutoring company took taxpayer money for sessions it never provided
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: In 2013-14, the MPS tutoring program targeted 42 schools for after-school sessions, with services provided by Cardinal Stritch University and Educate Online Learning, according to the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Wisconsin legislative preview: UW-Madison looks for flexibility, ‘reasonable’ state support
Capital Times
For the University of Wisconsin-Madison, all focus for the upcoming legislative session is on the state budget. The university doesn’t traditionally promote or oppose specific bills in the Legislature, said Charles Hoslet, associate vice chancellor of government and corporate affairs. “Ninety percent of what we’re interested in happens in the state budget,” Hoslet said.
Paul Fanlund: Is Wisconsin destined to be a Rust Belt backwater?
Capital Times
Maybe the GOP has actually convinced voters that we do not need and cannot afford a world-class research university such as the one we have at UW-Madison. After all, it is GOP pols who like to say — to dodge overwhelming evidence that climate change exists — that they cannot opine on it because they are not scientists. So, not grasping the promise of stem cells and other advanced research, maybe they think Wisconsin’s flagship university should stick to training for professions they understand.
Will UW-Madison be exempt from Ray Cross’ proposed system reforms?
Capital Times
Controversial reforms proposed by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Burlington, for the University of Wisconsin — like monitoring professors’ workload and rethinking tenure — may not even be applicable at UW-Madison, says faculty advocacy group PROFS.
Spencer Black: GOP: We don’t need no stinkin’ scientists
Capital Times
And the second most powerful state political figure, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, has joined the attack on science. Vos … threatened that he wants university research to focus exclusively on economic development and not, as he put it, “on the ancient mating habits of whatever.” University researchers will now have to worry that the guy who holds their purse strings and can cut their budget will be passing judgment on what they should research.
Thousands of state workers receive raises
WLUK-TV, Green Bay
For the third straight year, dozens of state agencies handed out bonuses and raises to state workers.
Tom Still: Holiday perks includes naughty and nice in Wisconsin politics
UW President Ray Cross – It’s tough enough to have 17 bosses on the UW Board of Regents, but Cross seems to have picked 132 more in the Wisconsin Legislature. A stocking stuffer for Cross is a copy of “My Way or the Highway: The Micromanagement Survival Guide.”
Wisconsin fraud hotline got 201 tips over 2 years
Madison.com
Noted: The Audit Bureau says tips cover a wide variety of topics including the use of parking fees and fines at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, difficulty filing unemployment insurance claims and welfare fraud.
UW-Superior faces a new economic reality
Business North
As a new budget cycle approached early this year, University of Wisconsin-Superior administrators anticipated the campus would receive added revenue from a tuition increase and more money from the UW System.
Director of state group that advocates for religious schools named UW-Madison lobbyist
AP
MADISON, Wisconsin — The director of a group that advocates for religious and private schools was named Thursday as the new lobbyist for the University of Wisconsin-Madison at a salary 14 percent higher than his predecessor’s.
Chris Rickert: Drug-addicted newborns, rape victims and the politics of suffering
Madison.com
Passed with bipartisan majorities in 1997-98, the law, according to UW-Madison law and bioethics professor R. Alta Charo, is also filled with “ambiguous language that gives authorities tremendous discretion.”
Chancellor stresses investment in university, raises funding concerns
Beloit Daily News
Rebecca Blank, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, spoke about the importance of investing in the university at a Rotary Club of Beloit lunch Tuesday.
In the Spirit: Atheist ‘Christmas’ displays overtaking religious ones at Capitol
Wisconsin State Journal
A UW-Madison atheist group has added three new displays to the state Capitol rotunda this holiday season.
Paul Fanlund: No end in sight to Wisconsin’s politics of resentment
Capital Times
Contains perspectives from poli sci profs Kathy Cramer, Barry Burden.
Vos: Slow down on right-to-work
Racine Journal-Times
Vos said he wants to more closely monitor university professors to make sure they are carrying an appropriate course load as a teacher or conducting productive research.
Natural Resources Board expands list of invasive species
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: In July, authorities announced the discovery of Asian crazy worm at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum. Since then its popped up in spots across the state, including multiple locations in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties.
Scott Walker’s comments on right-to-work plan echo those of Michigan governor
Wisconsin State Journal
William Jones, a UW-Madison history professor, cited comments Walker made to Beloit billionaire Diane Hendricks, a prominent GOP donor, in January 2011. Hendricks had asked Walker whether lawmakers could make Wisconsin a “completely red state” and “become a right-to-work state.” Walker replied that the “first step” was public employee unions, “because you use divide and conquer.” “I think it’s clear that he supports this type of thing,” Jones said.
Ray Cross calls for closer look at UW student fees, faculty research and graduation requirements
Wisconsin State Journal
University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross said it’s time for a fresh look at how the statewide system does business, calling for an array of measures that would cut costs and could affect campus life.
UW System could see a major belt-tightening
Wisconsin Radio Network
University of Wisconsin System president Ray Cross is proposing changes in three main areas in an effort to enhance quality and affordability.
Plan to add engineering degrees at three UW campuses meets resistance from Madison, Platteville
Wisconsin State Journal
Rebecca Blank, UW-Madison chancellor, echoed those concerns at a November Board of Regents meeting, calling the proposed creation of new programs “really foolish.” UW-Madison, the flagship, has by far the largest engineering program, followed by UW-Platteville, UW-Milwaukee and UW-Stevens Point. The chancellors at River Falls, Eau Claire and Stout — along the Interstate 94 corridor — proposed the Northwest Wisconsin Engineering Consortium in response, they said, to growing demand from business owners for more engineers in the region.
UW proposes hotline to report fraud
Madison.com
A hotline could soon be in place to report waste, fraud or abuse by University of Wisconsin System employees or schools, separate from an existing hotline run by the state audit bureau.
Plain Talk: Preening Robin Vos is genuine political bully
Capital Times
Although he served as a student member of the UW Board of Regents back in 1989, he has had the UW-Madison in the cross hairs because some in the administration crossed him. His latest threat is to have the Republican-led Legislature micromanage how many hours professors spend in the classroom — and worse, make sure the UW’s huge research function is geared to helping the state’s economy, rather than focusing on “ancient mating habits of whatever.” It shows how ignorant Vos and all too many of his colleagues are about the UW-Madison and its internationally renowned research, which has found cures for diseases, revolutionized farming and the production of food, educated students who have gone out to lead the business world, is on the cutting edge of stem cell development and is a leader in countless other scientific and technology areas — benefits for not only Wisconsin’s economy, but the world.
UW-Madison CALS commemorating 125th anniversary
The Country Today
Kate VandenBosch realizes that as dramatic as changes have been at the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences since the college was founded in 1889, they are likely to be equally as dramatic as the college moves into the next 125 years of its existence. In fact, VandenBosch has witnessed significant change on the campus even since she took over as the CALS dean in March of 2012.
Chancellor: Morgridge gift not a blank check, state still needs to fund UW
Badger Herald
University of Wisconsin Chancellor Rebecca Blank stressed the importance of being transparent with state legislators about what a recently announced $100 million gift will mean for UW at a Faculty Senate meeting Monday.
A Look At Abundant Water Systems in the Northwoods
WXPR-FM, Rhinelander
Two speakers coming to the Northwoods this week will discuss water relationships in northern Wisconsin. Lakes, streams and wetlands are abundant in Wisconsin’s Northwoods. Emily Stanley from UW Madison’s Center for Limnology says the water resources here are intricately linked, and are really one resource.
Wisconsin Assembly Speaker misrepresents UW research
Badger Herald
Recently, in discussing the University of Wisconsin System’s request for $95.2 million more in state funding, Wisconsin Assembly Speaker and former UW System regent Robin Vos, R-Rochester, commented on the research being done at the University of Wisconsin. He said UW should have “research done in a way that focuses on growing our economy, not on, you know, ancient mating habits or whatever.” Although this comment could be dismissed as a malicious statement against UW, it is important that we discuss why this sentiment is false and potentially detrimental.
Academics in UW system get $17.3M in overage pay
Madison.com
UW-Madison paid full professors an average of $109,300 — 25 percent below the median among 11 comparable schools around the nation.
Schimel names business lobbyist as top aide
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Noted: Also on the transition team are Ave Bie, a managing partner at the Quarles & Brady law firm and a former chairwoman of the state Public Service Commission; former Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Michael Brennan; Mark Cameli, a member of the board of law firm Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren; former Lt. Gov. Margaret Farrow; Brian OKeefe, the director of law enforcement services for Van Hollen; and Raymond Taffora, vice chancellor for legal affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a former deputy to Van Hollen and former Gov. Tommy Thompson.
AG-elect Schimel names transition team
AP
Schimel also has tapped former Lt. Gov. Margaret Farrow; Brian O’Keefe, a current DOJ administrator; and Raymond Taffora, vice chancellor of legal affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a former Wisconsin deputy attorney general, to serve on the team.
Cambridge students becoming Booster Seat Heroes
Cambridge News / Deerfield Independent
The booster-seat education program was developed by UW-Madison nursing students as their clinical project for the health department.
Four years later: How does Wisconsin’s budget outlook in 2015 compare to 2011?
Capital Times
(Wis. Taxpayer’s Alliance’s) Berry also addressed the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents earlier this month along with Department of Workforce Development secretary Reggie Newson … The two talked about the role of education in Wisconsin’s economic outlook and Newson noted the growing need for more bachelor’s degree-holders in Wisconsin. “The university shouldn’t be figuring out how to fill today’s jobs but how to spawn tomorrow’s quirky thinkers who innovate, who will sometimes succeed and sometimes fail,” Berry told the board.
State faces $2.2 billion deficit heading into 2015-17 budget cycle
Wisconsin State Journal
That’s a sizable hole for Walker, who is contemplating a 2016 presidential run, to climb out of as he crafts his budget proposal due out early next year. Achieving a balanced budget will require scaling back program requests, especially if he wants to cut taxes further.
Unions skeptical of discussed changes to Wisconsin employee health insurance
Capital Times
Gov. Scott Walker’s administration has contracted with the Segal Co. to study potential cost-cutting changes to the state’s health insurance plans, including moving to a self-insured coverage program, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Wednesday.
DOA projects Wisconsin revenues to fall short of spending requests
Wisconsin Radio Network
Budget requests from Wisconsin government agencies exceed expected state revenues in the next two-year budget cycle. Those numbers will be a starting point for Republican Governor Scott Walker and GOP legislators as they begin the task of putting together a state budget – one they hope will include a tax cut.