With tuition going up and student services going down, students targeted UW-Madison administration with questions concerning alarming trends in class availability and funding at the Memorial Union Thursday.a
\How long is this world-class university going to stay a world-class university without the funding,"" asked Brian Jenks, campus relations chair for the Associated Students of Madison, who hosted the event.
UW-Madison Provost Peter Spear represented the administration and briefly explained recent budget cuts.
""There was a lot of misunderstanding over what the cuts were and how they were made,"" he said.
Spear explained despite the 18 percent tuition increase last year, the university was still left with a $23 million budget cut. He added that over the past three years the university has seen an approximately $50 million loss in state funding and that this year university administration is receiving the largest budget cut of all university departments.
""We're at risk if the state continues to decrease funding at the university,"" he said.
Students were especially interested in the decision process behind class cuts. Spear told them that it is actually the individual colleges and not the administration that decide which classes are cut. Criteria colleges use to make class eliminations include student demand, program quality, class uniqueness and how many majors for which the class is needed.
One student asked Spear if online courses would be the new direction of Madison instruction.
""Online courses are a supplement, not a substitute, for a residential, face to face education,"" he stated. He further addressed inquiries into professors' salaries, saying that while professors' salaries have been capped frequently in the past few years, it is a detrimental policy for the university.
""[Higher paying universities] come and raid us,"" he said. ""And when they raid us, they don't just take any professor, they take the best ones.""
Spear also dismissed the possibility of offsetting tuition increases by accepting more out-of-state students, who pay higher tuition.
""The ratio of in-state to out-of-state students is capped by regents,"" he said, adding this makes it impossible to fix the problem in such a way.
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Paul Barrows addressed a larger issue.
""A lot of legislators see the university as this big fat cat they can tap into, something that's not important to their district. But there are a lot of students, parents and alumni in their districts that need to let them know the university is important.\
