The UW System Board of Regents discussed increasing tuitions, decreasing endowments and a larger-than-expected budget for the construction of the new Union South at a meeting Friday.
UW System President Kevin Reilly announced Friday funds totaling $700,000 from over 30 UW System endowments will be suspended from distribution because their values have dropped.
Rather than further erode the principal, we are taking the prudent steps to preserve these funds for the long term,"" Reilly said.
According to UW System spokesperson David Giroux, the suspension of these funds will have wide-ranging effects.
Funds for scholarships and research throughout the UW System will feel the repercussions of the decrease in funds, Giroux said. He said he expects the suspension to last four quarters.
The Board of Regents also passed a resolution to increase the budget for the building of Union South by $7 million to a total of $94.8 million. The total project costs include $3.5 million of gift funding and $87 million in program revenue borrowing.
The regents also approved an increase in differential tuition programs at UW-Oshkosh, UW-Platteville and UW-Milwaukee. There were no changes in tuition for existing differential programs at UW-Madison, but such programs will come back up for regular review, Giroux said.
On an optimistic note, Kris Andrews, UW System assistant vice president for federal relations, announced expected funds Wisconsin will receive from the pending federal stimulus package.
""Education aid was really a very significant part of that package, intended to help states avoid significant cuts to education,"" Andrews said.
The government is expected to distribute federal funds for education through existing formulas on a competitive basis. The current stimulus bill in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate would make a $2,500 tax credit available for four years of higher education per student, Andrews said.
Reilly also announced a new Research to Jobs Task Force, which will study the UW System research and patent process. Reilly mentioned Gov. Jim Doyle's recent creation of the Office of Recovery and Reinvestment, as well as the goals in the Growth Agenda, as motivations for the new task force.
Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council, discussed the economic benefits of academic research and development in Wisconsin.
""The innovation economy is being driven by human capital, and that's where the university system has a unique role and a unique edge,"" he said.
