While some are optimistic, others remain hesitant about substantial changes to the UW System proposed in Gov. Scott Walker's 2011-'13 budget. In an effort to combat the budget deficit, Walker proposed a plan to remove UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee from the UW System, in addition to cutting $250 million in state aid from the system, $125 million of which will be directly from UW-Madison.
Chancellor Biddy Martin said although the ""very deep and painful"" cuts would require the university to make sacrifices, the flexibility granted through the removal of UW-Madison from the system would the blow.
""What we have got to do now is use all the tools we have available to us, which will include greater flexibility, some tuition increases that we have to be very thoughtful about and some actual cuts, because there is no way to do all of this without changing something in the way we are operating,"" Martin said.
Martin said although it is too soon to announce how the 13 percent cut will materialize at the university level, deans, unit heads and academic planning councils have already started working to allocate the cuts.
""What we've asked everyone to do is think really hard about their priorities, about the university's strength, about our educational programs and make strategic decisions, not just cut everything across the board,"" Martin said.
In a similar fashion to UW-Madison, Walker's budget proposes establishing UW-Milwaukee as a public authority model.
As a public authority model, the universities would have independent governing boards and would receive their funds from the state in block grants to be allotted at their discretion.
Walker brought up the possibility of a flexibility model for UW-Milwaukee after meeting with UW System chancellors in February.
Some in the UW-Milwaukee community have apprehensions concerning the split.
""We welcome the governor's commitment to give us greater flexibility, however we don't know what the impact of moving to a different governance system would be on our campus,"" said UW-Milwaukee Vice Chancellor for University Relations Tom Luljak in a statement.
As the only two research universities with doctoral programs in the UW System, UW-Milwaukee community members worry they will not be able to compete with UW-Madison for necessary resources.
""UW-Milwaukee is in a different position than the Madison campus, which has many more resources available to it,"" Luljak said.
Some student leaders at UW-Milwaukee, however, see the proposed split as a double-edged sword.
UW-Milwaukee Student Government President Travis Romero-Boeck said he worries that the university lacks commonalities with what would be the remaining system schools.
Additionally, Romero-Boeck said UW-Milwaukee serves different constituencies than UW-Madison, something he believes could hinder the success of a separation and alter the demographic that the school currently serves.
""Not every school has the infrastructure and the tuition revenue to do this,"" Romero-Boeck said. ""I'm not even sure, at this point, that Milwaukee could do it.""
The budget proposes an expansion of the G.I. Bill to provide reimbursement of academic fees to veterans for up to 128 credits or eight semesters at a higher education institution.
Walker's proposed budget also includes the phasing out of the Wisconsin Covenant Foundation, a scholarship program aimed at low-income and first-generational students, limiting it to students who sign up before Sept. 30, 2011.
The foundation, requiring a B average and community service, provides support and financial aid to high school students whose families earn $80,000 or less to gain admission to partnered higher education institutions.
Also in the budget, Walker proposes to eliminate in-state tuition rates for undocumented persons at UW-Madison, UW System campuses and technical colleges.
Walker also proposed in his budget and highlighted in his address that all UW System four-year campuses be authorized to create a charter school.
Martin said she was surprised by the governor's charter school proposal as she was not aware it was a major issue. She said she could not remember any UW chancellors, including herself, expressing an interest in creating a charter school.
