Chancellor Biddy Martin presented a compromise between the New Badger Partnership and the Board of Regents' Wisconsin Idea Partnership that would provide the UW System more flexibilities while maintaining public authority status for UW-Madison.
In a letter to the state Legislature's budget committee Friday, Martin highlighted statutory changes to Gov. Scott Walker's budget that would provide more autonomy for the UW System to set tuition, control funding and create personnel systems among other freedoms.
""UW-Madison seeks to maintain its treatment in the current budget bill to become a public authority,"" Martin said in the letter. ""It also supports the provision of flexibilities for all other institutions within the UW System.""
The letter came following a charge from Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon, for the UW System and Martin to work together to bring the UW System forward.
UW System Spokesperson David Giroux said Martin's proposed changes fail to address the core issue the UW System has with the New Badger Partnership.
""It doesn't do anything to address the real fundamental issue, which is splitting UW-Madison from the system which is the part of this that worries people as much as the absence of flexibility for the other campuses,"" Giroux said.
Although Giroux said the UW System welcomes the input from Martin, he said it offers no concessions or changes to make it a legitimate compromise.
In order to have greater appeal within the state Legislature, Giroux said he believes the UW System and Martin need one proposal that would benefit the entire UW System, which he believes the Wisconsin Idea Partnership would do.
""It provides the functional benefits and flexibilities that every campus needs—including UW-Madison—within a unified system of high education,"" Giroux said. ""Why is it necessary to separate UW-Madison to achieve the functional changes we need when we know there is a different way to do that?""
