About two weeks ago, The Princeton Review released a report ranking UW-Madison the fifth-highest-valued public university in the country-in other words, a steal of a deal. Sitting just behind the State University of New York-Binghamton, New College of Florida, the University of Virginia and the country's number one best deal, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, UW-Madison's tuition, despite budget cuts, is relatively low compared to Big Ten schools across the country.
While $9,671 per year is no small sum for an in-state student, does UW-Madison's ranking as a low-cost, high-value institution have additional implications on prospective students' pocket books?
Last Monday, the Daily Cardinal Editorial Board sat down with UW-Madison Chancellor David Ward and Vice Chancellor for Administration Darrell Bazzell to talk about just that.
When asked whether the university's ranking as the fifth-highest-valued public institution gave further leeway to raise tuition, Ward replied with a confident yet humble, "It does," but quickly explained that increasing tuition in order to stitch up budget cuts was a fourth or fifth option, not the UW's first course of action.
So what is?
Technological innovations, blended learning, peer learning, distance learning. Learning, learning, learning. As part of his two-year plan, with the first year being the one of dialogue and the second being the year of implementation, Ward has focused his time as interim chancellor on finding ways to better use technology to increase efficiency and delivery of education-ultimately saving time and resources for teachers.
In the midst of a scorching political climate and burned-out budget, Ward said he has looked internally for solutions. Peering through different departments to gauge how technology is being used, Ward has sparked a restructuring conversation built around technological advances as a means to save money.
From transitioning courses to provide online lectures with in-person discussions, to providing Internet courses to students from different campuses, to creating math and science programs centered around self-paced learning, Ward believes utilizing technology will provide the university with a "better structure" that has the potential to save money in the long run.
And we agree. While these innovations may only save a few drops in the bucket initially, it's an idea that's got the university as a whole talking and re-thinking efficiencies. In our discussion with Ward, he mentioned how impressed and surprised he was by the Department of Psychology's recent reorganization of its course and graduation program-an overhaul that cleaned up unnecessary classes and provided clarity for students.
In our eyes, we see this ambitious initiative as a model for other departments to consider when going over internal budgets and course requirements, but we feel obligated to warn against the powerful connotations "innovation" holds. Yes, going digital is innovative, but is it really the best way to learn? When considering these changes in learning environments, it is paramount we maintain our status as the fifth-best value by continuing to maintain that same value in our education.
There is a fine line between technological innovations and reorganization of programs to better save money. While we support Ward's plans to pursue these technological objectives during his second and final year as Chancellor, we sincerely hope he doesn't leave this institution disappointed.
Tell us what you think about Ward's ideas by sending all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
