UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank supported employees’ contribution on campus in a blog post Thursday, after various statements suggested faculty increase their workload.
While she supports future discussions about faculty workload, Blank acknowledges the work faculty puts in outside of class time. Blank said in a February forum there will “almost surely” be layoffs across departments due to Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed $300 million budget cuts to UW System institutions.
A 2014 study reported that faculty work an average of 63 hours per week, including work with undergraduate classes, office hours, graduate students and outside research, according to the blog post.
Although Blank did not address anyone specifically, in January Gov. Scott Walker told reporters that Madison’s share of the budget cuts, around $90 million, could be reduced if faculty taught additional classes.
“They might be able to make savings just by asking faculty and staff to consider teaching one more class per semester,” Walker said, according to a Wisconsin State Journal article. “Things like that could have a tremendous impact on making sure that we preserve an affordable education for all of our UW campuses, and at the same time we maintain a high-quality education.”
Blank referenced the necessity of professor-based research in the state economy. The research brings in approximately $800 million in state revenue, according to Blank. The chancellor said faculty must balance teaching with research and various administrative roles such as department chairs.
“I know how hard most of our faculty work and how much they contribute,” Blank said in the post. “It should also be noted that many of our staff and faculty could be making more in private sector jobs or in other states, but they have chosen to dedicate themselves to public service in Wisconsin.”
