Following December’s deal between the University of Wisconsin System and the Republican-controlled budget-writing committee, a new committee will recommend legislation to address future plans for the UW System.
The committee will discuss issues including demographic trends affecting the UW System and its infrastructure, administrative and governance needs starting on July 11. The committee will also discuss the possibility of separating the University of Wisconsin-Madison from the rest of the UW System last proposed by former Republican Gov. Scott Walker in 2011.
Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, will lead the 18-member committee, and Sen. Cory Tomczyk, R-Mosinee, will serve as vice chair. The committee includes state lawmakers, professors and business professionals.
The committee will meet several times through the remainder of the year and likely into 2025. These committees are commonly used as a nonpartisan forum for drafting policy to be considered by legislators when they return to Madison.
"The study committee is, I believe, an opportunity to have some very public, open and honest conversations about where we see the Universities of Wisconsin headed in the years to come," Nedweski told the Cap Times.
But some committee members are not as optimistic.
"I think the study committee may already be a farce before it starts," Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, told the Cap Times.
Separating UW-Madison from the UW System
Separating UW-Madison from the UW System was last seriously considered in 2011. After Walker proposed $250 million in UW System cuts, then-UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin proposed a plan to remove UW-Madison from the system and manage itself in exchange for less state funding.
The proposal, which received the approval of the UW-Madison Faculty Senate but later died in the Legislature, was extremely divisive and was a factor in Martin’s resignation later that year. Since then, suggestions to separate UW-Madison have been floated but haven’t gone far.
Nedweski told the Cap Times the idea would be discussed but is not the main priority of the committee.
Trying times
Despite a 0.5% increase in systemwide enrollment in 2024 — the first since 2014 — and a 3% increase in freshman enrollment at UW-Madison, the percentage of Wisconsin high school graduates enrolling in college immediately after leaving high school is decreasing.
With falling enrollment rates and financial worries, six two-year UW campuses across the state will close their doors following the spring 2025 semester.
Last year, Republican lawmakers, led by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, cut UW System funding by $32 million, including $7 million to UW-Madison, over the next two years in an effort to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts. The money was released as part of the December deal to cap hiring for DEI positions.
"I prefer to not refight the battle of DEI," committee member and former Board of Regents member Robert Atwell told the Cap Times. "I think that it was an important discussion that was had, and I don't think anyone was very happy with how it all ended."
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said he will ask the Legislature to give the UW System more than $800 million in his 2025-27 budget in what he said would be “the largest biennial budget increase in our UW system's state history.”
The balance of the Legislature hangs on November’s election, where half of the state’s Senate seats and all Assembly seats will be up for reelection.
Campus News Editor Gavin Escott contributed reporting to this article.
Tomer Ronen is the Features Editor for the Daily Cardinal. He has covered protests, state politics, sports and more. Follow him on Twitter at @TRonen22.
