Archive for the ‘The University Budget’ Category

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The missing message about universities and society.

Thursday, June 28th, 2012

The role of public higher education in a rapidly changing world rose to prominence  last week with two developments:  the University of Virginia’s governance debacle (see local commentary here) and the announcement of Gov. Scott Walker’s Flexible Online Degree initiative.

As noted in the previous article by another contributor, these two events have more in common than one might surmise from the above.  Both highlight the growing problem of affordability of four-year degrees, and both have their roots in the notion that the traditional model of university education has become outdated and inefficient.  In both cases, online education as a substitute for bricks-and-mortar lecture halls is/was touted as a solution. (more…)

Posted in College costs, Online education, State-University Relations, The University Budget, The University System, The Wisconsin Idea, UW Extension | No Comments »

The continued marketization of UW-Madison.

Thursday, May 3rd, 2012

This article has been cross-posted from the The Education Optimists at the request of the author. – Ed.

Last year, I wrote extensively about efforts led by former Chancellor Biddy Martin and her administration, donors, and alumni to privatize (or at least semi-privatize) the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  That effort was partially successful, for while Martin and colleagues failed to separate Madison from the rest of the UW System, or gain authority over tuition setting, they did succeed in getting Madison the authority to redesign its human resources system.  This new “flexibility” was praised by many on campus, including staff, faculty, and students, who recognize that the current bureaucracy is not working, especially for those outside of administration.

So, this year the Human Resource Design Project has been advertised as a tremendous opportunity, hard won, and far better than the alternative — the status quo.  Perhaps.  But few reforms are without consequence, and the recommendations recently offered by the working teams in HR Design suggest this case is no exception.   (more…)

Posted in Academic staff, Classified staff, Collective bargaining, Compensation, Shared governance, State worker benefits, State-University Relations, The University Budget, The UW-Madison Campus | 3 Comments »

WUU releases “Review of Recommendations of the HR Design Project Compensation Work Team”

Tuesday, May 1st, 2012

This document was received together with the press release appearing in the previous post.  Again, reader comments are strongly encouraged. – Ed.

The Human Resource (HR) Design Project has completed the first phase of its process. The initial work team draft recommendations can be found here. Many of the reports are lengthy and discuss very detailed issues related to personnel policies and have a fairly limited effect on the careers of most employees. The most notable exception is the report of the compensation work team. If the recommendations of this work team were enacted, every employee on campus would be affected. (more…)

Posted in Compensation, State worker benefits, The University Budget, The UW-Madison Campus | No Comments »

WUU: “Proposed UW compensation plan may result in greater inequities in pay and a bigger bureaucracy.”

Tuesday, May 1st, 2012

The following press release was received by S&W from the Wisconsin University Union.  Reader comments are encouraged.

For Immediate Release: May 1, 2012
For More Information Contact: David Ahrens: 334 1156/ Steve Bauman: 849-4847

Proposed UW Compensation Plan May Result in Greater Inequities in Pay and a Bigger Bureaucracy

Wisconsin University Union (WUU), an advocacy organization for UW-Madison faculty and academic staff, expressed serious concerns about the Human Resource Design Project’s (HRDP) recommendations for a new compensation system released last week. “The recommendations are based on undefined methods, could lead to substantial reductions in salaries and also require a new bureaucracy to administer”, said WUU spokesperson David Ahrens. (more…)

Posted in Compensation, State worker benefits, The University Budget, The UW-Madison Campus | No Comments »

Responding to decreased state support: A modest proposal.

Monday, March 5th, 2012

The Commission on Faculty Compensation and Economic Benefits has issued its annual report for 2011-2012 [PDF].  The commission rightly identifies a looming crisis in compensation for faculty and staff  at UW-Madison.  The report provides not only a thoughtful and sober analysis of the magnitude of the problem and of the role of sharply declining state support in exacerbating the problem; it also offers a fairly exhaustive itemization of options available to help mitigate the crisis; e.g., increased efficiencies, alternative revenue sources, and “temporary incentives.” (more…)

Posted in College costs, Retention, State-University Relations, The University Budget, The UW-Madison Campus | 9 Comments »

Give the Wisconsin Compact some teeth.

Friday, February 17th, 2012

Last Wednesday, the Joint Finance Committee handed UW System an additional $46.1 million cut in the form a budget lapse, continuing the deleterious trend of divestment from public higher education and the economic engine of Wisconsin. Like the $250 million that JFC cut from UW System this summer, this $46.1 million budget lapse will lead to continued faculty and staff salary freezes, gradually rising tuition, and threats to UW-Madison’s ability to produce an educated workforce for the twenty-first century. Although it is politically convenient to blame these cuts on the current Republican legislature and the Walker administration, the cuts to UW System have long-standing bipartisan roots. (more…)

Posted in College costs, State-University Relations, The University Budget, The University System | 3 Comments »

Supporting our future.

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

As the new year approaches, I have our future students on my mind.

Today one of our core values is at stake—something that should concern all of us who are committed to the future of our college, UW–Madison and Wisconsin. I am talking about declining state support for postsecondary education and its devastating effect on our young people and their opportunities. (more…)

Posted in Agricultural and Life Sciences, College costs, State-University Relations, The University Budget | 1 Comment »

The real UW pay plan.

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011
This figure (click to enlarge) represents the real and nominal changes in the salary of a UW System employee. This does not include total compensation such as health insurance, costs of leave benefits, etc.
However, it does include reductions in salary due to higher co-pays for insurance and WRS. It also includes the reductions of salary due to furlough and the addition of 3% when the furloughs ended. I do not project the loss of real income in 2012 due to inflation and no increase in salary.
Contact David at wiununion@gmail.com for more info, comments, etc.

Posted in Compensation, State worker benefits, The University Budget, The University System | No Comments »

Rise in sticker price at public colleges outpaces that at private colleges for 5th year in a row.

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011

The Chronicle of Higher Education recently published the following article on rising costs at public universities:

Rise in Sticker Price at Public Colleges Outpaces That at Private Colleges for 5th Year in a Row, by Beckie Supiano, October 26, 2011

The average price for tuition and fees at public four-year colleges was $8,244 for in-state students in 2011-12, up from $7,613 in 2010-11, an 8.3-percent increase. That percentage change drops to 7.0 percent if California—which had a 21-percent increase in tuition in that one-year period—is excluded.

Here in Wisconsin, in-state tuition and fees for the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the fall 2011 semester totaled $4,832.50, compared with $4,491.60 for the fall 2010 semester; in-state tuition and fees for UW-Milwaukee for the fall 2011 semester totaled $4,337.70, compared with $4,075.63 for the fall 2010 semester.   In percentage terms, the increases are 7.6% and 6.4%, respectively.

The basic message in this is that UW-Madison’s in-state tuition is still well below the national average, but the percentage increase is comparable to that experienced elsewhere.  In short, like elsewhere, the investment by the state of Wisconsin in making higher education affordable for all of its citizens is being dialed back.

We already knew this, of course.  But the latest massive hits to the UW-System budget, not reflected in the above figures,  are virtually certain to sharply accelerate the cost increases.    In fact,  if current trends continue, we can expect to see the distinction between private and public institutions become almost meaningless.

Is this really what the citizens of Wisconsin want?

 

Posted in College costs, State-University Relations, The University Budget, The University System, The UW-Madison Campus | 1 Comment »

The UW Budget: From bad to worse in 2 days.

Friday, October 21st, 2011

My posting on Wednesday on the reductions in state funding of UW was incorrect. I relied on a number of news accounts (Milwaukee  Journal-Sentinel, WSJ, etc.) for the information. Now, having read Vice Chancellor Bazzell’s memo, it is clear that the cuts will be far worse than originally reported.

To recap, news accounts in all major media initially stated that the UW-System would be subject to about $65 million in cuts over the biennium as a part of an overall state budget reduction of $174 million. (UW-Madison’s share of the reduction would be $24.6 million.) The Dept of Administration, which apportions the cuts, did not explain why UW would shoulder 37% of the reduction despite the fact that it constitutes only 7% of the state budget.

Today, the other shoe dropped. The other shoe in this instance is the probable loss of $111 million over the biennium; our share of an overall budget reduction of $300 million. Madison’s loss would be $42.6 million. This loss alone could not be “made up” if tuition for every student was increased $1000/ year. This is, of course, in addition to the $250 million loss to the System (and Madison) in the budget passed last summer. In contrast, aid to local government ($1.9 billion) is only nicked ($3 million) as is aid to K-12 education, the biggest item in the budget. Under the “$300 million scenario”, the UWS would still lose a disproportionate share of its state funding at a ratio of 5:1.

While the budget reduction of $300 million has not been ordered, agencies have been told to prepare for the loss. The reduction will be ordered if tax revenues do not increase in the next few months.

Under the $300 million reduction scenario, the Dept of Corrections would reduce its budget by $23 million or 1.4%. This would result in the UW receiving 6.7% of the state budget and the Dept of Corrections receiving 6.8%. The trend lines have crossed.

UW System
Budget % of Total State Budget % of Agency Budget
Before Cut $2,095,251,600 7.2%
Cut $163,900,000 7.8%
After Cut $1,931,351,600 6.7%
Department of Corrections
Budget % of Total State Budget % of agency budget
Before Cut $1,994,614,400 6.9%
Cut $27,924,602 1.4%
After Cut $1,966,689,798 6.8%

DMA

Posted in State-University Relations, The University Budget, The University System | 5 Comments »

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