Sifting and Winnowing

In her latest post on Education Optimists, Prof. Sara Goldrick-Rab steps back a bit from the contentious debate over the public authority proposal (that according to at least some other posts to S&W — e.g,. this one and this one — is now seemingly on life support) and challenges us — and the Board of Regents — to look ahead and  open the door to “fierce conversations about two key issues that have received insufficient attention in the debate over the New Badger Partnership”:

1. The public purpose of our flagship university
2. The way we spend our money

Like all of her posts that we have seen to date, this one is informed, thoughtful, provocative, and simply a must-read for those who care about the future of UW-Madison:   A challenge to the Board of Regents.

Please read it.  And while you’re at it, read this as well (from another author): Giving Away the Farm: The Folly in Privatizing UCLA’s Anderson School of Management

I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today [April 27, 2011].  The Downtown Rotary has a great tradition of providing a forum for important ideas to be discussed.  I believe this issue certainly qualifies.

Kevin Reilly has described how the proposal by the Board of Regents would provide some much needed flexibility and additional autonomy for the universities in the UW System, including the UW-Madison, as they go about their business.

I strongly support that proposal.  Donna Shalala, my former boss, referred to the State of Wisconsin, meant ironically of course, as having what she described as a “world class bureaucracy.”  This has always been a burden.  Now that the universities are experiencing huge and continuing budget cuts, the lack of flexibility is even more painful. (more…)

One area in which both the proponents and opponents of public authority status (not actually the same as the New Badger Partnership) have been curiously silent is on undergraduate enrollment controls.  Board of regents policy requires that UW-Madison maintain an enrollment of roughly 75% Badgers (including Gophers) and 25% out-of-state students.  Will this same split be required by the proposed board of trustees? The chancellor has promised that the number of places for Wisconsin students won’t be reduced, but has said nothing about whether the percentages will change. (more…)

A few weeks ago, few would have expected that the bottom of the Public Authority proposal would collapse so rapidly, so unceremoniously.

The first sign of real stress were a chain of newspaper editorials from around the state criticizing the Governor’s “end-run” around the legislative process by including this monumental proposal in his budget. Newspapers ranging from Sparta News (on the left) to Beloit News (right) and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel all basically repeated the same points. Only the Walker-boosting, Wisconsin State Journal continued to tout the wonderful “flexibilities” inherent in the Public Authority. (more…)