Budget Awaits a Key Variable
Wisconsin state revenue comprises 26 percent of UW-Madison's overall annual budget. But, as has been demonstrated during recent debates over the state's 200203 budget, that slice holds far more than fractional interest among campus administrators.
State legislators have been locked throughout spring in efforts to resolve Wisconsin's $1.1 billion budget shortfall, placing the UW System in an anxious wait to see how its budget for the coming academic year will be affected. Most UW leaders expect that their budgets will be cut, but they also are sending strong messages that deep cuts will directly threaten the UW's ability to serve students.
In March, the State Assembly passed a proposed budget that included $108 million in cuts from the UW System — more than twice the amount recommended earlier by Governor Scott McCallum. In response, the Board of Regents temporarily suspended admissions at all UW campuses, citing the potential cuts as a variable that could affect how many students the campuses would be able to accommodate.
State legislators have been locked throughout spring in efforts to resolve Wisconsin's $1.1 billion budget shortfall, placing the UW System in an anxious wait to see how its budget for the coming academic year will be affected. Most UW leaders expect that their budgets will be cut, but they also are sending strong messages that deep cuts will directly threaten the UW's ability to serve students.
In March, the State Assembly passed a proposed budget that included $108 million in cuts from the UW System — more than twice the amount recommended earlier by Governor Scott McCallum. In response, the Board of Regents temporarily suspended admissions at all UW campuses, citing the potential cuts as a variable that could affect how many students the campuses would be able to accommodate.
The freeze came after UW-Madison had wrapped up most of its admissions decisions, but Chancellor John Wiley MS'65, PhD'68 says that the regents' action illustrates how significantly the university's educational programs depend on state funding. Changes in state funding directly affect the resources UW-Madison can provide to students, he says.
Despite being a fraction of overall revenue, state money makes up nearly all of the funding for instruction and student-learning activities. The university can't shift other funds to help offset losses, Wiley says, because most of the other revenue streams — such as research grants or private gifts — are dedicated to specific purposes. "I can't, for example, reallocate a National Science Foundation grant to hire an instructor, an adviser, or an admissions officer," he says.
Wiley says that the university could manage the cuts proposed by the governor by scaling back the Madison Initiative, an economic stimulus package begun in 1999. The Assembly's plan would cut far deeper, scrapping the Madison Initiative entirely and slicing into core funding for education, he says. "That's why we screamed," he adds.
Despite being a fraction of overall revenue, state money makes up nearly all of the funding for instruction and student-learning activities. The university can't shift other funds to help offset losses, Wiley says, because most of the other revenue streams — such as research grants or private gifts — are dedicated to specific purposes. "I can't, for example, reallocate a National Science Foundation grant to hire an instructor, an adviser, or an admissions officer," he says.
Wiley says that the university could manage the cuts proposed by the governor by scaling back the Madison Initiative, an economic stimulus package begun in 1999. The Assembly's plan would cut far deeper, scrapping the Madison Initiative entirely and slicing into core funding for education, he says. "That's why we screamed," he adds.
The regents lifted the freeze after McCallum and other legislators gave assurances that they would work to lessen the Assembly's proposals. As of press time, representatives of the Assembly and State Senate were trying to broker compromises on more than three hundred differences between their budget proposals.
