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Students open up debate
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Also by Sundeep Malladi:
- In-Depth: What's affected by budget cuts? (September 1, 2005)
- In-Depth: Rising past the numbers (November 10, 2005)
Related Stories:
- Hundreds protest proposed tuition hike (March 21, 2002)
- Wiley expresses frustration with budget; hints at tuition raise (February 20, 2003)
- Lyall outlines UW's fiscal future (November 20, 2002)
- Students sign doors to lower tuition (February 16, 2005)
- Students protest tuition hikes (February 25, 2005)
by Sundeep Malladi
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
In recent years, budget cuts and tuition raises have discouraged many students from applying at schools in the University of Wisconsin System. But the student government for the UW System is standing up to protect university access for current students and future UW applicants.
The United Council of UW Students’ “Keep the Doors Open” Campus Tour intends to visit 23 campuses where students will sign 12 doors to challenge the governor and legislators to keep student access open.
The 2,043-mile journey began yesterday at UW-Parkside, UW-Waukesha and UW-Milwaukee and will continue today at UW-Washington County, UW-Manitowoc and UW-Sheboygan.
According to Daniel Bush, shared governance director for United Council, the project is a different way to raise awareness about the obstacles students face when trying to get into universities in Wisconsin.
“Continually raising tuition, you’re shutting doors of access to people,” Bush said. “We want to keep the doors open; anyone in [Wisconsin] who is able and wants to [go to] a UW school should go.”
Additionally, the UW council has become worried about UW campuses targeting wealthier families.
“If you look at the proportion of incomes for freshman families, the median income is something like $95,000 per family,” Bush said.
The project comes as Gov. Jim Doyle prepares for a Feb. 8 proposal of the executive budget to the Legislature. In the past two years, Madison students have been given a double-digit-percent tuition increase. Additionally, last budget’s $250 million budget cut has caused concern.
“Students from all campuses can agree the university has to be a priority,” Bush said. “Certainly in the last budget, we weren’t a priority.”
The UW System feels it shares a similar goal to the United Council, despite being forced to raise tuition last year.
UW spokesperson Doug Bradley said he does not want to feel separated from student groups like United Council because they seek the same things from the state.
“They represent just about every campus and institution in the system,” Bradley said. “We’re in this together. We’re allies.”
Bush said it is clear that the Board of Regents is adamant about keeping tuition low.
“We do have differences, and obviously it doesn’t hurt them as much as it hurts us when they increase [tuition],” Bush said. “Ultimately, we will work with [the] UW System, up until the point our agendas diverge. Hopefully that won’t happen.”
However, Bradley said there are always other factors to balance as well. Last year’s tuition dispute between the UW System’s Board of Regents and United Council worries Bradley.
“We want to keep the star faculty we’ve got,” Bradley said. “So if tuition needs to go up a little bit more, we don’t want to have a big disagreement and falling out over that.”
The Doors Open Tour will reach Madison’s campus on the afternoon of Feb. 15 between 2 and 4 p.m. on Library Mall. Council members expressed their excitement.
“When we do something like this, it does sort of show just how strong we are and how strong 145,000 students can be,” Bush said.
Anonymous (February 2, 2005 @ 8:51am):
United Council does not speak for me.
Anonymous (February 2, 2005 @ 10:04am):
Just a clarification on the $95,000 figure I gave you. It is for UW-Madison only; the statewide figure is significantly lower.
DB
Anonymous (February 2, 2005 @ 12:12pm):
UC doesn't speak for me either
Anonymous (February 2, 2005 @ 1:07pm):
So you think tuition isn't high enough, or that going to college should be based on your ability to pay, not your ability to succeed?
Anonymous (February 2, 2005 @ 1:58pm):
As a UW Madison alumnus ('71, '74, '82), and as someone who would never have become a Madison alumnus to send money back via the Wisconsin Alumni Association if it were not for the UW Colleges, the Badger Herald should be doing everything possible to make sure the Colleges are supported.
Access? The Colleges' tuition and fees are the lowest in the state, far lower than that at Madison ($3924 vs. $5686) and that does not include housing. And the classes are smaller than my junior and senior level classes were at Madison, so students get the attention of professors.
UW Colleges students do better academically than any other transfer students, from other public or private campuses, when they come to Madison or any other 4-year campus. That's because we treat these students who need our access not as customers, but rather as individuals whose lives (like mine) can be genuinely improved with our assistance.
And I assure you that the family income of our students is far from $95,000. Indeed, it may not be half of that.
United Council's intentions are admirable, but the schedule I have seen suggests that they will be on my campus for one hour at a time when we have the largest number of classes in the entire day. So what are they going to accomplish? Our faculty are not going to cancel class for this, I guarantee you.
Badger Herald staff, send a reporter to one of the Colleges campuses to do a story. (Or maybe you can find a former Colleges student on the Madison campus -- I have a bunch of names for you.) UW Colleges provides access in the truest sense of the word.
James. W. Perry
Campus Dean
UW-Fox Valley
