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UW-La Crosse unsatisfied with new state budget

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Also by Rustom Lalkaka:

UW-La Crosse unsatisfied with new state budget (October 25, 2007)
Paper, online polls open for student government (October 16, 2007)
Student Judiciary holds appeals meeting Sunday (October 1, 2007)

by Rustom Lalkaka

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Despite budget agreements in the Wisconsin state Legislature Tuesday, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse officials said this week they feel the new budget still leaves them with a potentially crippling funding blow.

The school had requested a $15 million budget increase over the next two years, to be funded by tuition increases at UW-Lacrosse. However, the Legislature only approved a tuition increase covering $900,000.

The additional funds were to go toward the University’s “Growth and Access Plan,” an initiative to increase student enrollment and minority student accessibility.

The cut was one of the few dark spots in a UW System budget that was far better than some had feared, said UW-La Crosse spokesperson Cary Heyer.

“We’re very encouraged by the way the UW System was treated, but wish UW-La Crosse had been better taken care of,” Heyer said. “Clearly with the current budget situation, the GAP can not go forward as written. It would have increased the size of the student body by 1,000 people, and added significant faculty.”

Recently inaugurated UW-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow expressed similar sentiments. “We’re very disappointed that the powers that be haven’t seen the wisdom in funding our growth through increased tuition instead of relying on tax funds. If we were doing this with tuition, we’d be confident in our funding and ability to execute the Growth and Access Plan,” Gow said. “We really have no way to know whether the money will be there or not when it comes to tax dollars.”

UW System spokesman David Giroux said the System would attempt to cover at least part of UW-La Crosse’s shortfall.

“They wanted to raise tuition and better serve the region. In all fairness, given the reputation of the school, the increase would have brought them in line with their peers,” Giroux said. “However, raising tuition would have been difficult for legislators to accept. Chancellor Gow has a very clear vision. UW-La Crosse has a wonderful future ahead of it, and the UW System is here to support them.”

Gow and Heyer expressed similar hopes for the future of the university.

“Legislators have a real reluctance to be associated with increasing tuition. The desire to hold down tuition is noble, but they have tied our hands here,” Gow said.

Gow added there are two legal avenues in Wisconsin for public university tuition increases — through the Legislature or through the UW System Board of Regents.

“There may still be a way to get this done. We’re looking very closely at how UW-Madison got the $1,000 tuition increase for their business school,” Gow said. “There may still be hope for us through the regents.”

Heyer said UW-Lacrosse administration is left to pick up the pieces and salvage what they can of their vision for the future.

“UW-La Crosse is still a destination of choice for students. It’s perceived as an attractive destination for high achieving high school graduates,” Heyer said. “There is no concern from the UW System — they’re doing a good job as it is. We should use their current level of excellence as leverage, try harder and translate that into something exciting.”

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