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Regents to address seg fees, textbooks

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Also by Carl Jaeger:

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Many eager to pick chancellor (December 11, 2007)
Officials debate Wiley's legacy (December 10, 2007)
'No guarantee' in UW success (December 10, 2007)
New rules apply for UW seg fees (December 7, 2007)

by Carl Jaeger

Thursday, December 6, 2007

University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly is scheduled to issue his report today on the hotly contested segregated fee policies at the monthly Board of Regents meeting.

The proposed policy changes were forwarded to Reilly from the Segregated Fee System Committee and have generated intense feedback from various viewpoints — including UW students and state legislators.

Regent Vice President Chuck Pruitt said he is looking forward to hearing Reilly's decision on the matter.

"I think it's certainly something that needed to be talked about more," Pruitt said. "I think all the regents are looking forward to hearing the report of that committee and also hearing from President Reilly, his thoughts on the status of it and where we go from here."

Regent Brent Smith said Reilly's decision will most likely not end debate of the segregated fee issue, but said a review of the policies was needed.

"I think it was an appropriate thing to look at. I think there was some questions and some issues there — it was a good thing that there was review of them," Smith said. "Whether that takes care of the issue is just uncertain now. It seems, though, there still may be some things left."

The Board of Regents' Business, Finance and Audit Committee, which Smith chairs, will also be hearing a presentation on textbook prices.

"I think the idea with the committee on Thursday and the report that we asked for is to look at disparity," Smith said. "There was a hope that maybe some of the practices that we have on some of the campuses … could be used on the other campuses."

He added, for example, bundling textbooks, reviewing changes in different editions and working with publishers could potentially make textbook prices more affordable.

Pruitt, former chair of the Business, Finance and Audit Committee, said reviewing textbook prices is "a high priority for the regents."

"I think the regents indicated that earlier when we passed a resolution both endorsing the audit and also in asking the campuses to come up with new, and more, better plans," Pruitt said. "I think that's going to be a continual interest on the regents' part going forward because it really does directly deal with the cost and the affordability of college for college students."

The Board of Regents Education Committee will also hear a presentation from the UW System Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Committee, who recently found binge drinking throughout the UW System has dropped.

In addition, the regents will also pass a resolution in response to a Legislative Audit Bureau's report that found UW System faculty report significantly fewer sick days than other state employees.

"I think the committee looked at it very carefully, and I think it put together a pretty responsible set of suggestions of how the policy can be improved," Pruitt said.

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Anonymous (December 6, 2007 @ 4:28pm):

I personally blame the catholic center for our funding woes. First they sue us, then they demand all of our monies claiming that their parish is the entire campus. This with a church that is a perfectly good space for them to use on campus and an oh-so-wealthy diocese in town that could fund them. Partisan groups should seek foundation funding before coming to the proverbial teet of the university for funding their politics as-religious organization groups. They do no outreach, they do no service they do no good on campus. This should equal no funding. Have church on your own time and your own dime.

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