Faculty to raise funds for needy

by Ken Harris

Tuesday, March 4, 2008 22:19

The University of Wisconsin Faculty Senate passed a resolution Monday to create a voluntary faculty fund to raise money for need-based scholarships in hopes of promoting diversity on campus.

According to Robert Mathieu, chair of the University Committee that drafted the resolution, the action is a response to a faculty survey from 2006 that showed representative access to be of high importance to university faculty.

The resolution states it is important to make UW accessible to all qualified students to ensure academic diversity.

UW Chancellor John Wiley said the need for more need-based funds becomes more important as time goes on and called the resolution a “slam dunk.”

“Things have changed permanently in public higher education,” Wiley said. “We’re going to continue to see increased tuition levels, so we need more need-based financial aid.”

University committee member Ann Hoyt said the fund does not have a name yet, but every dollar raised will be matched by the UW Foundation for a period of three years.

UW English professor Richard Knowles said he was worried passing the resolution might put unfair pressure on faculty members to donate to the fund to prove how much they care about their students.

“What kind of influence are we having on the faculty?” Knowles asked.

Mathieu responded, saying, “Philanthropy is an opportunity, not an obligation.” He added there will be no pressure from anyone to force any faculty members to donate.

“You have to make your own personal decision on this,” Mathieu told the Senate. “There’s no moral authority here.”

Hoyt also addressed this concern, saying the resolution does not require anyone to donate funds and there will be no pressure applied to make anyone do so.

“There is no way we would say your donation is in relation to your concern for your students,” Hoyt said.

There will be no new office established to handle the campaign, according to Mathieu. He said the campaign is a “one-shot effort” to raise the appropriate money to start an endowment “that will go on and on and on.”

Wiley clarified how the endowment works, saying the initial fund is raised and then invested. The money earned from the investment supports the scholarships indefinitely.

Mathieu added the method of parceling out the scholarships will be handled by the Office