Opinion
UW focus on new buildings way off
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If you continue to charge low rent, you will eventually become low rent. Those were the words posted on my column a few weeks ago, and they couldn't have been more accurate.
The University of Wisconsin School of Business certainly agrees. They've decided to raise tuition $1,000 for their school alone. The School of Engineering might be doing the same by raising tuition $700 per student. Certainly, these departments require more funding than they have now for improving the value of their degrees.
However, I'm skeptical as to what is said around the university about the dedication from UW officials to increase the value of those degrees. Certainly the engineers seem to support the tuition increase, but only if they know where their money is going. They want to attract more professors, better advising and additional resources to aid these students in search of a job fitting their profession. The same is true of the business school.
Yet, when the announcement of a tuition increase for the business school came with the proclamation that it would become one of the top business schools in the world, one question presents itself — what produces the "top" school?
Madison leads a double-life at times, trying to balance between state university and prestigious world-renowned university. Although all students should be proud of the high standing Madison receives around the nation and the world, that pride comes at a maintenance cost. Attracting better professors and researchers is a necessity if UW-Madison wants to keep its membership as one of the "Public Ivy" schools.
So what exactly does Wisconsin want? A public university that gives back to its citizens and state with affordable in-state tuition, or a high-profile national point of pride where only the elite of society come together for the pinnacle of humanity?
We can achieve great things at this university, but rising tuition is an omnipresent threat to equitable education in this state. Now, the engineering school is right to raise its own tuition. With the lack of professors comes a limited number of classes. This has resulted in a bottleneck for students who gain entry to the school, making it a lot harder for the school to function effectively. Resources are limited, so we're giving them the opportunity to improve them.
What doesn't make sense about this is why students have to pay to improve their own academic experience at a public university. What exactly is this university focused on? Well, buildings, for one.
There are six buildings on this campus that need to be approved by the state Legislature — a new performance hall for music students, a new Human Ecology building, three new Lakeshore dorms and the infamous "Green" Union South. First off, Union South, as we know, will not take up taxpayers' dollars, it just takes up our segregated fees. The music building would also not be publicly funded, but would, according to a Herald news report, have to find a new home for the other Humanities departments. Sounds like another building project on the horizon.
Add to that the $30 million project of a building for the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery that actually is funded by the state. Not only is the website vague as to what is being discovered, but the mission statement covers nearly every scientific field under the sun and also throws the humanities and arts in for good measure. If this building doesn't sound like the research equivalent to a playground, I don't know what is. Surely, something good might come out of it, but I'd rather have some more specific mission goals before funding a project like that.
This university and the state have their priorities out of order. Here we have two schools within this institution struggling to stay competitive and maintain the value of those degrees for which they've worked so hard. Yet, what has the university pushed the most in terms of initiative? Let's pay extra for a new union that is more efficient and prettier than the old building, which we don't use anyway. Let's continue to fund a diversity plan that showed limited to no success in recruiting and maintaining a racially diverse student body. Let's keep building structures throughout the UW System to build prestige that students shell out thousands of dollars to maintain, yet see very little return on.
This tuition increase is a warning to all students, administrators, legislators and private donors that our focus is way off. If the state doesn't remedy this problem by funding these schools adequately, they'll be forced to do it themselves until they're out of money. The total funding across the board is lopsided, and we all begin to slide.
I'm very proud to say I go to a state school with a high reputation and commitment to excellence. However, reputation doesn't just center on the edifice of our buildings or unions or infrastructure. It's centered on the quality of graduates it produces. So, the next time you hear about a "project" funded by state or private interests, write those involved and ask, "How does this benefit the student?"
Jason Smathers (jsmathers@wisc.edu) is a junior majoring in history and journalism.
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Research at Wisconsin is an $800 Million a year business. The resulting improvements benefit every citizen of Wisconsin, the US, and the World. Not only are there those direct benefits but every outside research grant is charged an overhead recovery fee of approximately 35% of the total grant. That adds up to many millions of dollars that help pay for your and everyone else’s undergraduate eduation. The UW also has built a nearly $2 BILLION endowment (WARF) from patent income from these discoveries. That is the purpose of the Institute for Discovery.
UW tuition remains CHEAP for a school of this quality. It is the goal of the UW administration, alumni, and the Governor to maintain the level of excellence at UW and that costs MONEY. If you can’t afford a reasonable tuition that falls at the low end of the Big 10 schools, maybe you need to examine your priorities and consider a cheaper school. The answer is NOT to bring down the quality of the UW. Then you end up with a degree that is worthless in the national market.
The new buildings for the School of Business have greatly improved the quality of the school and the overall experience. The students love the building compared to the old Commerce. Building quality reflects the overall commitment of the school to that area of study. It helps attract faculty and students alike. Many UW students are looking at other similar schools like Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, NYU etc. Having a first-rate facility is necessary to attract the best in both students and faculty. Those out of state students attracted to UW also help subsidize the educational cost of all instate students.
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