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Lively drumbeats and performances by the University of Wisconsin Wind Ensemble began ceremonies to give a warm welcome to new Chancellor Biddy Martin.

Along with welcoming Martin to her new position, the event also gave her the chance to address opportunities she sees for growth within the university and challenges she sees in the university’s future.

“This extraordinary honor comes with huge responsibility,” Martin said.

Martin said the current state of the global economy is one of the major problems facing universities.

“As for universities, especially public universities, we currently face the perfect storm of financial problems,” she said.

There is additional strain on public universities because the revenue sources coming from the state are flat or decreasing, and the support coming from philanthropies, alumni and other private sectors cannot make up the difference.

Martin did say the key to affordability is through need-based financial aid, which she will work hard to increase. Tuition will continue to rise over time, and it is unrealistic to think tuition will stay the same or go down.

Martin wants to make sure education is affordable for all students. She said she thinks when it comes to tuition, those who can pay more should pay more and those who can pay less should pay less.

“Those who can afford to pay nothing should pay nothing in actual dollars, but should be allowed to contribute to their own education at least through work study,” Martin said. “I think it’s important for everybody to have skin in the game, so to speak.”

Faculty retention is also among the challenges Martin will face as chancellor, and she said it is important to bring faculty salaries into a competitive range for the university’s peer group.

“It is imperative that we continue to try to maintain the best faculty out there,” Martin said. “This is going to require that we bring our faculty salaries up to the median range in our peer group.”

She also addressed the need for maintaining excellence and focus in research being conducted at UW. Although UW is second only to Johns Hopkins University when it comes to research, Martin said research programs could benefit from “better coordination.”

She will also focus her attention during her time as chancellor on accountability for undergraduate studies and better preparing students to go out into the 21st-century world. Martin said she would like the graduation rate, which has recently gone up, to continue growing, especially for minority groups who have a historically lower graduation rate. Martin plans to improve UW’s diversity as well.

“[Students] can’t do their best unless working and playing with people from every conceivable background,” Martin said.

Martin acknowledges that “to sustain greatness, we will need to do a great many things,” and UW System President Kevin Reilly said he feels “very strongly that Chancellor Martin’s experience, disposition and vision will suit her to take the helm of UW-Madison very well.”

“I hope with that she has felt a very warm welcome home,” Reilly said.