Following testimony at the Capitol earlier this week against further budget cuts, the University of Wisconsin System issued a report Wednesday to a legislative committee requesting the continuation of a program it said will provide more grant money for research projects.

The report asks the Joint Finance Committee to continue to support the Industrial and Economic Development Research Fund, a part of the system’s Growth Agenda for Wisconsin plan.

The IEDRF was established by the UW System to combine research with industrial practices and promote economic growth, the report said. The report continued to say the IEDRF has helped fund 30 research projects from improving Internet access in rural Wisconsin areas to designing more efficient wind turbines.

“The Growth Agenda for Wisconsin … will produce more graduates, stimulate job creation and strengthen our communities,” UW System President Kevin Reilly said in the report. “[It] is an integral component of our state’s economic recovery and future development.”

According to the report, these projects have allowed professors to apply for grants amounting to four times as much money as the program gave during its 2009-11 biennial budget. They also received $1.4 million in corporate partnering and $1.4 million from the state.

“As these projects demonstrate, it is crucial that the state’s investments in the UW and the Growth Agenda continue, so that we can build on these, and develop additional success,” Reilly said in the report.

While Wisconsin statutes require the UW System to report biennially to the JFC on projects involved with the IEDRF, the report follows testimony system representatives gave the Senate Agriculture, Forestry and Higher Education Committee about proposed budget cuts.

The UW System is facing a grand total of $316 million in budget cuts. Of that, $250 million comes from the original biennial budget passed this spring, and an additional $65.7 million comes out with a plan proposed by the Legislature to address a $174 million budget lapse, Reilly said in a statement on the testimony before the committee earlier this week.

Due to a 5.5 percent tuition increase that has raised $107 million and staff who are making higher payments for retirement and health care, saving $50 million, a total of $157 million in new revenue exists for the system, Reilly said in the statement.

This means the UW System faces a $93 million budget cut from the original biennial budget, Reilly said in the statement. However, if the Legislature approves the cuts to meet the budget lapses, the system will face about a $159 million gap.

“Our main focus is on educating our students and putting the UW to work as an economic engine for Wisconsin,” Reilly said. “We’re concerned about draining the fuel from that engine right at the time when citizens of Wisconsin need it most.”

UW System spokesperson David Giroux said the gap will be a major issue for the December UW System Board of Regents meeting.

“The Regents will almost certainly have many questions about these potential new cuts, their impacts on the UW campuses and our ongoing discussions with state leaders,” Giroux said in an email to The Badger Herald.