Gov. Scott McCallum announced his plan to deal with the budget deficit, and now the UW Board of Regents is charged with the responsibility of distributing budget cuts and altering tuition rates for UW schools at their Feb. 7 meeting.
The size of UW-Madison lends to larger budget cuts than other UW System schools. UW stands to lose between 25 and 40 percent of the proposed $50.5 million reduction in the UW System budget.
The regents will decide how much tuition is increased. Although McCallum asked for no more than a 10 percent increase, many students fear any increase.
University officials and students have the opportunity to influence regents at a meeting before the tuition increase is implemented.
“It’s an opportunity for all citizens of Wisconsin to work together,” Jones said. “As the governor mentioned, it’s a time to bring solutions to the table.”
Student Regent Tommie Jones cautioned students not to “jump the gun” by worrying about budget cuts and said it was too early to tell how tuition rates would be changed.
“It’s premature for us to make any decisions right now,” he said. “All we know is that we are looking at what the best solution will be for UW schools.”
Although speculation may be premature, experts believe classes and instruction will not be affected by the budget cuts.
“There may be major cuts in administrative areas, as well as a decrease of things like new computers,” said John Torphy, vice chancellor of administration. “But we are focused on not cutting things like classes or teachers.”
Torphy said the cut effects programs such as the Madison Initiative, a program designed to retain and recruit faculty. The program was set to receive $20 million and now faces a cut as great as 50 percent.
The Madison Initiative is a top concern for Linda Weimer, vice president of the UW System.
“The Madison Initiative is a high priority,” she said. “We want to see it go forward, but we recognize that it might have to slow down.”
The UW System must cut $10.1 million this year and $40.4 million next year in order to lower the state’s $1.1 billion budget deficit.
Weimer said she does not expect the budget to be resolved quickly.
“Everyone is realistic about problems in the budget,” she said. “But I hope it will not be too long and drawn out.”
For now, Madison will just have to wait, Torphy said.
“We’re telling people not to go out and make long term decisions until we find out,” he said. “There will be reductions, but we don’t know the magnitude of it.”
