The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents met Thursday to assess the findings of the UW System accountability report.

They also considered a presentation focused on “mastery learning” that could change the way students learn at UW System schools.

The presentation, “Dealing with the Future Now: Principles for Creating a Vital Campus in a Climate of Restricted Resources,” was given by former UW-Parkside Chancellor Alan E. Guskin, Ph.D. The plan offered long-term solutions for university budget issues by focusing on student learning and altering university faculty roles.

One of the keys for the plan’s success, Guskin said, is for UW to accept the solutions as long-term, a period of five to 10 years.

“The problems we’re facing are really dealing with structural deficits at the state level, and people tend to talk about the economic realities like they’re something that is going to go away,” Guskin said. “So you get a double whammy of structural deficits, and you don’t recover the way other institutions do.”

The plan was introduced under the assumption that federal funds to UW will decrease by 15 to 20 percent over the decade.

Guskin said UW cannot “muddle through” its budget problems by asking chancellors to fund raise for private funds, and UW cannot continue to increase tuition without changing the nature of the student body. He said many budget reductions are based on the “everything-is-going-to-be-okay” principle, which deteriorates student learning by increasing class size, decreasing courses offered and decreasing student access to faculty.

“I think he’s right,” said Katharine Lyall, UW System president. “It takes a little money to ensure campuses aren’t left with huge risks.”

Lyall said an insurance fund for campuses would be difficult to do.

“We’re working with a budget that we’ve already had to take $250 million out of,” she said.

The plan calls for a curriculum audit to shave non-essential courses from UW’s course list and to switch UW’s focus from faculty education to student learning, inside and outside the classroom.

Guskin proposed librarians and other faculty take on new roles on campus, such as mentoring students and leading intensive discussion groups. He also proposed to extend the new learning environment to the 25 core curriculum courses on campus, such as introductory political science and chemistry courses.

“[In] introduction to chemistry, they’ve experienced getting rid of the large lectures and taking an online and smaller discussion approach,” Lyall said. Lyall also said UW has implemented some of Guskin’s suggestions already, through learning communities where coursework is integrated with faculty and resident outreach, like Chadbourne Hall and Bradley Learning Community.

“Madison ought to be proud of the experiments it is doing,” Lyall said. “But the question is, can those [experiments] be expanded?”

Guskin’s plan also entails creating a digital-based library to act as a primary center for student development. He said costs within the UW System would be slashed if libraries switched more resources from print to online, because it would allow sharing between UW schools.

At Thursday’s meeting, Lyall also introduced the UW System accountability report, which examines the university environment in areas including access, graduation, retention, technology and resource management.

The report, titled “Achieving Excellence,” states the UW System met or exceeded 14 out of its 20 goals in 2003-04. They include increasing graduation and retention rates, which are at the highest levels ever in the history of the UW System.

According to the report, the UW System will work on providing access for non-traditional students and study abroad programs, two goals that were not met in 2003-04. But Lyall said in a written release these unmet goals are worsened by the current budget situation.

“There is no doubt that we need to do more,” Regent President Toby Marcovich said. “But we are definitely ahead of the game, and we’ll have more technology detail next month.”

Marcovich said Ed Meachen, the associate vice president of learning and information technology for the UW System, will host a meeting next month to plan for the future of UW System technology.

The Board of Regents will meet again today to continue discussion of system business.