[media-credit name=’KATE BRENNER/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]At the top of Van Hise Hall, University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly proudly displays binders of clippings from business leaders, legislators and community members showing support of the Wisconsin Growth Agenda.

As the Wisconsin state budget has yet to be passed, Reilly continues to be adamant that the Growth Agenda — which calls for a reinvestment in the university system to increase enrollment, improve graduation and retention rates and keep graduates in the state — is the right plan for Wisconsin.

"This is not a partisan issue," Reilly said in a rare sit-down interview with The Badger Herald. "People on both sides care about education — there is no local legislature of any party who doesn't want local campuses to grow."

With the state budget three months past deadline, Reilly said to the system is worried whether the budget will resemble anything close to what he thinks they need to maintain higher education in Wisconsin.

One of the most immediate concerns, according to Reilly, is that without a budget students are unaware of the level of financial aid they will receive for this academic year, which could potentially set them off track.

He added the system fully supports the Democratic-controlled Senate’s version of the budget for the UW System, not the Republican-controlled Assembly’s.

"If we get the kind of draconian cuts and costs to continue that the Assembly budget has out there, we are really going to be hurting," Reilly said.

This includes cuts to services and resources, which UW Chancellor John Wiley laid out in his memo last week and Reilly said could "retard" the system instead of moving it forward.

"It is not about, ‘Does the university get what it wants?’" Reilly said. "It's about, ‘Do the citizens of Wisconsin in the long run get what they need to have a competitive sustainable state?’"

Although state resources are uncertain, Reilly said, private monies are targeted at very specific programs but are often not providing for the core departments and major programs like English, psychology, physics and the foreign languages.

"Some programs are not the sexy ones that can attract the big grants but are at the core of what you learn or don't learn as a baccalaureate degree seeker," Reilly said.

Reilly said a core education is what students and parents expect at a base level and might be limited without a comprehensive budget.

"It is not our fault that we don't know whether we have that money or not," Reilly said. "We are not in the position to go out and find money three months late into the cycle to substitute for what might get cut. The only alternative is to pull back on services, which we don't want to do because it is directly antithetical to the long term good of the state and the people of Wisconsin."

But with the budget still under debate, Reilly said he understands American politics are sloppy and contentious and added individuals legislators’ opinions are always contradicted because they are not monolithic.

State Rep. Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, said he is always flustered as to why there is tension between the UW System and members of state government.

"It is unproductive name calling when the UW System is one of the major engines of economic growth," Hintz said. "Those of us recognize the importance of the university to our economy and our state. You can't do this on the cheap, and we need to fund the cost to continue."

However, state Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, said Reilly has tried to convince people how much the university system will suffer under the Assembly budget.

"Many of us are very disappointed under Reilly's leadership when he has simply decided to bash Republicans and use scare tactics on both students and parents regarding system funding," Suder said. "Many of their figures are inaccurate, and their forecasts are ludicrous."

According to Reilly, though, every public university is part of the public process and wants to keep the division looking forward for what the university needs to do for the people of Wisconsin.

His goals for the system, Reilly said, are to continue moving forward with the Wisconsin Growth Agenda, retain faculty and hear more from UW System campuses regarding safety plans.

The Assembly, Reilly said, all supported the Wisconsin Growth Agenda and the growth of higher education within the state.

Programs include expanding to a more research-focused mission at UW-Milwaukee, and forming some niches across campuses to have a variety of different kinds of reputations and centers of excellence within the UW System.

But with growth, faculty retention is essential, Reilly said.

After UW-Madison lost many of its faculty in the political science department this past spring, Reilly said the system is constantly making the argument to increase salaries.

"We are about 8 percent behind on peer universities’ salaries," Reilly said. "We are subject to being raided, especially in Madison, with some of our more successful faculty."

Reilly said although the UW System will probably never be able to match the average salary Harvard can pay, it is important to at least keep the UW System in a competitive ballpark with the best institutions in the country.

Reilly said the UW System could offer faculty members an environment to advance their discipline by providing labs, sabbaticals, health care benefits, retirement benefits and spousal and partner hiring.

In addition, Reilly said the UW System campuses are focusing on the importance of timely communication, one thing everyone learned a bit about from the Virginia Tech incident and, most recently, the false alarm at the University Hospital two weeks ago.

"There is a fine balance between getting enough information and analyzing it and acting on the one hand, and on the other hand not treading individuals' rights to privacy and academic freedom,” Reilly said. “All those kinds of things we cherish in the university as well."

Despite the issues facing higher education, Reilly said, Wisconsin has a great university system with a reputation that could easily be lost.

"We are at a crossroads," Reilly said. "We have taken the university for granted, and if it is going to grow and stay at the level of quality, it is going to have to come from reinvestment from taxpayers, to say it is one of our priorities."