It is not everyday University of Wisconsin Chancellor Biddy
Martin pops up online for all of Madison to chat with, but on Sept. 1, she did
just that.

The chat took place online through Madison Magazine’s
website, and focused on Martin’s article about re-vamping the business
partnership between UW and the state of Wisconsin, which appeared in the
September issue of the magazine.

Participants especially focused on concerns about rising
tuition.

While Martin acknowledged how paradoxical tuition increases
seem to keep a UW education affordable, she cited increased financial aid as a
way to combat the increases.

“Keeping tuition low or lowering it will mean compromising quality and
the value of our students’ degrees,” she said. “That is not an acceptable
outcome.”

Martin also explained UW’s current campaign to increase
financial aid through donations from alumni and past donors, and also through a
new business model.

Martin said a new model is necessary because the market is a
driving force behind research universities like UW, increasing competition for
world-class faculty and staff members, Martin said.

Martin referred to the Wisconsin Idea – which is the belief
that the university should act as a facilitator for public service in addition
to educating students -saying fulfilling it would not be possible without a
more flexible business model than the one currently in place.  

The flexibility of the new model would grant UW more freedom,
Martin said. For instance, under the new partnership the university would
propose tuition rates specific to itself rather than the entire UW System. She added it would also allow UW to
handle purchasing and allocate its own funds.

Automony, Martin said in an email to The Badger Herald,
would come with its benefits as well as its consequences that UW would have to
deal with. Martin did not expound on the specifics.

One thing Martin is unwilling to negotiate is the high
standard of education at UW and the value of a UW degree.

Overall, 25 people took advantage of their chance to speak
with Martin including UW Freshman Cedric Kovacs-Johnson.

Kovacs-Johnson said he participated in the chat to
communicate with Martin, and especially after hearing Martin speak at the
annual freshman convocation he said he could not let the opportunity pass him
by.

“It was kind of for fun to see if [the question] would go through and
if she would actually answer,” he said.

Kovacs-Johnson asked Martin how she felt UW’s reputation has
changed over the past few years. Martin cited the most recent rankings, which
put UW at 17 among public and private universities in the world, and said she
hoped UW’s reputation has done nothing but flourish.

While this was Martin’s first-ever live online chat, she said UW is
going to keep looking for opportunities to stimulate discussion regarding the
new partnership.

 “I enjoy it and it is the
only way to ensure that we do what’s right for our university and our state,”
Martin said.