A campaign launched by the Wisconsin Alumni Association is pushing the state legislature to approve funding to construct a new College of Engineering building.
The project, a top budget priority for UW–Madison, was knocked out of the school’s most recent budget proposal in the spring by Wisconsin’s Joint Finance Committee. Committee co-chair Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam) did not consider the budget proposal as he said Gov. Tony Evers’ capital budget with the planned expense of the new building was unrealistic and too expensive, according to The Wisconsin State Journal.
Vice Chancellor for University Relations Charles Hoslet said he, in partnership with business leaders across Wisconsin, is maximizing campaigning efforts across all platforms in hopes of changing the minds of policymakers.
Evers proposed that Wisconsin’s $7 billion surplus should be used on capitol projects, including the engineering building. Contrary to Evers, the Republican-controlled state Legislature cut the UW System’s budget by $32 million, arguing that the budget should be spent to reduce income taxes.
Proponents of a new College of Engineering building say that the 340,000 square-foot, $347.3 million building would benefit Wisconsin’s economy as a whole, according to Hoslet.
“The proposal to put a new building in its [the old building’s] place would allow us to graduate 1,000 more Engineering students annually,” Hoslet said. “Businesses around the state right now have 34,000 employers competing to hire only 940 engineering graduates.”
In addition to boosting the number of engineering graduates, the new building will significantly improve the physical constraints of the current Engineering Hall. The new building will introduce state-of-the-art classroom space and research labs, according to Hoslet.
“If the legislature doesn’t provide the funding and we have to wait another two years, the cost of the building is going to escalate by 40 million dollars because of inflation,” Hoslet said. “Not only that, but we have over 110 million dollars pledged to us by donors, much of which will go away if the building isn’t funded this legislative session.”
Wisconsin taxpayers will be on the hook for $53 million if the state waits until 2025 to approve the construction of the building, according to The Wisconsin State Journal.
CEOs from some of Wisconsin’s top businesses such as Faulkner, Epic, Bill Westrate, American Family Insurance and Johnson Controls have already signed onto the project, advocating that the state Legislature approves the funding for the building project.
A town hall will take place at the College of Engineering Wednesday Nov. 8 to discuss next steps in achieving a new building.
