University of Wisconsin Chancellor Biddy Martin formally introduced two of her ideas on how to move the university forward at the Faculty Senate meeting Monday.
The ideas Martin set forward coincide – one being her desire to change UW’s relationship with the state of Wisconsin and the Board of regents to increase UW’s autonomy, while the other is her proposal to hire an outside consulting firm to analyze UW’s efficiency.
By hiring a third party firm to examine UW, Martin said she hopes the state will grant UW more flexibility and ensure stable funding, especially during these times of economic difficulty.
In response to questions regarding whether the state will decrease funding if it loses control over UW, Martin acknowledged the concern, but said everything depends on how talks with the state go.
“We need to be accountable in exchange for …flexibility,” Martin said.
While Martin believes spending what some UW officials estimate to be from $1 to $4 million on a consulting firm would help UW in the long run, University Committee chair Judith Burstyn said the committee is “not necessarily convinced” of the benefits.
“The UC feels strongly that there needs to be a broad, campus-wide discussion on this concept,” Burstyn said. “We need to honestly ask whether such an evaluation is best done by external consultants who may or may not know our institution.”
Martin said a decision to accept proposals has been made, but whether or not she will hire a firm depends on the ratings of a committee, of which UC member Brad Barham is a member.
Barham said each member of the committee will review the proposals and rate them. Once the top two or three are determined, the committee will review and rate the proposals again.
The final ratings will be forwarded to Martin, who will decide whether or not she wants to hire a firm from the top choices, Barham said.
Interested firms had until Sept. 23 to submit proposals and Burstyn said the committee could make a decision as early as mid-October.
Another topic Martin spoke about during the meeting was a set of lapses in the 2009-11 state budget. Martin said these are one-time cuts meant to help the state balance the budget.
Gov. Jim Doyle put the lapses in place because he knew they would be necessary with such a large budget deficit. He thought the economy would start to recover sooner, however, which would have reduced the size of the cuts, Martin said. Since the cuts remained the same, Doyle has to start assigning these cuts in order to relieve some pressure on the budget.
While Doyle ensured the UW System’s immunity from the first lapse – totaling $100 million – he cannot do the same for the second, of which $60 million has already been assigned to state agencies, Martin said.
This leaves $140 million still to be assigned, which Martin said UW will ultimately have to deal with a portion of.
Despite the possible cuts, Martin said she hopes to handle the amount without burdening other areas of the institution.
“We’d have to come up with the amount we lapse – or don’t spend – instead of having every department or college come up with cuts,” she said.
