Documents released Monday showed UW System campuses are feeling the cost of the 2015-17 state budget cuts through faculty layoffs and course reductions.
In a request made to each UW System chancellor, UW System President Ray Cross asked campuses to compile summaries of how each of their shares of the $250 million state budget cuts are impacting them.
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According to the summary, budget cuts will potentially cause UW-Madison to cut 6,500 hours of student job pay and cut 418 faculty and staff through layoffs or attritions.
UW-Eau Claire highlighted its $7.7 million budget cut in the summary, which has the potential to impact its teaching, retention of faculty and reputation.
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Other UW System schools reported significant reductions to operating costs like UW-La Crosse, which reported a 7 percent decrease in each of the college’s operating budgets.
While time was originally set aside for the chancellors to present the documents during last Friday’s Board of Regents meeting, it was removed from the agenda, Alex Hummel, UW System spokesperson, said. Time constraints would not have allowed the Board of Regents to really listen and consider the full extent of the budget cuts for each institution, Hummel said.
Hummel said the board determined it would be more productive if each institution went back and focused on their summaries at their respective local levels.
“It’s best to continue finalizing budget summaries to keep the focus on those summaries for starters, so the boards would have a synopsis of what’s been done and what’s being done, but really concentrate on the budget reductions in the campus communities where they are happening,” Hummel said.
Cross said he thinks the forums need to happen on each of the campuses because that’s where the impact is happening, he said.