The University of Wisconsin System has had its hands full trying to manage the scandals and bad news that have plagued Bascom Hill during the past year. With the uproar over three professors on campus with felony convictions, the university being ranked the best party school in the nation and the perception statewide that the UW System has too much invested in administration and not enough in teaching students, our campus and the campuses statewide have an image problem. During the past year, UW has not been known for being a world-class, progressive university but as a troubled school rocked by scandals.
The Wood Communications Group recently released the finding of a survey conducted last fall judging the perception of the UW System in the state. The results were not flattering. The vast majority of those who responded felt the UW System has too many administrators, that it does not watch its budget carefully, that the UW campuses do not concentrate enough on educating students and that 75 percent of parents cannot send their children to UW without assistance from grants, scholarships or loans.
While the intention of this survey was to build support in the business community for the UW System, the survey instead has given fodder to critics of the university. Some, including Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, have gone so far to suggest that the state needs to look at dismantling the UW System.
UW has been given a wake up call. The citizens of Wisconsin consider it to be out of touch with financial responsibility, out of step with the rest of the state and overpriced due to too many bureaucrats and not enough professors.
Keeping all of this public relations nightmare in mind, what should UW do?
There are ongoing efforts on all levels to promote higher education due to a negative nationwide view of a university education due to high costs and difficulties finding a job after college. During the NCAA Basketball Tournament in March, the American Council on Education will be airing commercials promoting the benefits of a college education. UW System President Kevin Reilly stated in the Wisconsin State Journal that many of these problems about which Wisconsinites have complaints have been fixed, though he has acknowledged that these problems have left a lingering image in the minds of many in Wisconsin.
UW needs to do damage control and do it quickly. Considering the anger that UW created due to its inaction during recent scandals, those who oversee this university and the universities across the state need to address these issues, especially with high school seniors deciding right now which college or technical college to attend next fall.
UW needs to promote the positive attributes of this campus and that it is a best buy, especially for those who live in Wisconsin. It needs to aggressively advertise statistics showing what a bargain our tuition truly is: for example, for 2004-2005, our tuition was $6,220, the second lowest in the Big Ten after Iowa. These statistics, coupled with the reputation of the academic quality of this campus, show that an undergraduate degree can be a steal, especially considering that our tuition is approximately half that of Penn State's.
Another problem that UW has is the perception that graduates from here have difficulties finding jobs upon graduation. While the job market for quality jobs is tight, there are numerous graduates every year who find high-paying jobs, and their degree from UW is a central part of their job-hunting success. UW needs to tap into our alumni and advertise their success stories in the real world.
UW should not paint the picture that life after graduation is paradise, but it needs to react quickly to the Woods Communication Group survey. Perception — especially in the eyes of prospective students and their parents — can be reality. The perception that UW-Madison is an overpriced party school with felons teaching young, impressionable adults could not be farther from the truth.
And it is that perception that may drive parents to send their children elsewhere.
The administrators of the UW System and UW-Madison need to take a lesson from the American Council of Education and ambitiously advertise the message that UW is a quality, reasonably-priced university that will pay dividends in the current job market.
Administrators need to take that message on the road now. The results in this survey have shown the people's discontent with higher education in the state. More inaction will only result in another public relations scandal that will only continue to hurt the already-tarnished reputation of post-secondary education in Madison and Wisconsin.
Jeff Carnes ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in linguistics.
