After months of intense debate, Gov. Scott Walker’s lackluster commitment to the New Badger Partnership and the resignation of Chancellor Biddy Martin, the University of Wisconsin will be granted more power after all, along with every other school in the UW System.

After the NBP was decried by the Board of Regents and their hastily prepared imitation, dubbed the Wisconsin Idea Partnership, was too little, too late this spring, the Regents finally passed a proposal putting a modified WIP into action. For UW System President Kevin Reilly, the third time is indeed the charm.

The proposal will, among other things, grant more powers to the chancellors of the 26 schools in the UW System, an idea that was thrown around last spring during the NBP drama. The circus that was the NBP talks could have been less painful and more productive had the board acted sooner. However, we are willing to let bygones be bygones if the board actually gives chancellors meaningful increases in power.

While the proposal is an excellent step forward, the state and System should not be afraid to grant additional flexibilities on a campus-by-campus basis. As one of the most widely recognized research institutions in the world and the flagship university for the UW System, UW requires more flexibility to compete on an international level than other System schools.

We encourage UW to make the most of the increases in flexibility granted in both the budget and Reilly’s proposal, but to continue to fight for the authority the flagship school requires. We hope UW’s next chancellor will have the courage to fight for true autonomy and the ability to do what is best for the university.

CORRECTION: This editorial originally identified receiving funding in the form of a block grant as an additional flexibility that should be granted to System schools. This measure was included in the state budget passed this summer, meaning it is already in place. The original passage has been removed from the copy. We regret the error.