Note from Chancellor re: Assembly budget

July 13, 2007
 
Colleagues,
 
While we appreciate Governor Doyle’s strong support for Wisconsin citizens’ higher education needs in the 2007-09 biennial budget, we find that the State Assembly’s response to it is cause for significant concern not just across University of Wisconsin institutions, but especially for Wisconsin’s students, veterans and parents. The substantial cuts to the budget proposed by the Assembly could constrict the capacity, the effectiveness and the efficiency of the UW institutions to provide affordable, accessible and quality education to the people of Wisconsin.
 
For UW Oshkosh, the Assembly’s budget would constrain our ability to better serve the citizens and the knowledge economy of Northeast Wisconsin’s New North.
 
The Assembly’s budget proposal compresses the UW institutions’ operational and fiscal funding, and it decreases by one-third the funds requested to deliver Wisconsin’s Growth Agenda. At UW Oshkosh, the approximate $2 million projected increase in the Growth Agenda is more than offset by the estimated $6 million cut in the total projected operating base budget, in effect making it impossible to meet the growth needs of Northeast Wisconsin citizens.
 
By tightening the coils of constraint around the budget for higher education, the assembly’s proposal could squeeze the breath and eventually the life out of Wisconsin’s knowledge economy, which in the twenty-first century is essential for economic growth and prosperity.
 
We appreciate that the State Assembly’s version of the budget does include most of the capital funding requested for facility growth at UW Oshkosh, including the new academic building—the campus’s first new academic building since the 1970s. It is very unfortunate, however, that it proposes a five percent cut to the projected operating budget needs of all the UW institutions. Furthermore, delays in the budget process will affect all institutions’ ability to meet contractual agreements with students and veterans with regard to course availability and appropriate levels of service. For more details, see the Assembly budget  and UW System Update on Biennial Budget actions since Joint Finance.
 
Wisconsin’s Growth Agenda
Last month the state legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance (JFC) made an investment in the state’s universities by approving the Governor’s Growth Agenda proposal for the 2007-2009 Biennial State Budget.
 
The Growth Agenda would provide UW Oshkosh with much-needed funding for up to 24 new faculty positions, which support the enrollment growth of several hundred students during the next three years in high-demand fields such as biology/microbiology, medical technology, psychology, nursing, business and math-science teacher education. For more details, see the Northeast Wisconsin Growth Agenda: The UW Oshkosh Proposal and the State’s Joint Committee on Finance statement.
 
Legislative Support

We appreciate the hard work of the Joint Finance Committee and the leadership provided by co-chairs Sen. Russ Decker and Rep. Kitty Rhoades and additional support from committee members Rep. Steve Kestell, Rep. Dan Meyer and Sen. Luther Olsen in the past year. This committee recognized the value of transcending partisan tactics to better serve the citizens of Wisconsin.
 
We also acknowledge the support received from the regional legislative delegation, and especially Representatives Joan Ballweg, Gordon Hintz, Dean Kauffer, Phil Montgomery and Senator Carol Roessler.
 
What’s next

Certainly, we are not at the end of this complicated and lengthy budget process.
 
The proposed budget will move to the budget conference committee in the next few days for further discussion. It is imperative for the conference committee to restore high priority funding for higher education as soon as possible for the Governor’s consideration.
 
I will keep you posted as more details of the budget process unfold.
 
Be assured that we will work very hard with both Republican and Democratic leadership to obtain the funds necessary to build better support and investment in the citizens and in the economic future of Wisconsin. 
 
Richard H. Wells
Chancellor
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
 
Links

For more detailed information regarding the budget process and UW Oshkosh’s strategic and operational planning, visit these links:
 
Summary of Governor’s 2007-09 Budget Recommendations
 
Facilities Master Planning