Of the many traditions on campus, one has been vital to the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh’s success amid economic challenge: Harvesting budget solutions from faculty, staff and students on the ground, in the lab, on the field and in front of the classroom.
UW Oshkosh is once again using its online Biennial Budget Opinion Survey to gather feedback from the campus community. The responses will help develop the direction, priorities and protection strategies for University initiatives and programs heading into the 2011-13 biennium. The results will also help the university close its $9.8 million share of the $250 million UW System biennial budget shortfall contained in Governor Scott Walker’s budget proposal.
The online survey is currently open and closes April 1. University leaders are encouraging as many students, faculty and staff as possible to spend five-to-10 minutes to log their opinions and priorities and complete survey.
“UW Oshkosh has a tradition over the last five biennia of turning to its campus community for solutions to the budgetary challenges we’ve faced,” Chancellor Richard Wells said. “It is vital we continue to include faculty, staff and students in the process. The suggestions and strategies they offer as we prepare to close another multimillion dollar budget shortfall over the next two years are what keep this, the state’s third-largest and second-fastest-growing, university moving forward.”
UW Oshkosh continues on a budget planning course first shared with faculty staff and students in January. Chancellor Wells has remained committed to closing the budget shortfall without layoffs and with the modest tuition increases contained in the Governor’s budget proposal.
Most recently, UW Oshkosh’s U-PLAN faculty, staff and student organization leadership roundtable endorsed one of three, University budget-shortfall-solution options first outlined on March 8 in a series of open campus forums drawing about 500 campus community members.
The option calls for the application of $1.6 million from the University’s Rainy Day Fund in the first year of the biennium paired with a 2.5 percent base cut. Year two would be followed by another 2.5 percent base cut and no Rainy Day Fund reliance. That combination of solutions or a hybrid package based on faculty, staff and student feedback was U-PLAN’s preference.
UW Oshkosh’s final budget solutions will take shape in April and be submitted to UW System.
Budget planning timeline
■April 1: Campus-wide budget feedback survey closes.
■April 11, 2011: Admin Staff Budget update/feedback meeting
■April 13, 2011: U-PLAN Budget update/feedback meeting
Mid April:
■Special U-PLAN meetings as needed
■UW Oshkosh 2011-13 budget submitted to UW System
■Mid-to-late April: Campus-wide budget update email communication
Read more:
UWO Biennial Budget Opinion Survey
Chancellor Wells: The ‘forever’ and ‘for now’ of the budget challenge