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Marketing and University Communication UW-Green Bay, CL 815 2420 Nicolet Drive Green Bay, WI 54311-7001 (920) 465-2626 E-mail: hildebrs@uwgb.edu Last update: 9/26/07 |
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In
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July 18, 2005 UW System cuts carry hurricane force: UWGB's Shepard UWGB chancellor likens effects of losses, tuition hike to hurricane By Karen Lincoln Michel
Shepard took his hurricane analogy to the UW Board of Regents at its July 7 meeting where a systemwide tuition increase was approved, resulting in a $140 tuition increase at UW-Green Bay beginning in the fall.
"I think it's really important to understand what the campuses are experiencing," Shepard said in a telephone interview. "That's why we used this hurricane metaphor."
In Shepard's weather analogy, the current budget on the governor's desk — which university officials say they hope will be vetoed — is actually the third in a series of hurricanes.
The first disaster, he said, was the 2003-2005 budget, when the UW System reduced its proposed budget increase by $100 million. That forced the Green Bay campus to cut $2.1 million, Shepard said, mostly in administration.
The second strike was Gov. Jim Doyle's proposed budget for 2005-2007, which gave the UW System about $60 million in new state funds instead of the $240 million it had requested, plus a reduction of 200 administrative positions.
The third hit was the Republican-controlled Legislature's budget, which — in addition to eliminating Doyle's budget increase of $13 million for financial aid and cutting Doyle's proposed $11 million for 120 more teachers — imposed a $34 million across-the-board reduction and required a 11/2 percent retirement contribution for nonunion state employees.
"The first hit, you pull together and get through," said Shepard. "The second one, it's harder to get the juices flowing again, and when the third one hits, you just really begin to wonder about your ability to get through it."
Doyle is expected to veto the budget by line item, and has not ruled out a veto of the entire budget. Doyle's spokeswoman Melanie Fonder said Friday that the governor has not yet made any decisions regarding university funding.
UW Board of Regents president David Walsh on Friday criticized the Legislature's cuts, calling them "fairly arbitrary and irrational."
"Our biggest problem with the Joint Finance Committee and the Senate is that they reached down and ripped at the core of our mission," Walsh said. "By that I mean they took away aid for students that can't otherwise afford our increasing tuition. That's called access and that's a big issue with us."
Nate Petrashek, president of UW-Green Bay's student government, agrees.
"The trend we're seeing here is if there are cuts to be made, they look to the students to shoulder that," said Petrashek, a senior, majoring in political science and public administration. "That's an error in thinking, because there's only so much we can handle. We've been slapped with tuition hikes over the past few years, and now we're to the point where something's got to give."
UW-Green Bay students pay about $2,000 per semester in tuition, which will increase by about 7 percent based on the systemwide increase imposed by the regents. The hike was approved to recover some of the proposed funding increases denied in the Legislature's budget.
Shepard says such tuition hikes affect all students, but are deeply felt by one-fifth of UW-Green Bay students classified as low-income.
In addition, Shepard says, the university must cut important positions, such as its internal auditor and assistant dean for graduate programs.
"The internal auditor is a person (who) keeps you honest, and keeps you out of trouble," said Shepard. And the loss of the part-time graduate program position, he said, will "weaken our ability to meet the needs of the Green Bay area."
"We have fewer graduate students than any of the other UW campuses percentage-wise," Shepard said, "which to me is evidence we aren't meeting the needs in the region right now for professional master's degrees."
He said faculty positions will also be cut in the next two years as a result of the budget situation.
Walsh said he is confounded by the Legislature's rationale for funding the university system, and has asked for a meeting with Senate Majority leader Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, and Assembly Speaker John Gard, R- Peshtigo.
"In the past we've always been told to maximize access and graduate as many people as we can," said Walsh. "But if now they want us to educate fewer people, we will educate fewer people. We just want to understand their message."
Spokesmen for both leaders said Friday that they are working on a time to schedule a meeting with Walsh.
Todd Allbaugh, communications director for Schultz, said the UW System is getting a sizeable increase, and is not being cut.
He said the UW System received a "5 percent withholding" — which UW officials call a $34 million cut — along with other state agencies.
Allbaugh added that state agencies have a chance to recover some or all of the 5 percent withholding by requesting funds from a Joint Finance reserve.
Meanwhile, Shepard says he remains focused on Green Bay's campus and Northeastern Wisconsin, where he says the university has built strong ties with the surrounding community.
"This region is transitioning demographically and economically," he said. "The days when you could go into the mills and get a lifetime job that would allow you to afford a cabin up north are disappearing. It's now a knowledge-based, technology-based economy that's booming here."
And like any place ravaged by a hurricane — even if metaphorically — recovery happens over time and with cooperation from the entire community.
"We all have to keep our focus on the long term," he said.
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