The UW-Madison Faculty Senate released a unanimously passed resolution Monday stating their disapproval of Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed $300 million budget cut to the UW system.
Faculty Senate, which had not released an official statement prior to Monday, expressed its “strong opposition” to the proposed cut, which would cause a 13 percent drop in the system’s state-financed operating budget in addition to past decreases in state support.
Chancellor Rebecca Blank said in a release during the budget proposal that the cuts may be too large for the system to handle.
“This cut to higher education, the largest in state history, goes too far, particularly given the previous reductions in state support in past state budgets,” Blank said in the release.
Some UW faculty members expressed additional frustration at Walker’s comments last week that the impact from budget cuts could be reduced by faculty members working extra hours, according to a university news release.
UW-Madison professor James Baughman said he believes UW-Madison will lose faculty if work hours increase, and that the understaffing will prolong the time it takes to graduate.
“I’ve been here 36 years, I’ve been here forever, and this could be far and away the worst crisis we’ve faced in the time I’ve been here,” Baughman said.
Both Baughman and Faculty Senate spoke of the university as an internationally recognized institution and want to keep it that way.
“We believe that Wisconsin is best served by sustaining UW-Madison as a top international university that attracts and retains the best and brightest minds for our state, including students, staff, faculty, and alumni,” the resolution stated.
Baughman said he is afraid the budget will pass and that students will feel the consequences.
“[Budget cuts] will diminish the value of the university, and the state will have tarnished a legacy that took literally generations to create” Baughman said.
