Though the UW System’s proposed autonomy measures would mean removing state mandates for minority scholarship funding, both university and UW System officials said those scholarships will be unaffected.
The budget deletes “current law establishing or requiring the Board to establish or fund the following programs for minority and disadvantaged students,” such as the Lawton grant and Advanced Opportunity Program, according to a nonpartisan government summary of the budget proposal.
The UW System authority model proposed in Gov. Scott Walker’s budget would allow the System to operate at its own discretion and allocate the budget as it sees fit, removing much of the state Legislature’s oversight. The operation of this model would resemble a business, governed by the System’s Board of Regents.
This does not mean programs for minority students will cease to exist, only that there are no longer laws that legally require such funding, according to Alex Hummel, the System’s associate vice president for communications.
“While the budget proposal to create a UW System Authority strikes statutory language related to many practices, programs and initiatives, they will remain deeply embedded at institutions throughout the state,” Hummel said in an email Monday.
Many of UW-Madison’s diversity scholarships, such as the Chancellor’s and Powers-Knapp Scholarship Programs, receive most of their funding through private donations and do not rely on state mandates. First Wave scholarships, given by the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives, are also primarily funded privately.
“What I have heard so far from university leadership is that the scholarships for our students are definitely secure,” said Willie Ney, the director of the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives.
In recent years, funding for Lawton grants and the Advanced Opportunity Program have come in the form of block grants to the UW System, according to UW-Madison Director of Financial Aid Susan Fischer. While the allocation of this block grant is not specified for minority scholarships, Hummel said maintaining those funds for scholarships is a System priority.
“The chancellor said we are going to have to take cuts in salary and positions,” as opposed to cutting scholarship funds, Fischer said.
