Gov. Scott McCallum's Budget Reform Act of 2002, announced Tuesday, had university administrators commending the proposal for its treatment of secondary education but expressing concern as to how UW System budget cuts will be implemented.
According to the plan, which was necessitated by this year's $1.1 billion budget deficit for the state of Wisconsin, the UW System is required to cut costs by $50.5 million. Specifically, the system will decrease costs by 4.4 percent in the 2002-'03 budget and 1.1 percent in this year's budget. McCallum discouraged raising tuition to make up for the cuts, stating that tuition increases above the 10-percent level would have to be passed by the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee.
McCallum also proposed a 6 percent, or $1.2 million, increase in the Wisconsin Higher Education Grant, a financial aid program, for the UW System.
\I don't want to see these reductions passed on to students,"" McCallum said.
It is too early to tell exactly where the cuts will be made; those decisions will be made by the UW System Board of Regents. UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley said he, along with other UW System chancellors, will meet with UW System President Katharine Lyall later this week to discuss specifics of the situation. By sometime next week, Wiley said, ""we'll know what this means for Madison and how we're going to deal with it.""
He expressed mixed emotions after McCallum's speech.
""In general, I'm gratified that the governor chose to protect the education to the extent he felt was possible,"" he said. ""I can't tell you that it's going to be painless.""
One project that will take major cuts will be the Madison Initiative, a plan devised by UW-Madison officials to attract and retain quality faculty. Wiley predicted having the funds to go ahead with about half of what officials had proposed for the second half of the initiative.
""We're going have to go back to the drawing boards on the Madison Initiative Part Two,"" Wiley said. ""I'm disappointed that this has to happen. What I'm trying to do is think at this as a delay in what we planned to do rather than an elimination.""
McCallum's speech was the first step in the process of remedying the state deficit.
""The thing that we also have to remember is this is just the governor introducing his proposal,"" said Margaret Lewis, UW System associate vice president for university relations. ""There are several more steps with the Legislature and the Joint Finance Committee and the caucuses and a conference committee before we're going to know exactly what the size of the reduction is going to be.""
UW System Board of Regents President Jay Smith said it was important for the university, during a time of fiscal constraints, to ""do its share in helping the state to balance the budget.""
""It's important to remember that the effect of these cuts will be felt in our campus communities,"" he said.
Lewis also noted that while the budget cuts to the UW System could have been much worse, the effects of those announced will still be felt.
""[Lyall and the Board of Regents] will do their best to try to minimize the impact on students,"" Lewis said. ""But with a cut that's $51 million, there is going to be an impact on everyone.\
