High school seniors waiting to hear from UW-Madison and other UW schools got a harsh reply from the UW System Board of Regents Friday: We're not admitting anyone else for the fall semester until our budget is \fixed."" The message came in response to the Joint Finance Committee's 8 percent cap on tuition increases and additional proposed System cuts Wednesday. These cuts are drawing concern from the UW System, as it struggles to figure out where to cut its budget after Gov. Scott McCallum's $50.5 million cut'part of the remedy for the $1.1 billion state deficit.
But the manner in which the regents are going about sending the legislators a message about their concerns is irresponsible. By sending the Joint Finance Committee a memo about the freeze during its Friday meeting, the Board of Regents is essentially using a scare tactic, or even a threat to the legislators, that they need to minimize the UW System's cuts.
The plan didn't work. In response, the Republican caucus called their bluff and voted Saturday to cut UW's budget significantly more by completely eliminating the $4 million allocated for advertising as well as the $1 million in study abroad grants. It also cut the $17 million travel budget in half and decide that, once students have 165 credits, they will have to pay all tuition costs.
Clearly, the Board of Regents picked the wrong fight'or at least one Republican legislators are confident they will win. And in the grand scheme of things, the regents should be careful who they threaten. If Saturday's actions mean anything, these legislators play a pretty tough game.
UW-Madison's response is not helping the situation either. Chancellor John Wiley has refused to release any details regarding acceptance and enrollment thus far. In the second week in March, it is fair to assume that many students have probably already heard one way or another from the university. Perhaps, then, the university is trying to make the problem a bigger deal than it actually is in order to spur heightened sympathy and concern over the budget cuts.
The Board of Regents defends its actions by saying it has no other options. But how do we know they are telling us the truth? They have not presented any concrete evidence that they have indeed examined other options. The UW System could, for example, consider decreasing the pay raises of top administrators, or re-examine funds it spends on expensive refurnishing of its offices.
The Board of Regents is playing a very dangerous hand. In attempting to threaten the Legislature, it is harming prospective students who may now have to go to out-of-state universities. These students would do more than just bring revenue to Wisconsin; they would bring intellect and other contributions to their respective universities. Though all students want the best facilities and equipment, we would prefer cuts be made to these instead of in harming the student body. The UW System wants to save money, but prompting high school seniors to go to other universities is quite a price to pay.
