The title of Chancellor John Wiley's Wednesday round-table speech was \Wisconsin's Budget: Tangled Up in Red,"" but his words were not music to anyone's ears.
Before a lunchtime group of university faculty, staff and employees, the chancellor painted a grave picture of Wisconsin and UW-Madison's fiscal futures. He detailed the necessity of tuition hikes to accommodate a reduced budget, saying UW-Madison must accept state cuts as best it can.
Wiley began by breaking down UW-Madison's $1.7 billion budget. Approximately 23 percent comes from the state and 14.8 percent from tuition. These portions make up the university's base budget.
According to the chancellor, ""significant tuition increases,"" especially for undergraduate residents, will be one consequence of those cuts, making Wisconsin part of a nationwide trend of rising tuition.
""States are deciding they cannot afford to subsidize public secondary education"" at the same level as in previous years, he said.
While saying a tuition hike is an unpleasant prospect, Wiley said UW-Madison has always kept tuition lower than its Big Ten counterparts--perhaps to its detriment.
""We're 30 percent below just the median in-resident undergraduate tuition,"" he said. ""Most reasonable people think there is room to increase. ... We've got some catching up to do.""
Wiley also said he is considering alternate tuition models to cope with the setbacks, including one that would raise tuition more substantially for incoming freshmen.
Despite his somber tone, Wiley described aspects of the university that should be immune to budget cuts: its status as a world-class research university, student enrollment and high graduation rates.
""Our obligation is to crank out more degree recipients, not fewer,"" he said.
Wiley said UW-Madison graduates play a key role in the Wisconsin economy, thereby paying the state back for their public education.
Phil Certain, dean of the College of Letters and Science, said Wiley gave ""a very open and accurate assessment"" of UW-Madison's financial future. He expressed concern for course availability in L&S, which would be heavily affected since it encompasses over half the university's undergraduates and provides general education for the entire campus.
""Right now students have a lot of choice, but the total array of courses is probably going to go down,"" Certain said. ""Some of the courses [cut] may be your favorites.""
Deborah Faupel, senior administrative program specialist with the Genome Center of Wisconsin, expressed more general fears.
""I think everybody's kind of scared,"" she said.
