With $250 million in budget cuts looming in the UW System's future, the UW System Board of Regents said they are counting on all UW institutions to put their greatest efforts into reducing expenses.
At their meeting Friday, the Regents somberly spoke of raising tuition to offset budget shortfalls. However, they also expressed confidence that individual universities will tighten their belts to accommodate cuts to the System.
UW System President Katherine Lyall opened the meeting by saying that students \will be paying more for less in the coming two-year period,"" referring to a likely increase of in-state resident tuition and decrease in programs due to budget constraints.
""It doesn't actually hit home until you begin to talk about which personnel and which programs are going to disappear, and then it gets intensely personal,"" she said.
Regent Jesus Salas said other options for absorbing the cuts should be considered before raising tuition. However, most regents, including Peggy Rosenzweig, said a tuition hike is an unpleasant necessity to avoid disastrous declines in System access and quality.
""Maybe we'll hear slews of people who think we should just cut to the bare bone,"" Rosenzweig said, ""but I don't think it's likely.""
UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley said even though the regents must analyze individual institutions' financial choices carefully, they should be careful not to micromanage the universities' budgets.
""I appeal to the Regents not to fall into the same habit as the Legislature of making assumptions based on wishful thinking,"" Wiley said. ""There are all kinds of trade-offs that get made and different ways of handling the same problem.""
The chancellors of other UW System institutions, including UW-Green Bay, UW-Milwaukee and UW-Eau Claire, agreed with Wiley.
""No matter how deep or how long the cuts, we'll figure out how to do this and how to preserve the System,"" said UW-Eau Claire Chancellor Donald Mash.
Regent Jose Olivieri, chair of the board's Business and Finance Committee, added perspective to the somber discussion by pointing out that many states are currently undergoing fiscal problems.
""Across the board, systems are facing significant budget challenges,"" Olivieri said. He then described options other states are considering to offset those challenges, such as a voucher system being considered by the university system in Colorado.
Regent Fred Mohs summed up the meeting's determined tone by saying he is confident the System can weather the impact of budget cuts if each institution reduces expenses.
""Everyone really has to get in the game here and not hold back,"" he said. ""I [feel] quite reassured that everyone's on board.\
