The current fiscal crisis has the UW System facing many potential spending cuts, including decreasing the amount of faculty it hires.
UW System President Kevin Reilly sent a memo to all UW chancellors Oct. 28 stating that beginning Nov. 1, new hires must be approved by the chancellor or a designee and hires must be deemed those most essential to the university's mission at this time.""
There will be ""resource restraints of various kinds,"" said David Giroux, spokesperson for the UW System.
Although it is too early to know specifically how many jobs will have to be cut, or whether enrollment will drop, there are going to be cuts in all areas, according to Lee Sensenbrenner, spokesperson for Gov. Jim Doyle.
""Right now it's too early to say the nature of those cuts and how they'll play out,"" Sensenbrenner said.
According to Mike Mikalsen, spokesperson for state Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, the goal is to keep cuts as minimal as possible.
""This opens the door to discussions about how the system can be more efficient,"" Mikalsen said.
According to Mikalsen, there are many unknowns at this point, but it is important to avoid raising tuition too much.
""What we're looking at is the tolerance level for tuition increases,"" he said.
This will most directly affect middle-class families, Mikalsen said, because ""financial aid doesn't go to middle-class students. Less and less of these students are able to finance higher education.""
Giroux expects a higher need for financial aid because of the poor state of the economy.
""Many more students will be eligible next fall because of family circumstances,"" he said.
Additionally, Giroux anticipates an increase in enrollment in certain areas, such as working-age adults who have been laid off and college seniors who decide to stick around for graduate school and attempt to ""wait out the recession.""
Mikalsen said he hopes budget cuts will affect the students as little as possible.
""Rep. Nass is not in support of balancing the budget on the backs of students,"" Mikalsen said.
