With Wisconsin facing a $5.4 billion budget deficit, the UW System will be forced to economize, and university officials announced last week measures to save money and cut spending.
One of these measures will be to shrink UW faculty and staff pay raises, according to UW System President Kevin Reilly.
The UW System Board of Regents implemented a plan in 2006 to raise UW System salaries, which are about 10 percent lower than those at competing universities, to the level of their peers, but Reilly said in a statement these pay raises will be cut by more than half.
The UW System faces problems with faculty retention due to the pay disparity, but Reilly said the budget shortfall calls for the university to handle its finances responsibly in order to raise tuition as little as possible.
For now, we must demonstrate that our public university is sensitive to the public's dire financial situation,"" Reilly said.
Gary Sandefur, dean of the College of Letters and Science, said cutting back on pay increases could put the UW System even further behind in faculty retention.
""This is a difficult financial situation that any colleges and universities around the country are facing right now,"" Sandefur said.
As another step to save money, Reilly also proposed implementing a three-year degree plan at UW System schools.
According to a statement, the three-year plan would involve students using online classes, summer courses and Advanced Placement tests to decrease their college costs.
""In that scenario, both the university and the student save money,"" Reilly said.
UW System Spokesperson David Giroux said details of the proposed program are still up in the air, but officials are formally looking into that model.
He said many motivated UW students already complete their degrees in three years, but there is not currently an advising program modeled with that time frame in mind.
""If we put something like that in place and be reasonably assured that is a high quality University of Wisconsin degree, we could help students save significant amounts of money, and at the same time reduce our expenses as a university as well,"" Giroux said.
According to Sandefur, UW-Madison would ""definitely"" offer the three-year degree plan if the UW System implemented it.
Other proposed money-saving measures include cutting back on hiring and faculty travel, re-examining low-enrollment programs and creating more efficient business practices.
""Other Wisconsin organizations are being forced to adapt to an evolving global economy. Our university is not immune from that pressure,"" Reilly said.
