By Mike Knetter and
Paul Peercy
UW-Madison Faculty
UW-Madison Chancellor Carolyn ""Biddy"" Martin has proposed a new initiative to provide additional investment in the undergraduate experience at UW-Madison through a premium tuition applied only on the Madison campus. We support this initiative for the following reasons:
• We believe there are important investments that need to be made in undergraduate education on our campus. We believe these investments will boost the quality of the experience and student outcomes (which accrue over a lifetime) by more than the increase in cost.
• This plan directs the proceeds of the new tuition toward areas of critical need. The proceeds will be used to hire faculty in high-demand areas; put faculty in closer contact with our students; provide other forms of instructional support (including technology-enhanced learning); enhance academic and career advising across the campus; and enable us to attract the best students without regard to their financial need.
• Given the price of UW-Madison tuition relative to our Big Ten peers and the other system campuses, it is reasonable to ask students to take the first step in financing investments of this type at this time. Even after this plan, our tuition will remain below the median in the Big Ten. We will also be enlisting private financial support for many of these same initiatives as we move forward.
It is important to clarify that this campuswide initiative does not affect the tuition differential paid by business and engineering students. These differentials have been and will continue to be used exclusively for the benefit of majors and certificate students in these two colleges. Most of our peer business and engineering schools around the Big Ten also use a differential tuition, so we are no different. And even with the Madison Initiative, the base rate of tuition paid by UW-Madison students will remain below the median in the Big Ten.
All undergraduate students will benefit from the Madison Initiative. These benefits will accrue to business and engineering students directly through whatever share of new faculty, instructional and student services flow to our schools as a high-demand major. Business and engineering students will also benefit indirectly because many of the classes they take to meet degree requirements are offered in the College of Letters and Science, which is likely to receive the majority of this new funding.
We believe that a business or engineering degree from UW-Madison remains a great value, and this new initiative will enhance the value of all degrees granted by the campus.
Mike Knetter is the dean of the School of Business, and Paul Peercy is the dean of the College of Engineering. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
