Chancellor Biddy Martin met with the Board of Regents Friday to discuss the potential UW-Madison split from the UW System as protesters of the deal gathered outside.
The plan, which will likely appear in Gov. Scott Walker's budget Tuesday, would give UW-Madison a separate 21-member board of trustees, which would be capable of setting tuition and would have more authority to manage building projects.
UW-Madison student leaders supported Martin's plan, which she said is necessary following a likely budget cut.
""My approach has been to say, begin with the hand we're dealt,"" Martin said. ""And the hand we were dealt has no money in it. And it's for that reason, my staff and I have been developing and present the New Badger Partnership.""
Other UW System chancellors fear, however, that this spinoff will create unnecessary competition for state resources between the schools, create difficulties in recruiting new faculty and will hurt the prestige of the UW System.
Martin assured these schools that UW-Madison is not going anywhere, and emphasized that shared prestige comes from the quality of institution and the service they provide to young people and the state.
""Surely the pride that faculty, staff, students and alumni feel for their particular institutions in the system is derived from something other than UW-Madison,"" Martin said.
She said each of the UW schools has something unique to offer students. Martin pointed to the unparalleled music program at UW-Eau Claire, a great film and productions unit at UW-Milwaukee and strengths in energy and environmental studies at UW-Stevens Point.
Chancellors from other UW schools continued to worry, however, about negative repercussions from these changes.
""It feels like we're getting a divorce,"" UW-Stevens Point Chancellor Bernie Patterson said. ""It feels like in every divorce, the ones who come up short are the children. In this case we need to be thinking about 182,000 students.""
Others advocated for more flexibility not only for UW-Madison, but also for their respective schools.
Martin agreed these universities deserve more flexibility, but said, along with support from Madison student leaders, UW-Madison is just different.
Student leaders, including Associated Students of Madison Chair Brandon Williams, released a statement to point out that unlike other UW schools, UW-Madison brings in $1.1 billion in research funding to Wisconsin and attracts a substantial number of students from outside the state.
The Student Labor Action Coalition (SLAC), among other student and community organizations who oppose the separation, protested outside of the meeting and said they worry tuition will increase to levels of private universities and shared governance of the university will disintegrate.
Chancellor Martin said shared governance will continue but recognized a tuition increase. However, she said UW-Madison's tuition would remain low compared to its public peers.
""We have incredible balance that we have to strike between access and affordability, and quality,"" Martin said.
She said accessibility won't be an issue if they sacrifice quality because the brightest students will attend universities in other states.
Martin assured the board the tuition increase will not harm students from families earning $80,000 dollars or less, and UW-Madison will continue to provide more need-based financial aid.
