Members of the UW-Madison Academic Staff Assembly passed a resolution Monday calling for a clearly-defined relationship between the state and UW System.
The resolution recommends the state hold the UW System accountable for being cost-efficient while giving it more flexibility.
Assembly Chair Heather Daniels said in light of budget cuts to the system, UW-Madison is making efforts to save money and she does not want further cuts from the state to negate the money saved.
“We’ve started here on campus several major initiatives that may result in cost savings, and we do not want the state to take those savings from us and cut our budget by that amount, otherwise it really takes the wind out of our sails to be more efficient about anything,” Daniels said.
Assembly Representative Jeff Shokler said while UW-Madison’s Faculty Senate passed a similar resolution in December, the Assembly represents an additional 8,000 university employees.
“That has some weight,” Shokler said. “This is a way for us to formally get our voice on record with the legislators, with the state, and with other bodies in the system.”
