UW-Madison needs to reallocate its resources in order to preserve the quality of the university, UW-Madison Chancellor David Ward said at a forum with members of the UW-Madison community Thursday.
In the wake of over $300 million in proposed cuts to the UW
System over two years, Ward said he does not foresee the state increasing funds to the system in the near future and UW-Madison should use "educational innovation" to better use its resources.
"The amount that could be got by even more effective
advocacy is extremely small," Ward said. "I am very fearful that even on the short term some of our public institutions could be really injured, so the real question is: do we just take it?"
To enhance educational innovation, Ward said UW-Madison
should look into how it could "increase capacity with the same number of faculty and staff members without damaging the quality of learning" and "enhance learning outcomes by customizing learning."
Sara Goldrick-Rab, Associate Professor of Educational Policy Studies and Sociology, said many of the problems UW-Madison is facing, such as not having a pay plan for faculty and staff members, are issues other citizens
and universities in Wisconsin are also facing.
Goldrick-Rab said UW-Madison should connect with individuals and universities throughout the state to strengthen arguments for higher education.
"We're not making common cause, frankly, and it's
contributing to the fact that we are so unsuccessful in our arguments," Goldrick-Rab said. "I think that the fact that people feel disconnected from us is not at all helping our case in terms of making these arguments for why we are trying to work with the state to be accessible and affordable to them and to provide a high-quality education for them."
Ward said going forward without dialogues about reallocation and innovation could be detrimental to the university.
"I think there's a crisis here," Ward said. "We really want
our grandchildren and children to go to college, just like we did. If we don't do that, I think the squeeze will be so great that the very base of what we are and perhaps some of our values will be so impoverished."
