Rothman Must Re-Balance UW System
UW-Madison gets too much of state funding, campuses like UWM get too little.
Jay Rothman. Photo provided by the University of Wisconsin System.
It is crystal clear that the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents had the Wisconsin Idea in mind when its 17 members unanimously chose Jay Rothman as the next present of the UW System.
The historic Wisconsin Idea holds that the boundaries of the university are the boundaries of the state. That concept has lost validity as the system’s flagship, UW–Madison, became increasingly dominant in the allocation of resources within the 26-campus system. The system has become unbalanced. The other 25 campuses are hurting while our world-class Dane County campus has prospered.
UW-Madison is a fabulous asset, but it has lost sight of its statewide role. It exports graduates to the rest of the state and beyond. It does basic research for the benefit of the world (stem cells, the internet, solar energy economics to list just some of its most well-known breakthroughs). We Wisconsin residents and taxpayers are proud and more than satisfied with its contributions to our state and the planet.
Yet Rothman knows that the rest of the system is invaluable, too, in different ways. It educates three-quarters of UWS students, and most stay here and help grow the state’s prosperity. His parents were educated at UW-Stevens Point.
Note that Regent Chairman Edmund Manydeeds lives and works in Eau Claire and graduated from UW-Superior; he undoubtedly had a strong voice in choosing the finalists for the top job.
The point is that the university needs balance as it accomplishes its many purposes in Wisconsin.
Rothman, who grew up in Wausau and did his undergraduate work at Marquette University, knows that we need a broad menu of educational opportunities across the state.
One example is the 13 two-year UW colleges in key communities statewide. They have long been a very effective jumping off platform for baccalaureate degrees. But they are now in trouble due to sharply declining enrollments and mismanagement of them at the system level. Rothman’s team will want to seek a revamped mission for these valuable, locally owned campuses.
As another example, UW-Milwaukee is emerging as a second flagship for the UW System. But it needs more support. An example is the fresh water strategy that is hubbed at UWM. It grants PhDs in that discipline. A new Great Lakes research vessel has been on the drawing boards for years, but remains only about half funded. It needs another $10 million.
Fortunately for Rothman, he will take over as president at a time when the state is flush with cash. The GOP-controlled Legislature has used a huge $3.4 billion surplus to fund a major tax cut. But it still has another $1.8 billion in surplus available for strategic investment. The university has a rich portfolio of strategic projects, like the advance of health care degrees at UWM, where the extra surplus could be deployed.
On a purely political basis, Rothman should fully appreciate that legislators from across the state far outnumber those in Dane County. A balanced system should do better in winning state tax dollars than a Madison-centric system can ever accomplish. A good number of legislators have no love for UW-Madison.
Many voices have called for a statewide task force on the future of UWS. That could create strategic directions that should win additional and more balanced funding for the system as a whole.
Rothman Task: Re-balance UW System was originally published by Johntorinus.com.
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I would like to see more room made for transfer students at the flagship campuses. If a student at a 2-year college is in the top 15% of their class after two years, that student should have a chance to replace someone in the bottom 15% of a flagship university or department. Right now the chances of this are slim, and consequently, we are throwing away the academic potential of students who are late-bloomers or who do not come from high performing high schools. Also, the competition promoted by this replacement strategy would be healthy for both the 2-year colleges and the flagship schools. This should be part of the re-balancing.
Sadly, the GOP legislature has no interest in sustained support of the UW system or education in general, so I doubt much will change. Several years ago there were reports that the UW system paid considerably less than peer institutions – has this been addressed? Tuition was frozen for years while funding was held steady or cut – now that the tuition freeze is gone, will the legislature provide more sustained funding or will they just expect the UW to raise tuition and fundraise more? While the Board of Regents and the Governor play a large role in the UW’s success, the GOP legislature has been the roadblock for the last decade, more interested in firing professors they don’t agree with and cutting programs they don’t see value in while ignoring the other issues and challenges the UW must solve.
This is a good commentary on what might be done to the UW System. So far, Mr. Rothman has not presented anything on what he might propose or if said he will be a defender of our University system when the right wing Republican legislators continue their attack on education at all levels.
The closeup photos that Urban Milwaukee includes with many of its articles are studio quality. The photo of Rothman at the top of this article is so vivid and lifelike, it appears as though he’s about to say something…
One of these days, I’d like to make a Robin Vos dart board with the Vos picture that I downloaded from an Urban Milwaukee article.