WHY GOVERNOR WALKER WANTS TO NULLIFY THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

We now know the details of why the governor of Wisconsin wants to cut UofW funding.

Some time ago, I wrote about Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s goals of cutting $300 million out of the University of Wisconsin budget and using the money to finance a sports arena for the Milwaukee Bucs.   Well, we now have the details of just what these cuts would affect at the UofW.  And those cuts go well beyond just taking away some university budget dollars.

The Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB) has now released what is referred to as the “plain-English version of the Wisconsin state budget”, and it includes all the Scott Walker dirt about what and why he wants to cut the budget. 

 

Walker’s hand-picked appointments to the UofW Board of Regents are already trying to walk back the story of what Walker’s actual theme for the cut-backs is all about.

First, one must understand that for decades, the University of Wisconsin System has had a written “mission of outreach” to the rest of their state.  But as with most of the Republican Party’s focus, Walker is a supporter of converting any government function of the county, state or nation to a private business or independent authority.  In this case, the governor wants the University’s “System” to be removed as a function of the university’s Board and to make it into an independent authority.  I will later show how devastating a move like this would mean to the current functioning of the University.

What has caused this issue to come to the attention of the national media was when the LFB published their latest analysis.  It is mentioned in that public document that “the requirement to report sexual assault statistics on campus to the Wisconsin Department of Justice was being removed”.  The university spokesperson that tried to walk-back this item said that it was the university “System” that had asked for this change claiming “it was redundant since the feds already require such reporting”.  (It must be noted that the spokesperson making this statement was just recently appointed by Governor Walker and he had no actual part in the university’s budget discussions.)

Now I had said I would let you know some of the effects these proposed budget cuts would have on the university.  The effect is not just that university out-reach programs would be receiving less financial support than before.  The programs in question would either totally disappear or would be removed from the university “System”.  According to today’s Walker administration, “the college system isn't supposed to serve the common good, outside of the campus's boundaries”.

Here are just a few examples of what would be affected by the $300 million budget cut.

Laws would be deleted that require the Board to maintain the following institutes and centers:

·       The Institute for Excellence in Urban Education at UW-Milwaukee.  This institute which engages in research, public service, and educational activities pertaining to issues in urban public education.

·       The Solid and Hazardous Waste Education Center in the UW-Extension, which promotes pollution prevention through an education and technical assistance program.

·       The Area Health Education Center at UW-Madison to support community-based primary care training programs.

·       The Center for Environmental Education within the College of Natural Resources at UW-Stevens Point, which assists in the development, dissemination, implementation, and evaluation of environmental education programs for elementary and secondary school teachers and pupils.

·       The Center for Urban Land Economics Research in the UW-Madison School of Business, which conducts research and undertakes educational, public outreach, and grant activities related to real estate and urban land economics.

In addition, these changes delete the requirement that the Department of Safety and Professional Services pay $10 of each real estate broker license renewal fee to the UW System to support the Center for Urban Land Economics and Research.

These functions and organizations with the UofW are just some of the reasons that this state university “System” is considered one of the best state university systems in the nation.  Being a graduate of UofW carries a reputation that’s at a level with many of the highly expensive, private American universities.

But, along with the negative effects on these university centers, there are other organizations that would just be affected by the financial cuts and legal changes.

As examples, laws for the following would be virtually deleted:

The requirement that the University Board offer, establish, or maintain the following UW-Extension programs, missions, or authorizations:

·       A local planning program to educate local policymakers

·       A program of education and technical assistance related to recycling market development

·       Programs to educate consumers about biotechnology processes and products and risk assessment techniques

·       A higher education location program (UW HELP) to provide information on undergraduate admission requirements, degree programs, enrollment, student financial aid, student housing, and admission forms.

·       Agricultural Demonstration Stations

·       A state soils and plant analysis laboratory in connection with the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and UW-Extension

·       A pharmaceutical experiment station in the UW-Madison School of Pharmacy

·       An Herbarium at UW-Madison.  

·       Experimental work in agriculture; bovine brucellosis; Dutch Elm disease; the feasibility of reintroducing elk into the northern part of the state; the Fond du Lac Avenue corridor in Milwaukee.

The proposal is that all of these functions should become independent authorities that would no longer have any legislative oversight.  That change would set a very dangerous precedent.

What's to stop the Walker-stacked Board of Regents from totally getting rid of these functions, and instead pawning them off to well-connected private interests? 

 

Absolutely nothing.

But what is even more important is why is Walker doing this in the first place. 

Those following this issue in Wisconsin have now found that the Walker Administration has tried to remove the “Wisconsin Idea” from the UofW's mission statement in the original state budget.  Now, this deletion has so far, not been formally amended.  But at this time, the staked-deck of Walker-appointed Board Members and the Republicans in the state government do not bode well for the survival of UofW’s mission statement.

A hint of what the governor is trying to achieve came in one of Walker’s recent stump speeches.

In referring to these budget cuts, “The focus would be honed in, in particular to look at making sure that we prepare individuals in this state . . . for the jobs and opportunities that are available in the state,” Walker stated this during a stop in DePere, Wisconsin.

There’s the rub.  The governor wants the UofW System to be a glorified technical school that produces workers for businesses and corporations.  Not a source of education and public good that provides important research that could improve people's lives.  If the UofW System were to serve the public and have certain lands set aside, that would get in the way of maximizing the profitability of such a system.

Upon hearing Walkers comments in the DePere speech, an outside reporter wrote: “It sure makes you wonder, if the System Authority is set up without all of these requirements of public service to the state, how long before we have the Koch School of Land Management?”  (One must remember, the Koch Brothers from Kansas are one of Walker's largest campaign donors.)

I hate to admit as to how true that reporter's statement might be and how it could also be applied to where a “President Scott Walker” would want to take this nation.

Think about it.

Copyright G.Ater  2015