As the budget proposal drafted by Governor Scott Walker draws nearer, university staff and faculty met this past Wednesday to discuss potential problems and solutions. These discussions were aimed at alleviating the $8 million cut proposed to UW-La Crosse.
These cuts are spread across the board, yet primarily focused on Academic Affairs and the Administration and Finance departments. With the proposed budget changes, Academic Affairs will take a 39.4 percent cut, a more than $557,000 reduction while the Administration and Finance department takes a 33.5 percent cut, a reduction upwards of $780,000.
Chancellor Joe Gow, along with Vice Chancellor of Administration and Finance Bob Hetzel, provided updates on their meeting with Walker. From the meeting, Gow determined that Walker will allow existing building projects such as the Wittich Hall renovation and REC addition to commence, but new projects, such as the Fieldhouse, will not be allowed to begin anytime soon.
After the dialogue about the State Budget finished, focus shifted to Vacant and Instructional Positions currently present at UW-L, along with staff voicing their concerns about possible position cuts. These vacant positions are filled no matter what, usually taken on as extra load by a current professor, which in turn reduces the time spent outside of the classroom helping students or participating in the community.
Provost Heidi Macpherson stressed her resistance to this idea, saying, “If we start to reduce the instructional line and reduce staff, we start to increase the time it takes for students to earn a degree.”
Numerous Council members voiced their concerns about students who cannot graduate in time due to the lack of class availability. Should the University undergo staff cuts, according to Macpherson, students would be kept at UW-L for an extended semester or two.
Although these discussions and ideas proposed by the Governor are not permanent quite yet, Hetzel said, “There are still a lot of questions left to be answered. There might be bonding authority for the fieldhouse.”
Early retirement packages were offered as a possible solution to circumvent removing faculty positions. These packages would be offered to the entire faculty, encouraging staff members to retire, reducing spending by UW-L.
But, as Macphereson pointed out, “We may have our best professors leaving, the quality of the institution goes down.”
But Gow said the beauty of UW-L is the “incredible retention rate we have. Students stay for the quality of services here on campus. Other colleges ask how we have that retention rate.”
The University Council will continue to meet until concrete solutions are met to reduce budget constraints proposed in the upcoming months.