Should UW-Madison spin off from UW System? Legislators ponder if it's time to 'shake it up'

A legislative committee making recommendations on the future of the state’s public university system is considering whether to call for spinning off the flagship university.

“I think it’s time to step back and say it’s not 1973 anymore,” said committee member and UW Foundation board member Peter Kies, referring to the year the University of Wisconsin System was created . “Every 50 years or so, you've got to shake it up.”

Several committee members voiced support for UW-Madison separating from the 12 other UW institutions. They argued it would make the flagship more competitive nationally. They also said it would lift up the state's other campuses because the UW System could focus on solving problems UW-Madison doesn't have, such as declining enrollment and financial deficits.

"Madison casts such a large shadow over the entire System," said committee member Jim Langdon, a former UW System vice president. "Its’ really hard to understand what's happening out at the other 12 institutions. The System schools − Milwaukee and the 11 − would really benefit from having that shadow taken away so the Legislature and the public, frankly, can understand what's happening at those institutions."

Any change to the UW System's structure would require legislative approval. The committee's purpose is to craft recommendations for the Legislature to consider when the next session begins in 2025.

Worry of 'divide and conquer' strategy

The potential spin-off of UW-Madison dominated discussion at a Thursday meeting, which concluded without adoption of any recommendations. Another meeting is scheduled for sometime in September.

The committee's 18 members includes two Republican lawmakers, two Democratic lawmakers and 14 others, at least six of whom have ties to UW-Madison.

Not every committee member was sold on the idea.

"All I can hear is divide and conquer," said Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee. "Cleave it off, and then Madison is on its own. The rest of the System is on its own, and there's no funding to follow it."

Among others who said they were opposed: UW System President Jay Rothman and UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin.

"Our universities are better together," Rothman said in a statement to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, adding: "At a time when we need to address all the challenges in higher education comprehensively, adding more governance, complications, and inefficiencies would not serve Wisconsin families and taxpayers well."

Mnookin acknowledged the flagship faces different opportunities and challenges than others within the UW System. But she believes "it is not only possible but preferable to address these issues and these differences within our existing governance structures."

Separating from UW System has been suggested before. It backfired

The idea of a UW-Madison spin-off isn't new.

In 2011, then-Republican Gov. Scott Walker proposed pairing a significant budget cut with greater freedom for UW-Madison by spinning it off into a new public authority with its own governing board. Then-Chancellor Biddy Martin supported it. The UW System did not. Lawmakers removed it from the budget and Martin left UW-Madison after just three years leading the university.

Walker pitched another change in 2015, making the entire UW System into a public authority that would have given the UW Board of Regents more power. The idea didn't make it out of committee.

One former regent calls current UW System model 'outdated'

A recent research paper by UW-Madison economists , including a professor serving on the committee, suggested relaxing the UW System's strong governance model would "unshackle" UW-Madison and allow the flagship to realize its full potential.

Another committee member, Scott Beightol, a former UW Regent and UW Law School alumnus, said the current model of one statewide four-year system is “outdated” and “isn’t working." Still, he raised one concern about the spin-off: he's heard a fear UW-Madison may be targeted or punished based on the perception some have of the university being a liberal bastion.

Committee chair Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, suggested lawmakers serve on the separate board that would be created to oversee UW-Madison to ensure representation across the political spectrum.

"I think we all agree that staying right where we’re at is probably not the best pathway for the future,” Nedweski said.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Should UW-Madison spin off from UW System? Legislators ponder if it's time to 'shake it up'