At its first meeting Thursday, a new group studying the future of the Universities of Wisconsin sketched a rough outline of where it plans to look for solutions.
The legislative study committee is made up of business leaders, former regents, professors, and lawmakers tasked with creating policies to address budget shortfalls, a shrinking college-aged population, and other problems facing the university system.
Study topics proposed by members ranged from campus closures, tuition costs, and faculty pay to giving the school system more power over its finances, including the authority to issue its own bonds.
The committee is also expected to tackle the idea of separating UW-Madison, the state’s flagship campus, from the UW system. That idea was last proposed by then-Gov. Scott Walker in 2011.
Watch: What's next for the Universities of Wisconsin?
New group explores future of Universities of Wisconsin
“I’m concerned we’re not set up for the next ten years, or the next fifty years, and I think it’s time to look at that because I do believe this is the single greatest economic engine in the state,” committee member Peter Kies, a board member of the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association, said.
The problems facing the UW system have already led university officials to announce plans to close down six two-year branch campuses across the state.
Former UW regent Scott Beightol signaled more closures could be part of the solutions identified by the committee.
“I’ll put it on the table: Are there too many institutions to serve the needs of a declining – you know, demographics?” he said.
But Marshfield businessman Jerome Lippert pushed for the committee to find ways to continue to offer shorter, more accessible programs.
“Yes, they are closing, but if hadn’t been for a two-year campus, I would have never graduated from a four-year institution," Lippert said. "The two-year campuses are very important for some of these communities, and I hope we can find ways to keep them viable.”
Other committee members signaled an interest in addressing free speech issues on UW campuses. Some Republicans have alleged that the university system has sought to silence conservative viewpoints. GOP leaders in the Legislature also targeted UW’s diversity, equity, and inclusion programs last year, when they withheld pay raises for UW employees until the UW officials agreed to limit DEI.
Legislative study committees are intended to produce bipartisan solutions that lawmakers can consider when the Legislature comes back into session next year. The UW study committee is set to meet several times between now and October.
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