The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee faces “unprecedented challenges” with Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to cut the University of Wisconsin System budget by $300 million over two years – but it also has exceptional resources in its faculty and a mission important to defend, Chancellor Mark Mone said Wednesday in his spring plenary address to faculty, students and staff.
Mone spoke with pride about the recent recognition of UWM’s community engagement by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the university’s important role in training southeastern Wisconsin’s workforce. He showed a video showcasing the work biologist Stefan Schnitzer and his students are doing in Panama, where vines threatening rainforest trees can also impact climate change.
“We are facing unprecedented challenges (at UWM). There’s no question about it,” Mone said. “We can’t take this lightly … but we have such remarkable strengths that are aimed at an important mission, and I call upon all of you as we face an uncertain future to keep that first and foremost and think about how we can together address these challenges.”
Along with cutting UW System’s budget, Walker has proposed spinning it off into a public authority separate from state government. That move could give UWM more flexibility down the road in purchasing, human resources, some building projects and tuition rates, while still allowing employees to participate in state health and retirement programs, said Mone, who also reiterated his commitment to shared governance.
But the proposed budget cut could be difficult to weather given cutbacks over the past 12 years, along with a current two-year tuition freeze, and Walker’s proposal to continue that for another two years, Mone said.
“We are operating as one of the leanest research universities in the country, but we are going to have to look at things again,” he said, adding that recruitments, layoffs and travel budgets were items to be examined.
At the same time, Mone emphasized that he does not know yet how much UWM’s share of the budget cut might be. More information is likely to be available after Walker unveils his full budget proposal on Feb. 3 and the UW System Board of Regents meets on Feb. 5 and 6. Mone scheduled an all-campus meeting on Feb. 10 to discuss the budget.
The university community must continue to share with the public the importance of its work and UWM’s unique role as an urban research institution. Southeastern Wisconsin will need tens of thousands of college graduates to fill jobs in the next eight years. Community and business leaders recognize UWM’s importance in educating workers and are ready to advocate on its behalf, he said.
In addition, the university’s role as a launching pad for entrepreneurs and the alignment of its research interests with industry clusters in Milwaukee and six neighboring counties may convince lawmakers and regents that UWM should be treated differently than other UW campuses, he said.
Cutting an engine that helps drive the region’s economy “will not advance, broadly, where our state needs to go,” Mone said.
Mone, who has formed a task force of faculty, students and staff to look at how budget cuts could affect the campus, emphasized his commitment to shared governance and promised regular, open communication throughout the budget process.
He urged faculty and staff to be respectful of each other, recognizing that there may be differences of opinions on campus.
“Join arms in a way we never have before,” he urged. “Together, take on this challenge.”
