Before we met with Chancellor Lovell, we discussed UWM’s status as “The Underfunded Campus” and our support of a TA request to bring forward their own concerns about compensation. With the Chancellor, we discussed the need for new faculty in multiple areas. The Chancellor currently needs to privately fundraise for faculty positions and, for example, reminded us that the School of Freshwater Sciences was a response to regional and state needs and requests, so it is particularly frustrating to have to fundraise to fulfill basic functionality. We also discussed enrollment targets for incoming classes. We are funded like a research university of 16,000 students. We now have an “admitted student team” which has helped with our yield of students. Applications and admits are down, but the yield of admits is up.

We spoke with Senator Larson about flexibility regarding resources and  resource allocation and how to better advocate for UWM’s position with the Legislature. We also talked about a “Higher Ed, Lower Debt” campaign regarding financing student loans that Senate Democrats are putting forward.