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State compact discussed
At its March meeting, the UW System Board of Regents continued its discussion on the idea of a state compact, a negotiated agreement in which the state commits to certain annual funding increases over a fixed period of years.

As part of a compact, the state would increase operating flexibility for the university. In turn, the university commits to accountability on a number of performance indicators.

To maintain predictability and continuity of funding, an important feature of these agreements often is a commitment that the state would exempt the university from cuts in future state budgets.

Kathi Sell, UW System associate vice president for budget and planning, says five states have implemented compacts that are in effect for a fixed number of years, and four of those states have also had recent budget cuts.

Liberal arts lauded
Jane Tylus, associate dean and professor of French and Italian at UW–Madison, was among campus leaders who discussed the value of the liberal arts at the UW System Board of Regents’ meetings March 7.

Tylus says the liberal arts can lead to a “brain gain” for Wisconsin. UW–Madison, for example, recently received a $400,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to establish a Center for Upper Midwest Culture.

“It’s my hope that we can use the center to educate our students about Wisconsin and get them to stay in Wisconsin after graduation,” she told the regents.

Regent JoAnne Brandes responded that from her vantage point as a business executive, employees that she most often sees succeeding in their careers have an educational background in the liberal arts.

UWM beefs up research
UW-Milwaukee is increasing research activity with the goal of becoming one of the nation’s preeminent urban universities. Under a new plan, the campus would add doctoral programs in six areas: history, Africology, social welfare, biomedical imaging (in cooperation with the Medical College of Wisconsin), information sciences and health sciences.

UWM Provost John Wanat says these programs would be paid for with a combination of funds from growing student enrollments, state support, internal reallocations, private contributions and growth in research funding.

In five years, UWM has doubled its research grants to about $30 million per year. As an example of internal reallocation, campus administrators cut back on several programs that are of lesser priority, including a four-year medical records degree program. A new doctoral program in history will come to the regents later this spring for approval.

Several UW System regents strongly endorse the plan. Regent JoAnne Brandes says new degree programs are important to Milwaukee’s economic development. “There are many companies in southeast Wisconsin who want to see their employees move to the next level,” says Brandes. Adds Regent Gerard Randall: “Milwaukee needs a strong, urban, doctoral-granting university.”

Capital requests similar
Campuses have submitted capital budget requests that total nearly $300 million, about the same as the last biennium, says Nancy Ives, UW System assistant vice president for capital planning and budget.

In related business, Regent Lolita Schneiders has requested the creation of a proposal to build operating and maintenance funds into the funding for new buildings. She says it is important to create long-term plans for not only funding but also maintaining new buildings. She says that, currently, maintenance funds are among the first to be cut when budgets are tight, leading to insufficient funds for adequate upkeep of facilities.