Splitting UW-Madison from universty system is a bad idea

A proposal to break UW-Madison from the rest of the UW System is a fundamentally flawed idea.

A legislative study committee is currently examining the future of the Universities of Wisconsin. As part of that study, some have called for UW-Madison to be separated from the rest of the system with its own board of regents.

“I believe that it’s possible that if there were two separate systems of governance for the comprehensives, and for UWMadison, that the great light that is the flagship that sort of overshadows everybody else, would move over to the side and then will still be a shining light,” said Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie in an interview with FOX 11 in Green Bay. She said the move would potentially allow the state to take a closer look at the issues impacting the other campuses.

The current Universities of Wisconsin system has been in place for more than 50 years. It was established by state law in 1974 with all 13 universities answering to a single Board of Regents.

The scheme to split off UW-Madison is grounded in institutionalized elitism with UW-Madison perceived as the premier university in the system compared to the other 12 universities.

UW-Madison has a well-earned national reputation as a top tier research university and rigorous academic standards, especially in its graduate school programs. There is no disputing the fact that UW-Madison holds an important place within the Universities of Wisconsin and enjoys a well-deserved national spotlight. However brightly UW-Madison shines, it does not, nor should not diminish the importance and pride in the other 12 universities in the system, nor their role as regional economic powerhouses as important educational centers.

Proposals to have UW-Madison strike out on its own are cyclical in nature. They gain traction at times, like now, where overall Universities of Wisconsin system enrollments are down and some campuses are facing structural deficits and the need for capital improvements.

Folks at UW-Madison see investing state dollars in facilities and staff at places like Stevens Point, Eau Claire, Oshkosh or Superior as taking away from what they feel is rightfully their lion’s share of the budget pie.

It is unclear how creating another layer of bureaucracy will do anything but further dilute state tax and tuition dollars and exacerbate the existing financial and structural issues.

College enrollment is influenced by the same demographic issues that impact enrollment at the K-12 level. Beyond that, they are impacted by regional and national economic conditions. Enrollment in the state’s universities and technical colleges declines when the economy is doing well and when jobs are available without needing to spend thousands of dollars on tuition. During periods when the economy is slow, college classrooms fill up due to people going through retraining or delaying entry into the workforce.

Just as with business leaders in any other cyclical industry, state policy makers must take a long view about what is needed to allow the university system to maintain what is in place. It is vital to have educational opportunities spread across the state rather than taking a short-sighted approach of breaking up the current system and leaving the remaining universities to fight over the crumbs that remain.