Campus Connection

So far, no layoffs or outsourcing are planned as UW-L works to find $8 million to cut from its budget, explained UW-L Chancellor Joe Gow at an open forum Tuesday afternoon in Centennial Hall. However, difficult decisions lie ahead for the university’s budget council, as well as divisions across campus as they continue to evaluate what can be eliminated. The challenging budget decisions come after a proposed $300 million cut to the UW System, meaning about $8 million for UW-L for each year of the 2015-17 state biennial budget. Budget reduction plans so far call for not filling 22 vacant positions out of about 40 total vacancies on campus. Each position is carefully being evaluated in effort to have the least impact on students’ academic experience, university leaders explained. Other strategies so far include realizing $658,000 in savings from cutting supply and expense budgets and working to increase revenue. UW-L is benefiting from continued strong enrollment. Admissions will be working to admit an additional 25 students in fall 2015. The process of making the cuts has been “hard” and “a lot of heavy lifting,” explained Vice Chancellor Bob Hetzel. The $300 million cut comes after 15 years of budget cuts for the UW System totaling $617 billion — that’s $16 billion for UW-L alone, explained Hetzel. “We’ve cut and cut and cut for 15 years. There is not an easy or good way to take $8 million more out of this budget,” he added. “We are doing the best we can.” UW-L’s cut returns the university to funding levels it received from the state in 1998. “Does anyone believe we can have a 21st century university with 1998 funding levels?” asked Gow. “That’s 17 years ago. That’s just stunning to me.” With this size of cut and Gov. Scott Walker’s talk of a cap on tuition at the rate of inflation moving forward, Gow said it will be difficult for the university to remain strong. “I try to be an optimistic person, but it’s hard to maintain that optimism with that future,” he says. But Gow added that the proposed state budget is not yet a done deal. Gow also wanted faculty and staff to know that the reduction in resources is not a reflection of the quality work they’ve done to build a successful university. “We are consistently regarded as one of the best educational values in America. This is a very successful enterprise,” says Gow. “What business person would lay people off after they’ve achieved the kind of success we have? … But whether we like it or not, legislators will decide this.”

Learn more about the budget

To learn more about the impact of the budget proposal on UW System and UW-L visit the budget website.