More evidence that Fitzwalkerstanis have injured UW in many ways.

Noticed this thing in the Wisconsin Business Journal recently, where UW-Madison Chancellor Becky Blank was complaining about a lack of funding for the campus' building projects.

[Blank is] concerned because the state has funded “very, very little” in the last two bienniums compared to historical levels. Projects funded by UW-Madison that require several million dollars or more need the approval of the entire state Legislature and the governor.
That means these projects end up as “political footballs,” which she believes are “incredibly damaging” to the university.

“The constraints I have on capital projects are unprecedented compared to any of my peers… and almost unworkable at this point in time,” she said….

“We’re going to really try to get the ability to issue our own bonds for at least some small part of our projects,” she said, referring to program revenue-funded projects. Those include any projects where the university generates the income to pay the bonds.

Last year, the state turned down “almost all” of UW-Madison’s program revenue projects, even though they were fully funded, Blank said.
In the previous biennium, the Legislature didn’t provide funding for new buildings or for maintenance, Blank said. That has led to a growing list of deferred maintenance, assessed over the past year. The assessment found the university had more deferred maintenance and lower capital investment in building projects over the last five to 10 years than the other Big 10 schools.

“I despair at times as to whether we will be able to do what we need to do, for being a 21st century research institution, without more control over that,” she said.

Well, I bet that won't happen with the anti-academic ALEC crew that's been in charge. So maybe Becky shouldn't be playing kissy-face with Foxconn and the WisGOP Legislature, and work to get people in power that'll allow Madison the freedom to compete with other big-time universities. Or she can continue to be handcuffed like this. Her call.

But at least UW-Madison still has increased name recognition, increasing enrollment and a large donor base to handle many of the constraints the state has put on it. That cannot be said for many of the other 4-year campuses, as this recent article from the Wisconsin State Journal notes.

Last fall, UW-Superior suspended more than two dozen academic programs in what faculty said was an abrupt announcement that did not seek their input through the shared governance process.

A few months later, UW-Stevens Point proposed a plan to eliminate 13 academic programs — including English, art, history, philosophy and foreign languages — and create “high-demand career paths.” Facing backlash, university officials formed a work group focused on crafting budget and curricular changes that will submit recommendations to the chancellor in mid-November.

And just last week, we found out that UW-Oshkosh is also going to be dealing with disruptions due to a lack of funding and enrollment. So now Oshkosh will dump adjunct instructors in order to cut into a large budget deficit.

Announced last week to staff by the acting dean of the College of Letters and Sciences, Colleen McDermott, the proposal is the latest example of University of Wisconsin System schools’ cost-cutting as they grapple with a budget deficit stemming from a decline in student enrollment, cuts in state funding and frozen tuition rates for in-state undergraduate students......

Facing a $9.5 million budget deficit, [UW-Oshkosh Chancellor Andrew] Leavitt announced last winter a three-year “fiscal transformation” plan. The 2019-20 academic year marks the period when the most severe of the cuts, about 50 percent, will be made.

Of the 205 faculty members within the College of Letters and Sciences, 187 received a “curriculum modification,” a technical term that allows professors to teach 18 credits per academic year as opposed to 24 credits. The additional six credits are designated research time that involves students…

Starting next fall, faculty will teach at least 21 credits and can receive a maximum of three credits’ worth of research time, according to the dean’s letter. Faculty in their first two years at the college, however, can be eligible for six credits worth of research.

“This is a fundamental shift in practice and culture of our institution,” UW-Oshkosh environmental studies and history professor Jim Feldman said.

And let me guess, they won’t be paying more to the faculty in order for them to teach more classes. I’m sure THAT will have people with Master's degrees and PhD's lining up to take jobs at Oshkosh in the future, won’t it?

There's a lot of noise with the election fast approaching. But let's not forget how badly the UW has been treated in the Age of Fitzwalkerstan, and how the damage is starting to increase exponentially, especially at the non-Madison schools that don't have the donor or research base to fall back on as the Legislature defunds the System.

It's yet another thing that has to be ended in 13 days, or else it'll be FUBARed.