Budget Feedback Received between February 18, 2015 and September 1, 2015
( budgetfeedback@uwplatt.edu
)
Standard reply if no questions were asked that could be answered by budget office: Thank you for your input. Your feedback will be included in a summary document located at https://www.uwplatt.edu/budget/budget-reduction-
planning.
If questions were asked that could not be answered by the budget office, the email was forwarded to Cathy Riedl-
Farrey and Rob Cramer for their input prior to responding to the sender.
Student & Alumni Responses/Questions:
2/20/15: I want to take a moment to say thank you for the opportunity to voice my concerns over the growing issue in respect to available (or declining) funds designated to support the entrepreneurship program at UWP.
To me, and to the others I've spoken to who have been positively impacted by this program -
Entrepreneurship being offered at UWP is a godsend, and I mean that. For years, I've struggled with a business idea I've had, and was unsure how I could get from point A to point C having little to no understanding on how to add point B to the equation. It was then, during one of my entrepreneurial courses that I was introduced to Mr. Waterman who put into words exactly what I was thinking (and struggling with) and how the Launchlab was able to help with that process.
During my time in that program, I was able to have an experienced set of eyes and sense of direction provided to me, when others would have charged in excess of $500 just for a fraction of the work that Brock has done for free. Furthermore, the entrepreneurial classes are helping me to think about business in ways the traditional Business Administration program is unable to
- a necessary requisite in order to create something fantastic from the basic resources available to us.
However, one of the strongest reasons for me supporting this program is a quote found in David Fincher's movie "The Social Network," where the Larry Summers, Harvard's 27th president said, "Harvard undergraduates believe that inventing a job is better than finding a job." That quote is something other campuses would be wise to consider. Should our nation's colleges provide the tools to learn how to do a job successfully and assist graduates with finding jobs that will help them succeed in the real world? Yes! But how much more should we inspire them to create jobs (and subsequently employ others) than to simply help them fit into a traditional mold? Why simply give them a fishing pole and help them find a fisherman that
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needs more fishers, when we could help them build a net and teach them to be self-sufficient and productive to the point that they, in turn, will help others?
That is what this program means to me and so many others who have had the privilege to be a part of it. When economies go down and qualified people lose their jobs, they need to look to their own resources to survive. If they can't do that, they'll sink - as I did in 2009. To me, this isn't merely a program to learn - it's a program to grow in an exponential way.
2/20/15: The entrepreneurial program has been, without a doubt, the most beneficial program
I have participated in during my college career. I myself, [removed name],am one of those types of people that cannot stand working for others. I can guess that there are many other students out there just like me. I'd rather work at my own pace and make my own rules. The degree I obtained, Manufacturing Technology Management with an emphasises in Plastic
Technology and minor in Business Administration, has given me the background knowledge for what I want to do, or should I say what industry I want to be in. However that doesn't mean that there has to be a boss in my life. This is where joining the launch lab was the best thing ever. Having an idea for a new type of Stand UP Paddleboard, [Pioneer Launch Lab Coordinator] worked with me and encouraged me to keep at it. Full of advice and knowledge, it lead me to applying for the $25,000 Ideadvance seed fund. Surprisingly, the grant came my way giving me the chance to get the idea off of paper and fund the making of a prototype with my now business partner [removed name]. But lets take a step back further, I never have heard about the Launch Lab until I entered the Elevator Pitch Competition a few years back which got me involved.
Personally, I think that one reason that there may be a lack of people interested in these programs is due to the lack of advertising for it. Many students have great ideas that can kickstart the economy with their new inventions and businesses. To kill this program would be the death to many peoples ideas coming into a reality. Re-think cutting funds for the entrepreneurial minor and the Launch Lab and help support the stimulation of students to think outside of the box. Help them do something different rather than to follow the 8-5 day job grind and become something.
2/25/15: I graduated from UWP in 2002 with a BS in Industrial Technology and will be finishing my MS in Project Management from the DLC this spring. Having a long relationship with the
University, there are many things over the years that I thought were wasteful and any private sector business would quickly change. I manage a roughly $7 mil budget, which is constantly under scrutiny, so I can sympathize with what the university is going through. I am not a supporter of Governor Walker, I believe his agenda right now is strictly based on a run for the presidency and he does not have the best interest of our state in mind.
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1. Facility and grounds care. It is very rare for any business to do these services with their own employees, this is typically contracted labor. I recall watching employees of the university spending countless hours mowing the grass, plowing snow and performing various other maintenance tasks. I believe this could provide you with a significant reduction in labor and also benefit costs. Also, consider the reduction in capital expenditures for equipment (mowers, snow plow trucks, etc) and the associated maintenance. Case in Point: I work for a company that manufactures equipment for both snow removal and mowing; we do not even perform this work ourselves, we contract it to outside agencies. We focus on our core competencies.
2. Athletics. I recall having a neighbor in the res halls who had been recruited to play football from a very small High School in Illinois. He was not a very good football player and an even worse student. But he received what I remember to be an almost full ride out of state tuition scholarship. What value does this provide? I understand how much money Madison brings in from athletics in Division 1, but is this the case for Platteville? Kind of reminds me of my High School. We barely had money to buy supplies for art class but somehow the football team had new uniforms every year. Let’s get priorities straight, what is the true purpose of the university?
3. Having read through as much of the material relating to items that were identified as must dos over the next few years, I noticed the need for salary increases. I do agree that with inflation the salaries are not keeping up with the UW system. One should also keep in mind that the cost of living in SW Wisconsin is much lower than many other areas in the state. Case in
Point: We have facilities in Chicago, and when we hire people into those locations their starting salary is more due to cost of living.
4. Residence Halls. It seems that a Resident Director could manage more than one residence hall.
5. If you cannot raise the price of tuition, how about raising the price of other things to help offset some costs. Raise parking rates? Segregated fees? I know this may not amount to much in the grand scheme, but every bit helps.
6. Steam plant. I can recall seeing someone working at the steam plant 24/7. Maybe this is not the case anymore, but if it is couldn't this be monitored remotely?
Please do not take any of these suggestions the wrong way. My father graduated from UWP, along with myself and also my wife. I just want to see the tradition continue of providing a great education at a reasonable cost. I have 2 sons, aged 7 and 5 whom I would like to have the opportunity to attend UWP if they choose.
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2/26/15: I am a graduate student through the distance learning center at UWP. I am in my third and final year of the MS in Project Management program. I am also on the student advisory board. I am 40 years old and have worked for many years as a project manager in the energy sector.
I have some comments concerning the proposals being generated for consideration in addressing the current budget shortfall and the possibility of more curtailments at the hands of the state legislature. I have heard that some are proposing that the administrative fee levied by the university on the DLC be increased from 10% to 20% along with a two year rent fee of
$400K. I am strongly opposed to this approach. I do not think it is appropriate to treat the DLC as a safety net to be 'taxed' for the convenience of the university. The ramifications of such a disruptive event in the financial management of the DLC could very easily include reduced course offerings and/or frequency; increased instructor workload resulting in the degradation of the level of access to instructors currently enjoyed by DLC students; and hamstringing the ability of the DLC to grow and diversify the program to attract more students in the future. The
DLC is operating in the black and is a strong source of revenue for the university. Creating what will become a long term disruption in an effective, cash-rich business model in order to provide some very short term relief for the brick-and-mortar institution is short-sighted in my opinion.
As a student, I can offer testimony as to the value of the education I am receiving from the DLC.
I speak for a lot of graduate level students when I say that this program is making a difference in my life. This is an opportunity I would not have had otherwise. Graduate programs in project management are not found in abundance and certainly not in connection with any institution as prestigious as the UW system. This is a big selling point over other distance education degree programs. DLC students are enrolled from all over the nation and the world and bring a level of exposure to the UW system that would be impossible to achieve otherwise. DLC students as a group occupy an entirely different demographic than most of your on-campus student body.
We are working adults who enjoy a greater capacity to influence business associates and organizations to utilize the programs (I have personally sent two colleagues into the program in the last two years), and whose established incomes can be tapped for post-graduation financial support much more readily.
All of this is dependent upon the ability of the DLC to continue to deliver the level of quality programming it has built over the years AND to be able to continue to grow revenues through expansion. Ten percent of a growing revenue stream is a better long term plan than twenty percent of a shrinking one. So I urge the chancellor and his team to resist the temptation to abuse the DLC and its unique student body, both current and future, in the proposed manner.
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General Public Responses/Questions:
2/23/15 The PACCE program is a useful program for community outreach and as a foundation for promoting entrepreneurship. Both are essential for building a strong Wisconsin.
2/23/15 UWP is not an island. It is an integral part of Platteville and the surrounding communities. I urge you to find ways to increase revenue and reduce costs in ways that will not severely impact the teaching and support staff that serve the fundamental purpose of educating the students.
2/27/15: We have had experience with the PACCE program and found it very beneficial to our institution. This program has enough depth so that a student can really be useful. In the past, students have been involved in projects with us, but in most cases the involvement was so short that little was gained on either side.
I have also been very impressed with the Entrepreneurship program and what UW-P has accomplished in such a short time. These are specialized skills and talents that need to be developed. These skills will also make them and UW-P competitive in the working world.
While I realize cuts are necessary, to go from 4 full time employees to a half time position is very drastic. In any real sense it's the end of the programs.
8/2/15: CUT ADMINISTRATION NOT STUDENT PROGRAMS!!!!
Faculty & Staff Responses/Questions:
2/18/15: Can ITS set the default printing (for any printer that is capable) to do back to back printing automatically? It seems that even though many printers are capable of this, people do not choose this when printing. I have set my own default as back to back and only choose one sided when I intentionally want it.
Not sure how much paper saving this would create??
2/18/15 You should consider adding to the "increased revenue" column the tuition generated by international student tuition based on a projected increase in international students due to the start of beginning ESL (which in theory should lead to more of those students coming to school here, and allow us to attract more Saudi students on 100% government scholarships, since the Saudi government will only pay for ESL if they start at the beginning level, or test out of it.) Those students are likely to continue at the institution where they start, i.e. are likely to continue as regular students pating international tuition. We also apparently will have 80
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Brazilian students coming next yea and various other recruitment initiatives underway, and none of the people involved with those initiatives are on your "cut" list.
FULL TUITION PER INTERNATIONAL STUDENT PER YEAR = $15,095; total estimated expenses per year = $25,229 (according to our web-site.)
Increasing the number of enrolled international students paying full tuition by only ten students would raise over $150,000.
I strongly urge you to add this to your revenue sheet. I am teaching tomorrow night, or I would be at the meeting to advocate for adding this. Thanks for listening
2/19/15: Develop a campus printing policy to reduce toner and paper consumption. Some of the elements that could reduce costs include, implementing a document scanning and storage system, reducing toner consumption by reducing ink coverage changing font etc., using existing campus software to set printing limits, and strategically placing multi-functional devices in buildings/floors of buildings and implementing a chargeback system for their use instead of having devices in every department. Sending projects that need to be high quality or large runs to the duplicating center. This would reduce the number of copiers/printers save on electricity and require folks to think twice before they print. The McKinstry study done in 2012 supported this idea. In addition here are a couple of links to papers on the topic. http://www.printgreener.com/pdfs/GreenPrint%20White%20Paper%20September%200
8.pdf
http://www.lmisolutions.com/blog/bid/165047/How-Can-a-Corporate-Print-Policy-Help-
Support-Your-MPS-Program
2/19/15: I was having a discussion with another employee and have a suggestion in regards to budget cuts.
In regards to the Restore (selling used furniture, computers, etc.), why not eliminate that position and the facility designer can be responsible for this position. Combine the two positions together to help with the budget cuts.
There does not seem to be enough items sold to compensate for that position's salary.
2/19/15: Thank you for doing the work and providing the opportunity for the feedback (on
UABC recommendations).
1- How will the CenterPoint be funded once the grant runs out? There are certain positions associated with this center. Who will fund these positions if CenterPoint remains in existence?
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2- Do we have a full time Graduate Program Director for graduate programs? Does the graduate program require a full time director? If it does not, then why the amount/savings are listed as $76508 under "Eliminate Director of Graduate Studies". This is misleading.
3- Why the rent for DLC is recommended "to not be increased". It should be increased to some extent if not to the full amount. The inflation and market adjustments to the rent should be made on regular basis.
4- The overhead to cost recovery should be increased, for the reasons like inflation, market etc. One possibility is to increase some amount, say 5%, for all the programs from their current paying rate. So if a program is currently paying 5% then the rate will increase to 10% for this program, and for another program which is paying 10% will increase to 15%. Also, charging no money to a cost recovery program which is in its initial stages will be OK.
2/19/15: A suggestion for budget reduction why not do furlough days again?
2/19/15:
TO:
FROM:
UABC
Outstanding Education Priority #1Group
DATE: February 19, 2015

PACCE (item 64) should be charged to find alternate funding, so that it can self-sustain in a few years. It should work with Foundation or other community partners to achieve this goal.

Determine the feasibility of putting enrollment caps on certain majors i.e. is there a strategic enrollment model which can be used in some disciplines?
 It is great that Provost Internal Grants (SAIF & AAF) are not cut.
 The suggestion “to change remedial education to cost recovery” is very good. In this context, one should look at the best practices for remedial education which are used/implemented in the US. University should charge a group to determine the feasibility of such practices along with cost saving that can be realized if such models are implemented. Of course, math and English departments should be included in these discussions. Do not eliminate remedial education though.

Charge a committee to look at majors, minors, general education, credits required for degree, etc. to determine whether or not we have hit the sweet spot of a full, rich education with just enough student choice, but not so many offerings that the degree is diluted. This may help in reducing the cost to the university along with reducing graduation time.
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2/20/15: The proposed budget reduction suggestion to increase the Distance Learning Center’s overhead percentage seems to be a quick but short-sighted solution to the crisis. While funds may provide an immediate ‘band-aid’ fix, in a very short period of time those funds will not remain steady; in fact, they will decrease very quickly.
As a member of the five-year planning committee, we were tasked with shaping the future of the distance learning programs. By working hard and being efficient over the past many years, the DLC is in a position to re-invest the dollars it has generated and move forward with developing new programs (which would follow the DLC’s cost-recovery model). The planning committee put forth a plan that will encourage the continuation of the managed growth that has been so successful for the DLC. By increasing the overhead percentage, this plan will not move forward; new programs will not be developed; existing programs will suffer both in quality and enrollments; and the revenue returning to campus will decrease very quickly. The competition in the online world is great; losing even a portion of our marketshare for a short period of time would be difficult, if not impossible, to regain in the future.
The Distance Learning Center does not receive any GPR dollars. Revenue is generated by the tuition paid by distance students. Those dollars should be used for things that benefit the students who are paying the tuition, not to fill the budget and planning shortfalls of campus.
The amount of dollars already going back to campus are not clearly enumerated on the budget worksheets. There are other contributions in addition to the overhead that already in place.
Stating an increase in overhead from 10% to 20% would actually equate to more than 40% of the DLC’s gross revenue going back to campus. No business could possibly remain viable under these circumstances, and neither will the DLC. If and when that happens, the revenue ends.
Penalizing the Distance Learning Center for being prudent with their financial operations, successful in exceeding their goals, and responsible in their service to students is not the solution. Perhaps a better solution would be to not only encourage the continued managed growth that the Distance Learning center has clearly achieved over the past 35 years, but apply some of their business principles to other initiatives.
2/23/15: Charge businesses advertising costs to place ads on the MSPC tv’s and computer screens. It would still be free to place ads on for campus departments, but have outside business advertise there.
2/23/15: I would like to briefly voice my opinion on two subjects: the potential freeze of promotion for academic staff and the possible reduction of full-time positions for academic staff. I've been here five years, am full-time, and was recently told there will likely be a freeze in promotion for academic staff. Also, I've heard concerns that full time academic staff may get knocked down to part time due in part to more faculty needing classes. I understand the budget
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situation is dire, however I feel punishing those who worked hard for that promotion and their full-time position is not the answer and sets an alarming precedent.
Thank you so much for passing along my comments and concerns.
2/23/15: I am finishing my 3rd year as a lecturer in English and I teach a 5/5--- mostly composition, but every once in a while I get to teach something else (like what I went to grad school for). I have a Ph.D in English. I also teach at two other colleges (one online career school and Madison College). I make 36000 with benefits. Last year we got a 1% raise. My understanding is that was the first raise for English lecturers since '08 or '09.
Two colleagues in English are finishing their 5th year and have done all the paperwork for the promotion to senior lecturer and an approximately $4000/yr increase. That is the only raise afforded to academic staff in our shoes- ever. Now, I have been told that both of these promotions will not happen and that there is consideration to demote new tenure-track faculty down to lectureships. I have no idea why they would even think of staying at UWP if that happens. It is also my understanding that faculty will be getting a cost of living increase throughout this budget mess and my question is- why not the academic staff lecturers that have been here 5 years with great evaluations? How much would promoting every lecturer eligible after 5 years service cost this university? In my department, the answer is about 8000 bucks. The fact that they're not getting it leaves someone like me with only three years of service little hope in the future here which is a shame because I have really come to love this place and its students.
2/23/15: Regarding the proposed budget cuts, I'm dismayed to see that the PACCE program has been targeted for substantial cuts. Several of my departmental colleagues and I have executed community engagement projects with our classes through PACCE, often for several years in a row. To the best of my knowledge, students have universally considered these projects to be highly beneficial. Having students be responsible for a budget and forging a relationship with a community partner are real-world skills that have tangible benefits in terms of preparing them for life after graduation. Taking theoretical knowledge gained in the classroom and implementing it through a PACCE project is an invaluable experience that stretches a student's abilities and compels them to think beyond the walls of the University. Given all the talk coming from state government about workforce development, it would be a shame to see this worthy program be rendered ineffective through the proposed cuts.
2/23/15: After reviewing the budget-related documentation on the website and attending several meetings by different areas of the University, I would like to point out that the academic staff would be unfairly impacted by the suggested cuts, if they are approved. I completely understand that we need a strong faculty in order to offer competitive and high-
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quality programs, but if the support systems aren’t there for the University we could have a faculty full of Nobel winners and it wouldn’t matter.
My biggest concern is that the faculty are the only group who will be eligible for raises, promotions, and travel for the foreseeable future. As an academic advisor, I must take issue with this – professional development is necessary for other groups as well. I have seen several members of the team I’m on present at advising-related conferences just in the past year, but with these freezes they will not be able to do so going forward. From a purely advising standpoint, conferences and professional development are a large part of how we stay abreast of developments in the advising field, and how we provide excellent services to our students.
Instead of the 2%-2%-1%-1% raises over the next four years for the faculty, I would suggest that it be more fairly distributed. Even if this means a smaller raise for everyone, it could be done in a way that would not cost more than the current proposed raises. I believe that this would do a lot to combat the low morale that is going to be a result of these cuts.
2/23/15: 1. Pioneer Education Development Foundation (aka: Research Foundation) - according to calculations I have seen this will take anywhere from 5 - 7 years to bring in revenue. What are the plans in the interim for funding this position since they already have expenses and the
Chancellor has appointed an interim salaried staff members (a close personal friend of his) for this foundation?
2. Absorbing the Chancellor's speech writer in with UIC - I have concerns with this because UIC is already short staffed. How are they going to accomplish this?
3. Absorbing [removed name] LAE writing position [communications specialist]in with UIC - again, UIC will be taking on additional responsibilities. How are they going to do this?
4. I heard the sports information position currently held in Athletics will be absorbed into UIC - this position is not a normal 40 hour work week and usually takes place in the evenings and weekends? Who do they plan to have accomplish this in UIC being short staffed? This is not part of the current budget cuts.
5. [Campus Photographer #2] position - I do not feel this should be absorbed with Media Tech or even eliminated. Because prior to hiring [photographer #2], [campus photographer #1] was running ragged trying to go to all the events to get pictures. Especially the Athletics sporting events which involves many nights and weekends.
6. Current Development officer in Athletics - is this position warrant and has it brought in money to pay for itself?
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7. Will Athletics be making cuts? They have not been part of the budget reduction models in the past.
8. I feel there are too many upper level positions with a salary of over $100,000 in the
Chancellor's area/suite that do not warrant the salary level or even the position. I think this should be really looked at and evaluated. Do we really need that many people? Other places on campus are absorbing position for these cuts, why not the Chancellor?
9. Bringing back [Special Assistant to the Chancellor] at a higher level salary (and she is still negotiating for an additional raise) is uncalled for when we have faculty that are underpaid.
Also, providing all new equipment for her is uncalled for when her computer and other equipment was a little over a year old. I, along with others, do not feel this position is an essential position and should be on the chopping block.
With other things I know that have gone on in the Chancellor's suite as far as expenses, it make me wonder if he really realizes how bad the financial shape of UW-Platteville really is. He spends money like it grows on trees and no one can tell him "No" and if you try there are consequences to that.
2/25/15:
1. The state has a Rainy Day fund, can we request to use some of those funds to offset the lapse we have. I am sure there are major restrictions, but maybe there is something that could be used.
2. I know we want to keep education affordable, but for a time period, can we change for all credits taken, instead of allowing any free ones. I think you pay for 14 or 15 credits, and you get up to 18 or 19 free. We are looking for little ways that can have a big impact. And if we have to reduce, this is a way to get students to be more committed to their courses they are paying for each semester. They tend to drop a lot of classes, wasting time, staff resources and other things.
3. The Distinguished Lecture was listed as, use Wilgus Fund for Rotating Distinguished Lectures only. I am not sure what that means. The Distinguished Lecture funding is 1/2 from SUFAC - student fee account - with a memorandum of understanding the university will match the funds from the Wilgus account. There is only one Distinguished Lecturer a year. But other speakers are also funded from this account. I am wondering what the intent is?
4. Merge MTS and Production Services - does the mean, when I need technology services for any events that are academic related, I will not be charged for set up or use of equipment? This is what happens when I have MTS and Maintenance, set up for the Distinguished Lecture, we
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are not charged for set of the Fieldhouse, tarpping the floor and setting up chairs as well as take down form Maintenance. And MTS does not charge us to video tape. But Production Services charges us for the sound, lights, and stage set up and take down. Will this be free in the future?
5. There are still a lot of downed trees in Memorial Park, can we sell them for the wood?
3/2/15: I would like to provide some informed commentary amidst all of the speculation that is swirling on campus regarding the fate of the PACCE organization.
As a faculty member in the College of EMS, my students have come to expect high caliber experiences in their upper level and senior project design courses. PACCE has made it possible for us to meet student expectations through an availability of resources from which my students can experience a typical professional-level design and prototyping experience. You see, without PACCE resources and oversight, we would not be able to provide the materials and physical tools necessary to undertake the engineering prototyping process. Our senior level design courses would be relegated to 4 hour weekly didactic instruction sessions with an occasional exercise in modeling on a PC somewhere in the lab. The fact remains that the service learning experiences we want our students to have, and indeed,that have become the hallmark capstone experiences that embody professionalism, productivity, teamwork, project management, logistics, etc. (all resourceful skills that employers have come to identify, value, and expect from UWP graduates) are expensive and resource consuming exercises. PACCE not only supplies us with resources, but the instruction and framework for application and proposals to procure these resources creates a very clear and unambiguous process, free of questions about bias, value, and conflict.
I understand that this is a time of duress and that we need to itemize and articulate clear reductions in spending across the board, but I would like to be on the record as having spoken in favor of strategic and limited reductions to the PACCE archetype. It is a unique campus organization that is charged with a very broad and overarching mission. Such depth, breadth and capability, if they are to be maintained, cannot possibly be done with dramatic reductions in staff, resources and/or programming.
I apologize for the length of this query, but I feel it is necessary to state (and not understate) the importance of the PACCE organization to the quality of student experiences on campus.
PACCE has become an integral role in the senior project design course I teach in EMS. If the formula for success that the course has achieved is challenged to a great degree, such as through reduction in PACCE resources, or increased timelines and uncertainty over the availability of these resources, semester to semester, than the formula and outcomes for student experience in my project design classes will most assuredly suffer.
I thank you for your time and consideration of my comments.
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3/2/15: Currently most of the computers are setup to power on Thursdays at 2 am for administrative purposes. However, they are not scheduled to be turned off. According to my estimates this costs the university about $535 a week in off peak electricity costs. This amounts to about $27,000 a year, and this is only for about 1/4 of the computers on campus. Much larger energy savings could be possible if ITS enabled Wake On LAN for all machines, and had them run the administrative tasks once or twice a month, and then immediately shut down the computers after.
It is also possible to more strictly enforce compute power saving policies on the current computers by group policy, and configuration profiles.
The computers the campus currently has are more than suited for many of the tasks the administration, faculty, and students accomplish on a daily basis. I suggest no purchasing new computers, but instead upgrading older computers to SSDs if the performance is impacted.
Edge cases, such as those in the engineering department would be excluded from this because of software needs.
I would also propose researching the energy and other budget savings by moving administrative, and general lab computers to thin clients. These machines us drastically less energy, while more effectively utilizing the server and infrastructure resources already in place.
3/3/15: Suggestion for budget cuts - The Chancellor could pay for his utility bills and if there is maid service, he could be paying that himself. I'm sure there are other benefits that the
Chancellor is receiving which he could pay instead of the university. Positions and salaries should not be cut while the university pays for all the Chancellor's 'extra' benefits.
3/5/15: I noted in the list of possible cuts that more than one counselor was listed from the counseling service. This week I received an email for Distinguished Lecturer nomination for
2016.
My opinion is that the counselors are more valuable all year round than one speech by one luminary on one day in April each year. So, I suggest shrinking the Lecturer budget enough to retain 1 counselor on the list of cuts.
3/13/15: Consider a fee for textbooks or even have students buy them like private schools.
3/13/15: Can we increase our application fees? I was doing some research of other universities in the U.S. Most are higher than the State of Wisconsin’s. I did notice that many charge a higher application fee for international applicants.
3/25/15: At least one School Director is teaching online and/or print-based courses on an overload basis. This is occurring at the same time the Dean of the College is attempting to
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secure an assistant for the Director. Since the Director is already receiving full-time pay, it does not seem financially responsible to pay an additional salary to an assistant so the Director can use time already compensated to even earn more on an overload basis. The work time spent on overload teaching assignments should be devoted to the job the Director is already being paid to do. I suggest that Department Chairs and School Directors who are paid a full-time salary not be allowed to teach on an overload basis, and instead devote 100% of their time to the jobs they are already being compensated to do.
3/25/15: I am a faculty member in the Business and Accounting department. I have surveyed students in my classes regarding their use of Atomic Learning for the past 3 years. During that time, only 2 students reported using Atomic Learning and neither said they would recommend it to other students. The majority of students surveyed were not aware of the existence of
Atomic Learning. I don't know what the university is paying for the Atomic Learning license, but if students are not using it, the money spent is being wasted. I recommend canceling the
Atomic Learning contract.
4/13/15: Because Gov. Walker and the state legislature chose not to accept federal funds from the Affordable (Health) Care Act, the State of Wisconsin uses $150 Million of its tax revenue to pay for its own medical assistance (Medicaid) for the state. Other Republic Sates have not been taking this stance and have better budget scenarios. Anyone contacting the Governor’s office and state house should make note that this $150 million per year for medical assistance is equivalent to what the State of Wisconsin wants to eliminate annually from the UW-System for the biennium. The State of Wisconsin should set aside its opposition to the Affordable Care Act and accept federal funds for medical assistance from the Federal government, so as not to subtract necessary state funds from the UW-System.
This suggestion goes along with a previous one I proposed in previous feedback: Reduce the
$700,000 spent on Remedial Education in our 4 year college and have such remedial education occur at the Community College level (ideally in high school education), which could be also funded by the Federal Government with free community college education. When States like
Wisconsin want to separate themselves from federal government, they do so at their own peril and to the detriment of its citizens, especially those needing higher education.
4/21/15: I applaud the Chancellor for his comments regarding the PACCE program at today's budget meeting. There are many on campus who utilize and support the activities of the PACCE program. However, PACCE is but one small piece of the very large puzzle that is UW-
Platteville. Over the past several months, PACCE has indeed operated and communicated with a sense of budgetary entitlement. Some have noted that if PACCE employees spent as much time working to secure external funding for their program as they have lobbying and coaching commentary from various UW-Platteville employees, they would be more financially secure
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than they are currently. It is a bit demoralizing to hear lobbying comments from PACCE advocates at every budget meeting as those of us from many other areas also work to assure places for our very worthwhile programs and initiatives in the era of decreasing state funding. Kudos to Laura Bayliss and others who have made cuts to their areas for the good of the university. PACCE, as an entrepreneurial program, has the opportunity to apply what it promotes and convince the organizations that benefit from its services to pay for the program rather than continue to absorb resources that could be used to fund a multitude of other valuable campus programs.
Updated 10/1/2015
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