Tommy Washbush
The logo for the Universities of Wisconsin made of money being taken by many hands.
Recently, the Universities of Wisconsin paid the consulting firm Deloitte $2.8 million for “financial assessments” of several UW universities. While news coverage has focused on the financial problems outlined in these reports, the real story is that this project is being used to implement the Wisconsin Republican Party’s higher education priorities. And this is occurring even as the state enjoys a record budget surplus and a new legislative map that will, by definition, result in a more representative state government.
How did we get here? Under Republican legislative rule, the UW System has experienced numerous years of budget cuts and a tuition freeze, including a $250 million cut in 2015. This is the policy of austerity — the intentional reduction of funding in public services, thereby weakening those services.
Rather than resulting from some sort of shared sacrifice during an economic downturn, the current push for austerity in the UW System is justified by a constantly shifting list of bogus economic and demographic crises, when the only real, objective crisis is the gradual defunding of the UW System.
The Board of Regents is now comprised of a majority of Regents appointed by Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat. But the UW System remains firmly committed to the Republicans’ austerity agenda aimed at two very specific education-related goals: forcing the universities that provide a comprehensive education to specialize, thereby eliminating as many majors as possible; and massively increasing online offerings. The UW System and Republican Party have outlined these goals in considerable detail, while also entertaining the closing of campuses (Richland Center has already closed and others are closing in June).
Implementing the Republicans’ higher education agenda is not something that the UW System wants to defend publicly. Rather, as reported by UW-Madison’s student newspaper The Daily Cardinal last September, UW System President Jay Rothman emailed chancellors several “lessons” based on a case study published by the Chronicle of Higher Education. One such “lesson” Rothman suggested was that chancellors should “make the ‘painful’ cuts and adjustments at one time and then move on.” Enter Deloitte, with its doomsday reports based on worst case assumptions — including permanent austerity — as far as the eye can see.
This agenda is a disaster for students and the residents of the state. Austerity makes public higher education far more expensive than it was previously, as it passes the cost of attending public institutions increasingly onto students and their families.
Campus specialization needlessly narrows curricular options based on a mythical version of the labor market, which is no more specialized today than it was decades ago. Only about 6% of all jobs are in STEM, and only a fraction of these jobs require bachelor’s degrees. Yet to compel campus specialization, Rothman also suggested that the universities “consider shifting away from liberal arts programs to programs that are more career specific, particularly if the institution serves a large number of low-income students.”
And online education has been the next big thing since sometime last century for a reason — it can’t be sold on the merits in a significant way in the marketplace, so it must be imposed. “We’re going broke, so we have to go online,” seems to be the UW’s approach (or at least its internal messaging).
As a result of massive budget cuts at UW-Oshkosh, faculty there overwhelmingly voted in favor of a no confidence motion in Chancellor Andrew Leavitt. In response, Rothman, Karen Walsh, president of the Board of Regents, and Vice President Amy Bogost stated that Leavitt “is leading UW-Oshkosh through a series of difficult but necessary decisions to position the university for a sustainable future.”
UW System leaders calling such decisions “necessary” defies credulity, particularly in light of the system’s continued insistence on spending tens of millions on technology and consultants. But these expenditures are never on the table, particularly when consultants themselves are framing the issues. Austerity is always a boon to corporations.
The UW System is trying to take our campuses precisely where former Gov. Scott Walker wanted them to go: the comprehensive campuses will no longer be comprehensive, and students across the state will be compelled to attend UW-Madison to enroll in most programs, or go to college online. In addition to ignoring the real labor market, policymakers are also ignoring the fact that most students go to college relatively close to their home. Then again, this agenda is certainly not about what’s best for students.
Hiding behind Deloitte, the UW System is asking us to believe that we can no longer afford what generations of Wisconsin residents have already benefited from — face-to-face instruction in the many disciplines that make the comprehensive campuses truly comprehensive.
Rather than implement the Republicans’ higher education agenda, shouldn’t the UW System be fighting to preserve what has made it truly outstanding?
Neil Kraus is professor of political science at UW-River Falls. He is the author of three books, including The Fantasy Economy: Neoliberalism, Inequality, and the Education Reform Movement, and also the president of United Falcons, the campus affiliate of AFT-Wisconsin.
