UW System Clipsheet

December 8, 2008

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Board Of Regents

"University of Wisconsin System slashes faculty pay increase request," Capital Times, Dec. 7.

...When University of Wisconsin System leaders met in Madison on Nov. 6 for a Board of Regents meeting, they discussed the merits of requesting a 7.78 percent pay plan increase in each of the next two years for system faculty and academic staff. On Friday while meeting at UW-La Crosse, the Board of Regents ultimately voted to ask the state for annual increases of 2.5 percent for each year of the 2009-11 biennial budget...

"Regents trim UW System faculty raise proposal to 2.5%," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Dec. 5.

The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents approved a proposal Friday that would provide annual raises for faculty and academic staff of 2.5% - less than half of what was recommended in the last budget cycle. The decision comes in response to the state's budget crisis: a projected $5.4 billion deficit over two years. It does little to address the 10% gap between salaries of UW academics and those of their peers at comparable universities...

"UW Regents recommend 2.5 percent salary increase for faculty in 2010-11," La Crosse Tribune, Dec. 6.

The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents unanimously approved recommending an annual raise of 2.5 percent for UW faculty and staff for fiscal years 2010 and 2011 during its meeting Friday at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse...

"Regents approve cut in UW faculty salary raises," Daily Cardinal, Dec. 8.

The UW System Board of Regents approved Friday a proposal to increase UW faculty salaries by 2.5 percent each year for the next two years...

"Regents looking to lower book costs," La Crosse Tribune, Dec. 6.

Some University of Wisconsin System regents expressed frustration Friday that campuses have made little progress toward reducing textbook costs. During a meeting at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, regents questioned why few campuses have adopted book rental programs recommended last year...

UW System

"The future of diversity," Badger Herald, Dec. 8.

With Plan 2008 coming to a close, University of Wisconsin officials are looking forward to a new diversity initiative that will streamline the past 30 years of such programs...

"Reaction to UW System sexual assault survey," Wisconsin Radio Network, Dec. 5.

A new survey shows a high rate of sexual assault on Wisconsin college campuses, but the real numbers may be greater. Kelly Anderson of Dane County's Rape Crisis Center says the numbers are probably higher than the voluntary survey of 13,000 UW System students indicates...

On Campus

"Donor to pay salary for UW business school dean," Associated Press, Dec. 7.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison's business school dean will be paid entirely with private donations starting next year. The arrangement is made possible with a donation from UW-Madison alum Albert Nicholas and his wife. The school's deans will now be known as the "Albert O. Nicholas Dean of the Wisconsin School of Business"...

"State cuts off money to Kenosha," Associated Press and Kenosha News, Dec. 5.

Payments from the state to Kenosha and Janesville have temporarily been blocked, and the two cities may have to pay back money they’ve received the past two years. The action came as the result of an anonymous tip left with a state lawmaker and the Legislative Audit Bureau. The tip alleged the two cities were receiving payments from the state for police services that weren’t provided at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, which is in Somers, and the University of Wisconsin-Rock County, in Janesville...

"City refutes claims it was overpaid," Kenosha News, Dec. 5.

A Kenosha official is steadfastly denying the city committed fraud with regard to state payments it has received for providing police protection on the University of Wisconsin-Parkside campus. City Administrator Frank Pacetti said he did not understand why the state is now trying to recoup more than $350,000 that it claims it overpaid the city for services that were not provided...

"UW-L student, Chavez, overcomes childhood challenges to find success," La Crosse Tribune, Dec. 8.

...The single mother is now a University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student whose story of success was the focal point of a video presentation to the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System on Friday...She didn’t know she would find the support to go to college that she has, particularly from UW-L’s Self Sufficiency Program...

"Students knee-deep in search for energy," Leader-Telegram, Dec. 7.

Creating biogas to heat, cool, or even run campus lights from food scraps is an idea some UW-Stout students hope someday could become reality...

"University of Wisconsin-Madison students survive deadly crash," Wisconsin State Journal, Dec. 8.

Seventeen University of Wisconsin-Madison students riding in a school bus to a German market in Chicago survived a deadly crash on a suburban Chicago expressway Saturday afternoon, and one UW passenger called it "a miracle" that no bus rider was injured severely...

"City, UWS contemplate waterfront research center," Superior Telegram, Dec. 4.

The Waterfront Initiative is just a concept. However, city and university officials are working together on this idea to create a Great Lakes research facility on the Montreal Pier on Superior’s waterfront...

"Foundation rocked by economy," Advance-Titan, Dec. 8.

The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Foundation has seen a 20 percent reduction in market assets due to a nation wide economic downturn, which will lead to fewer scholarships and endowed professorships being offered next semester...

"Severe consequences for media pirating on UWRF campus," Student Voice, Dec. 4.

In a campus and nationwide effort, people who pirate media over the Internet are being targeted by the FBI, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). According to FredNet Senior Systems Administrator Paul Bladl, universities across the country are being targeted, and students caught illegally downloading media at UW-River Falls face steep ramifications...

"Budget task force: Campus taking steps to weather more budget cuts," Exponent, Dec. 4.

UW-Platteville’s administration has organized a 23-member budget review task force to examine potential areas to cut the university’s budget as a result of the projected $5.4 billion deficit for the next Wisconsin state budget...

"UWM campus climate a positive one," UWM Post, Dec. 8.

According to a UW-Milwaukee campus climate survey, UWM is a positive place to be. Nearly 75 percent of those surveyed had not experienced a negative learning environment at the university. The campus climate survey was created by the UWM Diversity Leadership Committee to determine notable factors in the UWM learning environment, as well as identify areas of improvement...

State

"Colleges have strategies for keeping freshmen enrolled in school," La Crosse Tribune, Dec. 7.

...Annual tracking of freshmen shows the highest number of dropouts comes in the first year, said officials from all three local colleges. All three have programs to help students through that first year, and UW-La Crosse had an 86.5 percent retention rate among its 2007 freshman class, second in the UW System only to UW-Madison...

"Catching Up: Fund for Wisconsin Scholars picks grantees," Wisconsin State Journal, Dec. 8.

A year ago this month, philanthropists John and Tashia Morgridge said they would donate $175 million to help low- and moderate-income students in Wisconsin pay for college. Now, 795 students are beginning to learn that they have been selected for renewable grants worth up to $3,800 annually that are the centerpiece of the Fund for Wisconsin Scholars, which manages the gift...

National

"A Harvard lightning rod finds path to renewal," New York Times, Dec. 6.

One quiet Friday in June 2006, Lawrence H. Summers ended his turbulent tenure as president of Harvard University...Now, Mr. Summers will have a job as the top White House economic adviser to Barack Obama...

"College application plans change as family budgets shrink," Los Angeles Times, Dec. 8.

...As they face looming college application deadlines in a soured economy, many families are grappling with how personal resources and financial aid could affect decisions on college. The economic downturn, with parents' job losses and investment declines, is adding an extra layer of anxiety to what can be a stressful chapter of family life even in a booming economy...

"20 years later: How one flagship has changed," Chronicle of Higher Education," Dec. 12.

...Twenty years ago, annual operating expenses for the University of Kansas campus here were $204-million. Today the institution spends more than triple that, even though its enrollment, 26,000, is almost exactly the same. During the same period, tuition and fees for in-state students have increased fivefold. (paid subscription required)

"Shying away from graduate school," Inside Higher Ed, Dec. 8.

When the economy tanks, graduate school applications go up. That’s one of the few bits of good news in which educators could have reasonably taken comfort this year. No more. The number of students taking the Graduate Record Examination will decline in 2008, the first time ever that the GRE has seen a fall in test-taking during an economic downturn. Because the GRE is required for the vast majority of graduate school programs, its numbers closely correlate with trends in applications...

"Economy gives college leaders impetus to explore longer-range changes," Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 8.

As the economy worsens and pressure increases for colleges to cut costs and be affordable to financially squeezed families, institutions should consider long-term changes rather than short-term fixes, higher-education leaders and economists said at a conference here on Friday. Colleges need to make such changes not only to survive this downturn but to thrive afterward, they said... (paid subscription required)