08/18/2022 | News release | Distributed by Public on 08/18/2022 16:44
UW-Green Bay hosts the August 2022 Board of Regents meeting.
GREEN BAY, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents today voted unanimously to approve UW System's $262.6 million operating budget request for the 2023-25 biennium, which includes funding for the Wisconsin Tuition Promise.
Wisconsin Tuition Promise is a new initiative slated to start in fall 2023 to ensure underserved Wisconsin students can attend any UW System university without paying tuition or segregated fees.
The goal of the program is to increase the number of state residents who graduate with a bachelor's degree - especially first-generation students and those from low-to-moderate income families throughout Wisconsin - thereby improving individual lives and communities and helping meet the state's workforce needs.
"The Wisconsin Tuition Promise can be a game-changer," said UW System President Jay Rothman. "State investment in this program will not only help transform lives but it will build a better Wisconsin for all of us."
Modeled on Bucky's Tuition Promise at UW-Madison, the Wisconsin Tuition Promise would provide up to four years of tuition and fee funding for first-year and transfer students coming from families earning less than $62,000 annually and enrolling at any of the other 12 public universities within the UW System. The program would be structured to provide "last dollar" financial support after federal and state grant aid is accounted for.
The UW System will provide approximately $13.8 million in one-time funding to cover the first year of the program. The system's budget request asks the state for $24.5 million in funding in the second year of the biennium to support the ongoing costs for what will be two cohorts of students in the program at that time.
Regent Scott Beightol, chair of the Business and Finance Committee, presented the 2023-25 operating budget request to the full Board.
In addition to the Wisconsin Tuition Promise, other highlights of the biennial operating budget request include:
The Regents also unanimously approved UW System's $2.5 billion Capital Budget request for 2023-25. Regent Ashok Rai, chair of the Capital Budget and Planning Committee, presented the request before the full Board.
Rai said the capital budget recommendation is based upon strategic priorities that emphasize the continued modernization, replacement, and repair of the existing infrastructure, while focusing on STEM and health sciences and the removal of obsolete structures.
The 2023-25 capital budget will renovate nearly 5 million square feet, demolish almost 1 million gross square feet, and construct about 1.3 million new square feet. Rai said the request will modify or affect only 10% of the UW System's existing 69 million square feet.
UW System Student Affordability Review
Ben Passmore, Associate Vice President for UW System's Office of Policy Analysis and Research (OPAR) presented the findings of a recent review of the affordability of pursuing higher education in the University of Wisconsin System.
Overall, Passmore said, the review found that the UW System compares favorably with peer institutions and against national public four-year universities. In fact, UW System tuition and fees remain the most affordable in the Midwest. Loan debt also has declined in recent years as has the percentage of UW students taking on debt.
Despite this overall success, there are indications that affordability remains a significant challenge for many students. The proportion of new freshmen at UW institutions from families with a gross family income greater than $100,000 has grown substantially in recent years. The proportion of first-generation students has fallen, and the percentage of underrepresented minority students in UW System's enrollment has not kept pace with demographic change. Additionally, unmet need of undergraduate students has not declined over the last decade despite the increasing wealth of incoming students.
President Rothman reiterated that investments in financial aid - like Wisconsin Tuition Promise - have the potential to make a real difference for students, families, and the state's economic future.
"To succeed economically and improve the quality of life for all Wisconsin citizens, we need long-term investments that will address the skills gap and develop talent that Wisconsin needs in such critical areas as agriculture, health care, manufacturing, and technology, among others," Rothman said.
UW-Parkside Chancellor Debbie Ford, whose institution has the highest percentage of Pell eligible students in the System at 55%, said the additional financial aid provided through the Wisconsin Tuition Promise "will be a differentiator for the students of Wisconsin." But she reiterated that students require more than financial aid to be successful, and "wrap-around" student services are vital. "We need to look at the whole picture," she said.
UW-Green Bay: "This is How We Rise"
Chancellor Alexander
Leading the host campus presentation, "This is How We Rise," UW-Green Bay Chancellor Michael Alexander told Regents his university is taking innovative steps to grow enrollment, embrace the changing demographics of the region, and respond to changing workforce needs.
"We are motivated by the difference we feel we are making the lives of our students and the future of our region," Alexander said. "Even more powerful is that our community also is rallying behind the promise of our potential and the approach we are taking to realize it."
He said UW-Green Bay started making intentional changes around 2016 in response to regional calls for the university to help solve the problem of sustaining and expanding the economy and quality of life in northeast Wisconsin.
"We listened, changed our mission a few years later, and frantically began aligning our resources behind what could happen if we all united behind the idea of what occurs when a regional comprehensive becomes integral to the communities it serves and devotes itself entirely to the idea of access to education," Alexander said.
UW-Green Bay is actively courting older students as well as pre-college students, he said, and both approaches are helping grow enrollment. The university's Rising Phoenix program, for example, which is working to support economically disadvantaged students earn Associate degrees while they are still in high school, also helps get them into the funnel of higher education.
"We are competing with ferocity to get more students exposed to higher education," Alexander said.
Report of the Regent President
Regent President Walsh
Regent President Karen Walsh, chairing her first meeting in that role, looked ahead to some of the challenges and opportunities facing the UW System.
Declining overall enrollments at UW System universities are a significant concern, she said, and UW System must work with campuses, K-12, and Wisconsin families to turn the numbers around. "We are an outstanding value but we need to communicate that better, and truly deliver on that value proposition," she said. Further, Wisconsin business and industry leaders continue to express their ongoing need for more college graduates.
Walsh also expressed concern that student service officers continue to get vital support for their all-round work in setting the path for student success. Expanding the diversity of students and those who serve them on campus is also a priority, she said.
She also urged her Regent colleagues to "stay focused on our mission straight down the center aisle." She added, "Patient, respectful, informative public discourse has never been more important."
Updating Regents on some committee changes, Walsh said that after discussion the Research, Economic Development, and Innovation (REDI) Committee has been temporarily paused while new ideas are being considered to most effectively communicate, support, and expand on the university's efforts to serve the state's needs through research and partnerships with business and community leaders.
Walsh also said the Board's Executive Committee will meet regularly to handle governance matters, such as assessing Board and committee operations to ensure work is aligned with the Board's priorities and the UW System's strategic plan.
Finally, she updated Regents on two chancellor searches. First, the UW-Whitewater chancellor search and screen committee, chaired by Regent Vice President Amy Bogost, has received its charge and developed a prospectus for the position. The national search officially launched July 1. Planning is now underway for listening sessions to be held at UW-Whitewater in September to further discuss the search for a new leader.
The membership of the UW-Platteville chancellor search and screen committee, which will be chaired by Regent Cris Peterson, is on track to be announced in early September. The search for UW-Platteville's next leader will officially open later this fall.
It is expected both searches will conclude in early 2023.
Report of the UW System President
President Rothman
UW System President Jay Rothman reported that he has now visited eight of the 13 UW System universities, and eagerly looks forward to time on the remaining five universities. "It has been energizing to see all of the great work that's taking place around the UW System and the unwavering focus on keeping things student-driven," he said.
Rothman said it's also apparent universities face hurdles. He, too, reiterated the challenge that declining enrollments pose, not just for universities but for the state of Wisconsin as well. "The war for talent is already fierce and it's growing," he said. "If Wisconsin doesn't win that war, we all lose."
He also pointed to the repercussions of deferred maintenance, with a significant portion of UW System's building inventory constructed between 1950 and 1979, with little renovation or upgrades since. "Our aging infrastructure and the shortage of state-of-the-art facilities and equipment impede our ability to recruit and retain great faculty, staff, and students," he said.
Rothman said a third hurdle facing universities is not having means to offer competitive compensation to recruit and retain faculty and staff.
Rothman also updated Regents on the UW System's ongoing strategic planning process. "We're making significant progress," he said. Multiple meetings with a broad array of stakeholders have taken place, including a meeting with chancellors yesterday. Rothman said he expects to have a draft ready for the Board's consideration at its September meeting and a final plan approved and ready to implement by the end of the year.
To be considered in the strategic plan, he identified three significant challenges to the state of Wisconsin where the university system might be part of the solutions.
First, the UW System can and should be part of addressing the war for talent that's booming in Wisconsin, the nation, and globally.
Second, Rothman said the UW System and its universities are well positioned to help address the growing socioeconomic divide seen in Wisconsin and elsewhere. "Education - and higher education in particular - has the potential to be the 'great equalizer,' offering people new options and better opportunities for growth," he said.
Third, at a time when society overall is polarized and people seemingly have access to boundless information of sometimes dubious quality or accuracy, the need for an informed and engaged populace is essential, Rothman said. "Universities must serve as the marketplace of ideas, a place where nuanced and complicated issues and ideas may be discussed openly and freely with civility," he said, further noting that this reinforces the importance of teaching students critical thinking and analysis.
The draft strategic plan is being molded to address these challenges, he said.
Finally, Rothman called attention to several notable recent accomplishments around the UW System.
UW Oshkosh, he said, is being recognized nationally for its comprehensive approach to sustainability. The university recently received the U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools Postsecondary Award, one of only four higher ed institutions across the nation to receive the honor. The award recognizes institutions that reduce environmental impact and costs; improve the health and wellness of school, students, and staff; and provide effective environmental and sustainability education.
He touted UW-Superior for receiving the 2022 Energy Efficiency Excellence Award from Wisconsin's Focus on Energy in recognition of their ambitious and recently completed lighting project. Retrofitting more than 5,200 fixtures and bulbs as part of an $812,000 project, UW-Superior's annual projected energy savings will be about 731,000 kilowatt hours with cost savings of close to $53,000 annually.
Rothman also recognized UW-Green Bay's spring/summer commencement where four indigenous educators became the first in the nation to earn a new doctorate in First Nations Education. As part of the program, the educators focused on studying native issues; conducting oral histories with tribal leaders, elders, and youth; and exploring ways to improve the educational system for native students.
Business and Finance Committee
The Business and Finance Committee received an update on the progress of the Administrative Transformation Program (ATP), which aims to standardize human resources, finance, and research administration business processes and implement new cloud-based technology at all UW System institutions. The key takeaway is that ATP is currently on budget and on schedule for deployment by July 2024.
Vice President Jim Langdon, UW-Madison Vice Chancellor Rob Cramer, and ATP Chief Technology Officer Joanna Wang detailed the extensive work undertaken for the project's Planning and Architect stages over the last many months, and provided a timeline for future major activities through final deployment and beyond.
UW-Madison and all UW System universities will implement standardized business processes and enabling technology in a single phase, as part of a plan called the unified approach which will deliver program benefits to all UW institutions simultaneously.
In other business, the Business and Finance Committee:
Education Committee
The Education Committee held a broad discussion on direct admissions, a process which sidesteps the typical admissions process by proactively and automatically admitting students to college based on a data match between K-12 schools and postsecondary institutions.
As UW System seeks innovative ways to increase the rate of high school students who enroll in college, particularly from historically underrepresented groups, direct admission is a potential strategy.
Dr. Jennifer Delaney, Associate Professor of Higher Education at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Dr. Taylor Odle, Assistant Professor of Educational Policy Studies at UW-Madison, led the discussion and noted that under direct admission, all students are admitted to all open-access and non-selective institutions, while students who surpass a pre-identified threshold based on high school performance (such as GPA, standardized test scores, class rank, or a combination of measures) are also selected to selective institutions.
Johannes Britz, UW System's Interim Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs, called for a representative group to be convened to provide a recommendation regarding the possibility of a direct admissions program at UW System.
In other business, the Education Committee:
Audit Committee
The Audit Committee heard an update on UW System's Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). UW System Administration will be launching a new process called the RCA (Risk, Compliance and Audit) Concept, under which System will create tools, plans, and processes for universities to identify, assess, and mitigate risks as a part of their operations more effectively and consistently.
In 2019, UW System Administration launched an ERM Initiative which was expanded in 2021 to include input from each institution. This process will expand and modify the ERM initiative to create a more consistent, standardized, and streamlined risk assessment and mitigation process.
This process will include the implementation of a new risk assessment tool and plan which UW System and its institutions can use to regularly assess high-level risks and implement necessary mitigation and compliance plans to ensure risks remain at a manageable level.
In other business, the Audit Committee:
Capital Planning and Budget Committee
Alex Roe, Senior Associate Vice President for Capital Planning and Budget, led an in-depth presentation on UW System's 2023-25 Biennial Capital Budget Request and the 6-Year Capital Plan. The Capital Planning and Budget Committee approved the budget request, which then moved to the full Board for consideration in the afternoon.
In other business, the Capital Planning and Budget Committee:
The UW System Board of Regents will continue its meeting at 8:45 a.m. on August 19, 2022, at UW-Green Bay