The Wisconsin Department of Administration issued an additional $65.7 million budget cut to the UW System over the next two years.
UW-Whitewater will see $1,985,927 in cuts this school year. An additional $845, 587 will be cut from funds for the 2012-2013 school year, which totals $2,831,514 in cuts. These cuts are in addition to the $10.7 million cuts already being made to UW-W over the next two years.
State agencies received a letter last week Friday from the D.O.A. stating the increases in cuts would total approximately $126 million more than what was originally called for in the 2011-2013 state budget.
In June, Gov. Scott Walker passed the budget calling for a $250 million cut to the UW System.
“While technically this agency lapse was included in the 2011-2013 biennial budget, it comes as a surprise to many of us,” Ray Cross, chancellor for UW Colleges and Extension, said in a memo.
Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch sent a memo on Friday to state agencies explaining how the UW System will need to cut $174.3 million in state funds.
The $65.7 million additional cut to the system is a one-time reduction to help balance the state budget.
UW-W junior Ellen Derer thinks the additional cuts will be detrimental to the school system.
“I think that cutting the budget by such a large amount is going to hurt students and teachers,” Derer said. “I think that professors are going to leave because they are going to get a cut in their pay. This is going to lead to larger class sizes, which is bad for students. It’s nice that we can have smaller classes here to get to know professors better. It makes for a better learning environment.”
The UW System will see the majority of the cuts compared to the other state agencies.
The $65.7 million that must be given back by the UW System makes up 38 percent of the additional $126 million cuts made to the state budget.
Health Services will need to give back $26.6 million. Corrections will have to find a way to give back $13.4 million.
In the memo, the D.O.A. outlined the amounts needed to be paid back by the UW System.
Approximately $46.1 million must be given back to the state this year and $19.6 million next year for the 2012-2013 school year.
“It’s obvious any cuts to education will affect it,” junior Becky Knuth said. “Education should be first. Hurting the [UW] system and taking from them to make up for failures in other areas is idiotic in my mind.”
*For a full story on the issue and to see what Chancellor Richard Telfer has to say, please check back on Monday.
