Task force looking to make UW System more efficient finding problems

The panel heard Wednesday from students, faculty, and staff members. And they expressed concerns that ever-rising tuition could lock more Wisconsin students out of a higher education – and the quality of faculty members is going down because the UW does not pay competitive salaries.

Dylan Jambrek of the United Council of UW Students said lower state funding won’t help if it prices Wisconsin students out of a college education – and the state economy won’t get as many educated workers as a result.

Task force grapples with UW System cuts

“Tuition can’t simply keep raising the price (of an education),” said Dylan Jambrek, vice president of the United Council of UW Students. “I would challenge the state to see whether they want to be in the education business anymore.”

Senator Sheila Harsdorf (R-River Falls), a task force member, asked students at the hearing what prevents their peers from graduating in four years to keep their loan debt lower.

Classes needed to fulfill core or major requirements also may be canceled because of budget cutbacks, or “bottleneck courses” may fill up due to high demand,  Jambrek said.

National student loan debt reaches $1 trillion, grabs national spotlight

On Library Mall, students gathered to sign a “Wall of Debt” in protest of rising student debt, which has now exceeded credit card debt in the U.S.

“We are paying more, getting less and it’s getting worse,” said Seth Hoffmeister, President of United Council of UW Students. Hoffmeister said the issue seems to be gaining more national attention and is becoming an important campaign topic.

UW System lobby day takes place…

“Education isn’t just about getting a better job, or getting ahead in life. It’s about being a better person,” Murray said. “As we raise the prices of education, it’s getting more difficult for students to do that.”

[Ian Reese,]… first-generation college student himself, Reese said UW-Marathon County provides him with a rigorous curriculum and high quality education that he would not be able to find elsewhere.

Students prep for UW System lobby day

The students will meet with state legislators in 26 different offices to bring attention to student issues, according to Analiese Eicher, government relations director for United Council of UW Students.

“Politics is not like a spectator sport, and we can’t be the people sitting on the sidelines,” Eicher said.

She listed a few issues students will bring to the Legislature’s attention, including rises in tuition, budget cuts and student grants.

Voting Has Gotten Confusing, but Help Has Arrived

After last year’s Voter ID law changes there has been confusion among the ranks of students on just what exactly has changed, worrying political analysts that voter turnout might drop from previous elections.

“Wisconsin has consistently had the second highest voter turnout in the nation, Minnesota is first, and it has been shown that when students vote, students win,” said United Council Government Relations Director Analiese Eicher.

State approves $46 million in cuts to UW System

Dave Gessner, assistant chancellor for budget and finance at UW-Eau Claire, said the latest reduction is the largest he’s seen in the last 10 years. He said the timing means most of the impact of this year’s part of the lapse will be felt this current semester.

“For years we have seen students and the University System deprioritized and defunded,” he said in the release. “The implications are already being felt by students, their pocketbooks, and the quality of their degree.”

Give the Wisconsin Compact some teeth.

As students, staff, faculty, and community members of the great institutions of UW System, we can empower these ideals of access to quality higher education and enrichment of communities across Wisconsin by infusing our stories of why UW-Madison matters to us.

Students are doing just this. On March 6, join the United Council of UW Students for the statewide lobby day. United Council will begin the statewide lobby day with a press conference to advocate for the Wisconsin student agenda, one major component of the social compact that all members of the UW-Madison community now officially support.

JFC Approves Lapsing $123 Million; More Cutting on the Way

The Joint Finance Committee (JFC) met yesterday and voted 12-4, along party lines, to approve $123 million of cuts from agency budgets recommended in late December by the Administration (DOA).

By far the largest cut is to the UW System budget, and students have been vocal in speaking out against the lapse of UW funding to the General Fund. (See the press release from the United Council of UW Students.) The UW System is losing $46 million in the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30. Read more in the article in today’s Journal Sentinel.

Property Trax: State bill to strengthen landlord rights held up in Senate committee after contentious public hearing

Concerns raised by lawyers, tenant advocates and a trade group representing the manufactured housing industry convinced state lawmakers to slow down a controversial measure that would eliminate many tenant rights while strengthening the power and discretion of landlords.

Recorded as lobbying against the measure were seven groups: Dane County, Disability Rights Wisconsin, the State Bar of Wisconsin’s public interest law section, United Council of UW Students, Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Wisconsin Coalition of Independent Living Centers and the Wisconsin Council on Children & Families.