Do budget changes spell a university in decline? - Matt Pommer, Gazettextra

Can a medium-sized state like Wisconsin afford a top-flight research university? That question looms as the Legislature’s budget committee voted to cut $250 million in UW System spending over the next two years. That’s $50 million less than the reduction proposed by Gov. Scott Walker. Perhaps more damaging to the university’s reputation—on each and every campus—would be removing faculty tenure protections from state law. But under changes the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee made on a party-line vote, the Board of Regents could opt to restore tenure protection through a new systemwide policy. Another significant blow to the faculty would be changes in long-standing “shared governance” participation. http://www.gazettextra.com/20150603/matt_pommer_do_budget_changes_spell_a_university_in_decline