The University of Wisconsin System is asking for $107 million more in state money, three-quarters of which would be outcomes-based, rewarding or punishing campuses based on how well they meet performance metrics such as student access, progress toward completion, “workforce contributions” and operating efficiencies.
The 2019-21 budget proposal, released by the UW System Monday afternoon, is tailored to Republicans’ demand for more accountability from universities. It also does not raise tuition, something Republicans have shown little appetite in supporting.
The UW Board of Regents, almost all of whom were appointed by Gov. Scott Walker, will consider it during the board’s Aug. 23 meeting in Madison.
In the two-year operating budget proposal, $82.5 million would be divvied up among the System’s campuses based on each institution’s performance in 16 measures developed by the regents. Each campus determines how much weight to assign each metric, so long as the measures within each of the four goals passed by the Republican-dominated Legislature equal 25 percent.