Scott Walker and Wisconsin

[mmmscience]

So I've been accepted to two Wisconsin schools and am super stoked to go tour the campuses. But I have to admit that Gov. Walker is making me very nervous as far as the future of the universities and funding are concerned. I've been reading a ton of articles, but I was wondering if there any Wisconsiners (Wisconsinites?) on the board here who might be able to give a more candid insight to the atmosphere of the universities. Is it really something I should be worried about or is it being blown out of poeportion by the media?

[__________________________]

Not really a native Wisconsinite, but I do live in Wisconsin.  I went to a private school out here, so I wouldn't know from direct experience.  UW Madison and UW Milwaukee are both fantastic schools though and I'm under the impression that education in Wisconsin has been pretty well funded for a while.  If you've already been given a funding offer, I can't imagine that they'd have any legal right to take that back and reduce it because of government budget cuts -- my main concern would be about the ability for other services to function and pay cuts for professors and workers.

 

Definitely try and talk to as many grad students at both institutions to get an idea how the English departments in particular have been/will be affected.  But keep in mind that it might be kind of a touchy subject with some people.

 

Definitely check this out though.  UW Madison's budget people have an email to which you can field questions about the recent slashes, which might be worth checking out (top left corner): http://budget.wisc.edu/budget-news/fact-check-how-much-is-the-proposed-cut-really/

 

That being said... have fun touring them!  Both are fantastic schools and Milwaukee in particular is a great city.

[echo449]

I have been told that the English department is sheltered from funding cuts because of a private endowment. Not to say that this isn't frightening, or that the tenor of education in Wisconsin couldn't change, but we're safe for the time being.

Edited February 19, 2015 by echo449

[Lycidas]

Not a Wisconsinite, but from just across the border in Minnesota, and have followed the Scott Walker saga (and that’s really the best word for it at this point) for the past few years. 

 

My take is this: Walker is interested in doing serious damage to the University of Wisconsin system, but he probably won’t be able to put enough political clout together to do it, so I would still leave both your Wisconsin admits in firm consideration. 

 

Walker himself, as far as higher education is concerned (and lots of other things are concerned, but that’s for another, much longer, post) isn’t just interested in cutting back the budget at the public university system: lots of conservative pols want to do that across the country. Walker—in a move that mirrors his actions related to public teachers—is actually interested in completely changing the concept of what a university does, and what its relationship is to the state as a whole. Walker has pushed very, very hard for UW to begin granting “experience based credits,” where a person gets academic credit for “relevant life experiences.” In other words, if I’d been an executive at a small business for a few years, I could pay for the credits and get myself halfway to an MBA without ever stepping foot in a classroom. Obviously that’s not great for instructors who need to teach courses to get paid. 

 

But perhaps more threateningly for the humanities, Walker is strongly convinced that the only role of a university system is to provide career-based training that gets people ready for the workforce. He’s so convinced of this, he actually tried to amend the University system’s charter to delete the phrases “the boundaries of the university are the boundaries of the state” and “"Basic to every purpose of the system is the search for truth” and add the phrase “"meet the state's workforce needs." This isn’t just a guy who wants budget cuts—this is a guy who wants to radically change UW-Madison, just as he radically changed public K-12 education in the state. And you can imagine that Walker’s idea of meeting the state’s workforce needs doesn’t involve a lot of English or Comp Lit courses. 

 

However, many of these things Walker’s attempted have been blocked. It’s very possible he’ll do some damage in the short term, but as mollifiedmolloy notes above, your own funding would likely be guaranteed and safe. In the long run, I think the political winds will shift. Walker has national ambitions politically, and having those is always a good way to alienate Midwesterners. And Wisconsin still has a strong core of left-leaning folks who haven’t completely lost political clout. That should prevent Walker from putting most of his ideas into full practice, although it’d also be naïve not to expect more budget cuts to the UW system, much of which will lean heavily on the humanities departments there. 

Edited February 19, 2015 by Lycidas

[mmmscience]

Definitely check this out though.  UW Madison's budget people have an email to which you can field questions about the recent slashes, which might be worth checking out (top left corner): http://budget.wisc.edu/budget-news/fact-check-how-much-is-the-proposed-cut-really/

 

[mmmscience]

 

Walker himself, as far as higher education is concerned (and lots of other things are concerned, but that’s for another, much longer, post) isn’t just interested in cutting back the budget at the public university system: lots of conservative pols want to do that across the country. Walker—in a move that mirrors his actions related to public teachers—is actually interested in completely changing the concept of what a university does, and what its relationship is to the state as a whole. Walker has pushed very, very hard for UW to begin granting “experience based credits,” where a person gets academic credit for “relevant life experiences.” In other words, if I’d been an executive at a small business for a few years, I could pay for the credits and get myself halfway to an MBA without ever stepping foot in a classroom. Obviously that’s not great for instructors who need to teach courses to get paid. 

 

But perhaps more threateningly for the humanities, Walker is strongly convinced that the only role of a university system is to provide career-based training that gets people ready for the workforce. He’s so convinced of this, he actually tried to amend the University system’s charter to delete the phrases “the boundaries of the university are the boundaries of the state” and “"Basic to every purpose of the system is the search for truth” and add the phrase “"meet the state's workforce needs." This isn’t just a guy who wants budget cuts—this is a guy who wants to radically change UW-Madison, just as he radically changed public K-12 education in the state. And you can imagine that Walker’s idea of meeting the state’s workforce needs doesn’t involve a lot of English or Comp Lit courses. 

 

[__________________________]

Somebody upvote Lycidas for me -- great post and totally on point.  Walker has been doing devastating things to public K12 education for the past few years -- state-funded voucher systems for charters and private schools is really horrible on so many levels.  I work in a public school and can attest to the fact that there are a lot of ridiculous contradictions in the way money is spent (iPads for all the students, but horrible teacher retention rates, etc.)

 

The recent cuts are really frightening, particularly, as Lycidas pointed out, for teachers.  Walker has been the enemy of all teachers in this state for a while.  I have a feeling though, and I might be wrong, that there will be more resistance to this across the political spectrum -- my impression is that no matter your politics, people appreciate the UW system and don't want to see that get dismantled.  Walker is also a college dropout, if that tells you anything.

 

 

"In reality, the Governor’s budget includes a 25 percent cut in state funding for essential educational functions"

 

Dear. Lord.

 

We also have to be careful with statistics like this, and if you contact UW budget people, make sure you see what areas are most affected.  People are throwing out numbers for between 3 and 13 percent overall -- obviously, this will translate to higher or lower percentages as you look at specific parts of budgets -- specific schools, specific departments and offices, etc.  I would imagine that certain things will be dramatically more or less affected than others.

 

ETA: As badly as this will affect Madison, I would be more concerned for the rest of the UWs, which I could imagine being reduced to mere trade schools if Walker's vision gets carried out...

Edited February 19, 2015 by mollifiedmolloy

[ComeBackZinc]

UW system schools have already cancelled a bunch of faculty searches, and they're talking about laying off pre-tenure TT faculty. A friend of mine in the system was told by her chair that they might not be able to do her tenure review on time. So devastating.

 

In conclusion, fuck you Scott Walker.

[mmmscience]

ETA: As badly as this will affect Madison, I would be more concerned for the rest of the UWs, which I could imagine being reduced to mere trade schools if Walker's vision gets carried out...

 

Yeah, the original Chronicle article about this interviewed a Dean(?) of UW-Steven's Point, and he said the same thing. A flagship can weather the storm; smaller schools are in for a world of hurt. And the same for all the k-12 schools, that I'm sure will be hit by a trickle down by this. So many programs are going to be cut -- especially outreach ones, I would think.

 

 

UW system schools have already cancelled a bunch of faculty searches, and they're talking about laying off pre-tenure TT faculty. A friend of mine in the system was told by her chair that they might not be able to do her tenure review on time. So devastating.

 

In conclusion, fuck you Scott Walker.

 

That's so terrible! I hope that at least gets sorted out. I know that the issue of tenure is a major facet of what's to change if the budget cuts/full separation of UW from the state government actually goes through. I do so hope people in TT jobs don't suddenly have their world pulled from under them.

[__________________________]

 fuck you Scott Walker.

 

This point truly cannot be emphasized enough.

[__________________________]

Yeah, the original Chronicle article about this interviewed a Dean(?) of UW-Steven's Point, and he said the same thing. A flagship can weather the storm; smaller schools are in for a world of hurt. And the same for all the k-12 schools, that I'm sure will be hit by a trickle down by this. So many programs are going to be cut -- especially outreach ones, I would think.

 

 

Yeah, for outreach, I can't even imagine.  It's like Walker's funding of voucher programs was just the prologue to some evil master plan to privatize all education... Wisconsin has a lot of great outreach programs done through universities that I really would hate to see get cut.

[Lycidas]

UW system schools have already cancelled a bunch of faculty searches, and they're talking about laying off pre-tenure TT faculty. A friend of mine in the system was told by her chair that they might not be able to do her tenure review on time. So devastating.

 

In conclusion, fuck you Scott Walker.

[ProfLorax]

Maryland is experiencing some cuts too (as are most public universities), but nothing like Wisconsin. Your stipend won't be affected, as your offer becomes essentially a signed contract when you accept. But your mandatory grad student fees could increase, and travel funding could decrease. And like ComeBackZinc says, I wouldn't anticipate any new hires in the near future.

But you'll also likely get lots of experiencing advocating for educational funding and discussing the value of the humanities, skills that are unfortunately increasingly important to the modern day humanities scholar-teacher. And you'll get to vote against Scott Walker in future elections, because as Wikipedia tells me, there is no term limit in Wisconsin (which is terrifying since this man has already won, what, three elections including the recall?).

[silenus_thescribe]

For happiness' sake, I suggest there's only one Scott Walker we should talk about on Grad Cafe...

 

 

Scott Walker, "Jackie"

[softcastlemccormick]

For happiness' sake, I suggest there's only one Scott Walker we should talk about on Grad Cafe...

 

 

[Katla]

Thanks for starting this thread and for all the insightful posts. As an international applicant I'm not familiar with much of US education politics but since my only acceptance so far is from Madison and I've only been accepted with a 3 year funding package, though the DGS said most people were able to extend it, I suspect I may end up affected by things there...

I think my greatest fear would be to accept the offer and then finding myself unable to complete due to lack of funds... And If things are really as grim as they sound it sounds like that could be a possibility.

Edited February 19, 2015 by Katla

[ProfLorax]

Katla, I think it's wise to be skeptical of only three years of funding, and I think it's fair to raise your concerns with the DGS. I raise my eyebrows anything under five years of guaranteed funding for a PhD.

[ictus]

The threat is real.

Wisconsinite here--I sat in on the Walker protests years ago and have been watching in horror as he slowly does more and more damage to my lovely home state. I don't want to be hyperbolic, but he does pose a threat to the educational system, absolutely. There seems to be no end to his destruction. In just a matter of months I saw legislation he passed have a serious financial effect on my mom, who works for the state, and get my boss' wife fired from her job at a union.

Walker aside, Madison is a really special place, I hope you experience some of that on your tour! The winter can be a bit brutal, but believe me when I say that summers at the union on the lake are the pinnacle of loveliness.

[__________________________]

 

 

I'm really sorry to hear that, ictus -- I'm sending good wishes and positive vibes to both your mother and your boss's wife.  I teach in a public school and come from a union family, and I can imagine how devastating that can be.  Wisconsinites are hardy people though and I'm hoping to see people continue to resist this bullshit.

 

As for the positive aspects of this state: when you live in Wisconsin, where the winter is (almost) non-stop cold as hell and too long for most peoples' tastes, there is nothing more gorgeous and wonderful than the spring time.  Seriously, I've never been anywhere else in the U.S. whose Spring is as wonderful as it is here... it's like straight out of some flowery E.E. Cummings poem or something...

 

And yeah, Madison is great if you're okay with living in a college town.  Really good restaurants and bookstores, friendly people... Milwaukee's really cool too.  Definitely more of a "city" feel without being megalopolis and without the priciness of a bigger city like Chicago -- its really a lovely city with lots of beautiful architecture too.  A lot of professors at my SLAC went to those schools, and several creative writing faculty got their PhDs at Milwaukee.

[Katla]

Katla, I think it's wise to be skeptical of only three years of funding, and I think it's fair to raise your concerns with the DGS. I raise my eyebrows anything under five years of guaranteed funding for a PhD.

Thanks for this ProfLorax!

[Macabea]

It's so sad what's happening with the UW... It reminds me of the university system from Spain: no money, no education. Now I've been accepted as a TA in the Spanish PhD program funded for 4 years and I don't know if I'm making the right decission by accepting the offer... I find the stipend very low compared to other universities, but I like the program. Maybe it's worth the risk. (Also, I'm thrilled to go to Madison, I hope to find it as wonderful as you describe it -not forgetting the Cummings reference, I must recall it when spring comes if I finally go to Madison-  )

[Lycidas]

Messing with the livelihoods of public school teachers and university employees/students was just Scott Walker’s warmup… http://www.npr.org/2015/02/26/389005148/gov-scott-walker-goes-head-to-head-with-labor-over-right-to-work

[Katla]

It's so sad what's happening with the UW... It reminds me of the university system from Spain: no money, no education. Now I've been accepted as a TA in the Spanish PhD program funded for 4 years and I don't know if I'm making the right decission by accepting the offer... I find the stipend very low compared to other universities, but I like the program. Maybe it's worth the risk. (Also, I'm thrilled to go to Madison, I hope to find it as wonderful as you describe it -not forgetting the Cummings reference, I must recall it when spring comes if I finally go to Madison- )

If you don't mind me asking what kind of stipend are you getting? I got in with finding for three years but after the first year I'll be on TAships that can apparently be as low as 5000-6000 dollars if I understand it correctly which strikes me as extremely low. That said I've not researched what the living costs are yet so maybe it is actually possible.

[Macabea]

If you don't mind me asking what kind of stipend are you getting? I got in with finding for three years but after the first year I'll be on TAships that can apparently be as low as 5000-6000 dollars if I understand it correctly which strikes me as extremely low. That said I've not researched what the living costs are yet so maybe it is actually possible.

 

Hi Katla! I've got a TAship that covers the tuition, the living stipend and gives me eligibility to take health insurance provided by the university. My living stipend is $11k (9 months) aprox. I will be funded for four years. It's very low compared to what other universities are paying their TAs, but considering how UW is being mistreated I can consider myself very fortunate. I hope I can increase the amount by taking other jobs inside the campus (I'm international, so my visa doesn't allow me to do more). About housing: from what I see, with my stipend I can live well in Madison but without luxuries. Maybe I'm wrong, but Madison doesn't seem to be a very expensive city. Hope it helps you

 

And, if you don't mind me asking, what funding did you receive? You'r going to the comp lit department, right?

[Katla]

Hi Katla! I've got a TAship that covers the tuition, the living stipend and gives me eligibility to take health insurance provided by the university. My living stipend is $11k (9 months) aprox. I will be funded for four years. It's very low compared to what other universities are paying their TAs, but considering how UW is being mistreated I can consider myself very fortunate. I hope I can increase the amount by taking other jobs inside the campus (I'm international, so my visa doesn't allow me to do more). About housing: from what I see, with my stipend I can live well in Madison but without luxuries. Maybe I'm wrong, but Madison doesn't seem to be a very expensive city. Hope it helps you

 

And, if you don't mind me asking, what funding did you receive? You'r going to the comp lit department, right?

 

Yep, the Comp Lit department, partially working on Lat Am lit Are you working on Lat Am or peninsular? (I was told they're getting a new Lat Am scholar this year, so if that's your thing then that's something to look forward to).

I got a three year funding package with a good fellowship for the first year but then two years of TA where they cannot guarantee more than 38%, which would cover tuition, health benefits and then I think $5500 or something which doesn't sound like a lot. Like you I'm an international student and as I know there'll be restrictions on where we work I'm not sure that this is feasible for me...

Thanks for the info about housing etc I hope it all works out for you financially, Madison seems like a fantastic place (despite the political situation) and you're right, you probably can get by on a relatively small stipend

Edited February 28, 2015 by Katla