UW-La Crosse will contribute nearly $5.4 million to a $25 million financial aid initiative for in-need students, if Gov. Jim Doyle's budget plan is approved.
The new funding will come not from the state budget but existing funds that UW schools have saved in auxiliary accounts. Since UW-L had saved roughly $20 million as of June of last year, the UW System is expecting this university to fund about 21% of the total aid package statewide.
The auxiliary funds, or savings accounts collected by Residence Life, dining services, continuing education, parking, and many others, are typically used for maintenance and growth projects.
"The problem is, different campuses have different philosophies on saving and money management, and it turned out we were saving the most money," said Chancellor Joe Gow.
Having lost these funds, the university will postpone undertaking several maintenance projects around campus, such as paving parking lots, installing a new plumbing system in Whitney Center, and re-roofing four residence halls.
Also, the newly-unveiled residence complex will be scaled back by $1.5 million. This means losing an on-site classroom that had been in the original plans.
Gow said the Board of Regents did not take into account the scope of UW-L's future infrastructure plans, so "now we're trying to let people know that so they have a better understanding of what we do with the money."
State Representative Jennifer Shilling has already noticed the financial disparity between UW-L's financial burden and those of other campuses. In a phone message, she said that it does appear that UW-L is being punished for being financially responsible. "It's disproportionate compared to other campuses around the state," she said.
"It wasn't even on our radar that this was going to be an issue," said Student Association Vice President Kyle O'Brien.
O'Brien said that part of the Student Association's function in the coming weeks will be to work with legislators to bring down UW-L's total contribution to the financial aid package.
One of those legislators is State Senator Dan Kapanke.
"I am very concerned that the governor would take any money at all out of these auxiliary funds, and then take a disproportionate amount from UW-L, " he said. "I am a fierce supporter and will fight for UW-L and the university system and certainly will fight for the students here because this is just unjust."
Part of the lobbying effort means examining whether the financial aid initiative should be undertaken in the first place, said Shared Governance Director Eric Fuhrmann.
"We're still hopeful we can get this before it gets to the Governor's desk...if you want to fund financial aid, you really have to find a different way to do it," said Fuhrmann.
"There is still a lot of debate that we need to have on the budget as we move forward through the joint finance committee and the legislature," Shilling said. "This is a proposal, and it's not a done deal yet."
Gow echoed that reasoning. "The Governor's budget proposal is just that: It's a proposal," he said. "The Assembly and Senate will take it up. We may find that legislators become aware of this disparity in payments and say, 'maybe there's another way to fund that financial aid.'"
Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance Bob Hetzel was more skeptical. "I don't think there will be a change," he said.
"You can't argue against the merits of financial aid - you can argue against how it is funded," Hetzel said.
"If we lose $3-5 million in the housing auxiliary, can [we] raise rates to support that?" questioned Hetzel. He added UW-L is currently explaining to system why UW-L had saved so much money.
As the UW System takes money from university savings accounts, students can look to pay increased tuition and fees. Dean of Students Paula Knudson said the cost of living on campus will increase at least $100, and the cost of meal plans will also increase.
Fuhrmann suggested eliminating some services rather than increasing their costs.
"Most of the sacrifices students are going to be making are financial, and there are not specifically any cuts in terms of services that are proposed right now, but I think we're going to have to," he said.
"It's going to be hundreds of dollars more expensive - thousands of dollars for some students who live on campus - to go to school here next year than it is now, and even though we don't have anything specific lined up, it's going to be very appropriate to look at cutting services and what can we live without, just because the financial burden is going to be too much," Fuhrmann said.
Fuhrmann said he and UW-L student leaders will continue campaigning against the plan. They also contacted the state's Joint Committee on Finance, who he said "had no knowledge of [the source of the funding] and were really happy that we contacted them."
"Even if you qualify for this additional financial aid," the costs of attending UW-L "are going to be rising significantly" as a result of the financial aid takeaway, said Fuhrmann.
As now proposed, UW-L's share of the financial aid package will be $722 per student; Madison's share will be $56 per student. "There just is not a lot of logic in this methodology," Hetzel said.
"They're pushing the limits of politics with this...we're not going to do this without any pain," said Gow.
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