Three days after narrowly rejecting the deal, Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents on Wednesday voted 11-6 to support a plan that would provide state funding for pay raises and a much-anticipated $347 million College of Engineering building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in exchange for UW staff position cuts for diversity, equity and inclusion.
The decision to reconsider its Saturday rejection of the plan – a deal brokered by UW president Jay Rothman and Republican leadership in the Legislature – came just days after private donors to the engineering building project expressed shock and dismay over the move to reject the proposal.
Discussing their votes during Wednesday’s meeting, many regents pointed to the input they received from campus communities, including chancellors who expressed the critical need for faculty pay raises.
Indeed, three chancellors addressed the board to explain the need for the funding, and how it will ultimately go to serving students of all stripes, including underrepresented groups. Those chancellors were Mark Mone of UW-Milwaukee, Corey King of UW-Whitewater, and Renée Wachter of UW-Superior.
While conceding that the Rothman-Vos resolution was an imperfect one, Mone said that at the end of the day the money was needed to ensure UW-Milwaukee’s future.
“The cut that we have already experienced – the $32 million is real. That has compromised our campus in a time of already difficult financial straits. The restoration of those funds alone, will give us investment in growth areas that will enable all our students, especially those at UWM, which has one of the most diverse populations in the state, to support program areas like health, technology, engineering, where I have significant millions of dollars in scholarships,” Mone said. “If I don’t have the programs; these scholarships will go wanting.”
Addressing the measures impact to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) staffing on UW-System campuses, Mone said he believed that “there was nothing about the resolution that changes UW-Milwaukee’s goals and commitments inclusion, belonging and access.”
“We absolutely can make this work,” he said.
Nearly every regent that spoke about the resolution voiced concerns about the measure. Of the six regents who voted against supporting it, only three took the floor to explain their reasoning. Regents John Miller and Dana Wachs, both said their primary reason for rejecting the measure was that it set a bad precedent.
“I will vote against this proposal again because I reject its very premise, which is that the Legislature can withhold funds for universally supported building projects and pay raises for the committed employes of our universities for the sole purpose of making a political statement. I fear that acceptance of this tatic will only embolden its adherents, leading to a never-ending cycle of brinksmanship,” Miller said. “What will be the concession next time?”
Wachs said he was concerned about the message being sent, especially those who need the university system’s help.
“I respect all of my fellow regents, but there was a political game that was pushed into our court. We have bipartisan support of darn near everything we do on this board, but confronted with a political question like this being brought into this board – being forced upon us – I am voting against this.’”
Shock over Saturday vote
Speaking to BizTimes Milwaukee, several donors said they were stunned when they heard the news.
“I don’t think anybody saw that coming,” said Bill Monfre, who has pledged money for the engineering building. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Monfre, who chairs both the Industrial Advisory Board for the UW-Madison College of Engineering and a coalition that advocates for a new College of Engineering building, is one of three UW-Madison alumni and private contingent donors to the project who spoke to BizTimes on Monday about the Board of Regents vote rejecting the funding deal.
Richard Antoine, a retired former Procter & Gamble employee and member of the UW-Madison College of Engineering Industrial Advisory Board, also said he was shocked.
Jeff Roznowski, a former Wauwatosa alderman who worked for 30 years as a senior executive in engineering in the telecommunications industry, also expressed dismay.
The engineering building and pay raises sit in the crosshairs of a battle between Republicans in the Legislature and Gov. Tony Evers, and campus communities, over whether the state’s university system should make concerted efforts to support diversity and inclusion on campuses, especially at the state’s flagship university.
That battle came to a head on Saturday, culminating in the 8-9 vote to reject the GOP-brokered deal that would have set such efforts back.
But the outcry that followed Saturday’s vote found the Board of Regents back at the discussion table on Tuesday. After meeting in closed session for five hours, they emerged with a plan to take a second vote on the matter on Wednesday evening.
Push for building
Supporters of the proposed engineering building say it is needed to attract and develop engineering talent for the state’s economy.
“Everybody understands the current labor situation. It’s very difficult to find help. You have a lot of companies that are looking for engineers,” said Monfre, also a former longtime Procter & Gamble employee and small business owner, now retired. “Engineers are in demand, and there aren’t enough of them. So, this building is part of a strategic plan that the College of Engineering has laid out to increase enrollment in order to produce more engineers. There are a lot of employers that I have spoken with that have said if we can’t get the engineers that we need from the University of Wisconsin, they we’ll go elsewhere to get them.”
While many campuses across the state, both public and private, are putting public and private dollars towards beefing up their engineering programs, Antoine said there is big demand for UW-Madison engineering graduates.
The trouble is, he said, is that “there is an incredible gap” between the number of applicants who apply to Madison’s engineering school and the number of people the school can accept.
“There’s seven applicants for every opening in the freshman class,” Antoine said. “We just don’t have enough space to put them. And when we graduate people there are nine job offers for every graduating student because we can’t graduate enough students.”
Business leaders with AriensCo, American Family Insurance, Epic Systems, Generac, GRAEF, Johnson Controls, Kohler Co., Milwaukee Tool, Oshkosh Corp., Rockwell Automation, Trek and numerous other Wisconsin companies have called on the Legislature to provide funding for the project.
Supporters also say the new UW-Madison College of Engineering building is needed for the school to remain competitive with peer institutions.
“There are other Big Ten schools that have good engineering schools; they are much larger than we are, they have newer buildings and facilities,” Roznowski said. “Frankly we need to catch up competitively.”
Private donations
Private donors are expected to raise nearly $150 million for the project, on the condition that the state provides the remaining $200 million. Philanthropists who are supporting the project could pull their pledges if the state funding isn’t provided.
“That $150 million (in private donations) is contingent on the state funding the $200 million,” Monfre said. “If that doesn’t happen, then those dollars go away.”
Republicans, who control the Legislature, rejected funding for the UW-Madison College of Engineering building project in June and have refused to approve funding for pay increases for UW staff. Republicans have been extremely critical of the DEI programs in the UW system and have sought changes, resulting in a UW funding standoff that has gone on for months and appeared to be over with the deal reached last week between Rothman and Republicans in the Legislature.
“In recent years, we’ve seen a growing emphasis on concepts that amplify ideas of division, exclusion and indoctrination,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said in a statement last week about the deal. “Our caucus objective has always been aimed at dismantling the bureaucracy and division related to DEI and reprioritizing our universities towards an emphasis on what matter: student success and achievement.”
In a response to the Board of Regents vote, Evers said he looks forward to discussion on the issue continuing in the weeks and months ahead.
“I urge legislative Republicans to remain in those conversations so we can work together and find common ground to do what’s best for the UW System, including investing in the UW-Madison engineering building.”
Vos had said on Monday that the deal Republicans made with Rothman was final and that he was not open to making any changes. Meanwhile other state officials had said that without state funding the engineering building project could be delayed until the 2025-’27 budget cycle.
