Issue date: 11/19/09 Section: Campus News

Media Credit: Brian Miller

In a roundtable focused on the Blugold Commitment proposal, Chancellor Brian Levin-Stankevich said the decrease of state funding for public education is one reason that the university needs to raise tuition.

The Blugold Commitment would increase differential tuition by $1,500, phased in over the next four years, which would bring tuition and fees to $7,949 for the 2009-10 academic year, according to handouts available at the Chancellor's Roundtable Tuesday.

Levin-Stankevich gave an example of a shift in the state budget, saying that as funding for corrections has increased, funding for the University of Wisconsin system has gone down.

"We incarcerate three times more people today in Wisconsin than we did 15 years ago," he said. "I don't know if it's the right thing to do or not, but I do know it's directly affected the university system."

Levin-Stankevich said there is data that shows, over the last two years, class sizes getting larger and fewer class sections are offered.

Senior Rogelio Encizo has experienced this first hand. He said it can be difficult to get into 400-level classes, and that, due to a lack of faculty, the Spanish department has eliminated its capstone program.

He said the tuition increase doesn't seem like a lot of money, compared to other schools.

"It doesn't seem as bad as I thought," Encizo said. "I'm for the Blugold Commitment, it's weird to say."

Junior Cara Shimon agreed with Encizo, saying the registration problems affect more than just seniors. She expressed some difficulty getting into certain lab classes because they fill up so quickly.

"It's an all-around lose situation," she said.

She said she needs clarification about the tuition increase, however. She wasn't sure if the tuition increase would stop after the fourth year, or would continue to increase.

"(Students) need to know exactly what they're paying, and what they're getting for it," she said.

Student Body President Michael Umhoefer said differential tuition has increased by about 4.5 percent over the past six years, but broad student approval would be necessary for another tuition increase like the Blugold Commitment to pass in the future.

In order to gauge student support of the tuition increase, a campus wide survey will be issued Dec. 1, Umhoefer said. He said the results will help guide Student Senate's decision when it comes to a vote during their last meeting of the semester Dec. 7.

Umhoefer said UW-Madison and UW-Lacrosse have also raised differential tuition, but not with the same level of student input as UW-Eau Claire.

"The administration does not have the opportunity to increase tuition themselves," he said.

Umhoefer also said one of the Blugold Commitment's goals is to make sure every student completes an educational experience such as study abroad or faculty-student research.

The last Chancellor's Roundtable of the semester is scheduled for 12 p.m. Wednesday Dec. 9 in the Tamarack room of Davies Center.

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