In a significant move impacting the University of Wisconsin System, a Republican-dominated state legislative committee has introduced new teaching mandates for university faculty. These changes come as part of the bipartisan state budget agreed upon earlier this year.
The Joint Committee on Employment Relations endorsed a teaching workload proposal previously approved by the Board of Regents. This policy mandates that faculty across most UW campuses must instruct at least 24 credits annually. However, at research-focused institutions like UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee, the requirement is set at 12 credits per year.
The committee’s decision was made with a 5-2 vote, supported solely by Republicans. Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, voiced her disapproval, citing what she perceives as an excessive legislative intrusion into the university system’s affairs.
Neubauer stated, “We have a governing body for the UW system. That is the Board of Regents. That’s not us,” emphasizing that the Board of Regents possesses the necessary expertise to navigate the challenges faced by the university system.
Conversely, Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August, R-Walworth, defended the legislative body’s role, asserting, “The UW System spends billions of dollars of taxpayer dollars every year. And if we’re just going to say that the policy should be that the Legislature has no role in oversight of that taxpayer money, I just — I can’t even believe that.”
Besides the teaching workload, the committee approved modifications to the transfer of general education credits between UW campuses.
A plan to allocate $27 million, as outlined in the state budget, was also sanctioned. This fund is intended to attract faculty in high-demand fields, distributing $25 million based on workforce data and other criteria.
Additionally, $2 million is earmarked for UW-Madison to support faculty in areas that enhance “diversity of thought and the foundation of free markets,” as specified in the state budget.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, who previously considered broad financial cuts to the UW system, commended university leaders for their engagement in budget discussions. “We are now … actually going to have a requirement where people who are being paid to teach are actually going to teach,” he remarked.
Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein, D-Middleton, expressed concerns, suggesting that university faculty roles extend beyond classroom teaching. “I do think this is a slippery slope of monkeying around (with) the university system, and we don’t really have any business there,” she said.
The committee’s decisions follow Governor Tony Evers’s earlier action to implement pay raises for state employees, including those at universities. This move bypassed the committee’s approval process, leveraging a Supreme Court ruling to proceed.
This development comes two years after Republicans on the committee delayed approved raises as part of a successful bid to limit diversity initiatives at the university.
