Monday, February 14, 2011

The New Badger Partnership - What it Means for You

We’ve all heard talk of the “New Badger Partnership” somewhere, whether it was on the wisc.edu homepage, in one of the local papers, or from a professor or friend. But what does this Partnership really entail? Who is partnering and for what purpose? The details may seem foggy, but the way I see it, there are three main parts to this idea: efficiency within the University of Wisconsin-Madison, flexibility for the UW, and creation and retention of jobs at the UW.

Everyone is aware of the economic climate, and while we’ve heard that “economic times are tough” over and over, sometimes it’s hard to see what’s being done about it. The New Badger Partnership is proposing to increase its efficiency in order to keep costs manageable. With Governor Scott Walker’s budget work underway, the UW wants to be part of the solution to the economic hardships facing the state of Wisconsin, not one of the problems. Asking for additional funding at this time is somewhat unreasonable, and instead of asking for more money, the New Badger Partnership proposes reallocating within instead of asking from the outside.

The Partnership also proposes greater flexibility in order to give Wisconsinites the proper return on their investment in the University. This includes setting market-based tuition, providing adequate financial aid, and pay employees separately from state agency pay plans. This hits especially close to home for students who are wondering what this Partnership could mean for their tuition right now. (http://badgerherald.com/news/2011/01/17/state_budget_will_te.php)

Finally, the Partnership reinforces the ideas of nearly every politician in office or running for office in the past year: job creation. As a major research institution, the University has numerous outlets across the state for job-generating enterprise. The Partnership wants to provide opportunities to recent graduates who are looking to stay in Madison by creating new innovations and creating new job offerings to spur economic development.

To read more about the New Badger Partnership, visit newbadgerpartnership.wisc.edu for information, listings of recent news coverage, and events pertaining to the development and fostering of the Partnership.

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