Post ASYtCr97eOO3sovH9s by wubfur@mastodon.social
 (DIR) More posts by wubfur@mastodon.social
 (DIR) Post #ASYP0gag4Zh92u5mMK by mcopelov@mastodon.social
       2023-02-09T22:35:41Z
       
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       https://news.wisc.edu/uw-madison-introduces-pathway-to-debt-free-education-for-pell-eligible-state-students/What if - since we are still subject to all regulations by the state, despite the fact that only 15% of our funding now comes from it - we actually funded the <public> university with <public> financing? This is a great program. But the private financing of is not something to be celebrated, just like we shouldn’t celebrate it when we talk about new campus buildings. It’s the continuation of a shameful decades-long trend of defunding public universities here & elsewhere.
       
 (DIR) Post #ASYP0h7e604Ah9W6kK by mcopelov@mastodon.social
       2023-02-09T22:53:31Z
       
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       It's perfectly reasonable to say that the state should not fund public universities at the levels it used to. I disagree and think the slow motion privatization of public higher ed is bad, but so be it. What's not reasonable is to expect that public universities like UW - Madison will be subject to any and all state regulations - of an increasing stringency & intrusion - while the public funding continually declines as a share of total resources. Unfunded mandates are bad.
       
 (DIR) Post #ASYP0hvH7TlVB4jk6S by mcopelov@mastodon.social
       2023-02-10T02:21:26Z
       
       0 likes, 1 repeats
       
       I actually think people in Wisconsin don’t realize this, & the state media rarely covers it. So the public thinks it’s perfectly reasonable for the state to have complete regulatory control over the #UWSystem & #UWMadison, especially older voters who remember the pre-1980s model. But I suspect the politics would be very different if we framed every discussion about relations b/w the two ends of State Street around the idea that 85% of university funding is <not> from the state government.
       
 (DIR) Post #ASYP0nrF3O6VaItbeK by mcopelov@mastodon.social
       2023-02-10T02:27:53Z
       
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       Like, for example, the public might think it’s totally bonkers that the state government - our <fourth largest> financier - forced us to administer a politically-motivated, terribly-designed survey aimed at proving there are serious “free speech” problems on UW campuses. Why, they might ask, weren’t the 3 larger funders (the federal government, tuition payers, private donors) given a say in this? After all, don’t we supposedly want universities run like businesses? 🤷‍♂️https://mastodon.social/@mcopelov/109793079202249389
       
 (DIR) Post #ASYPe5nwGItGXU5Mhc by CitizenWald@historians.social
       2023-02-11T01:09:08Z
       
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       @mcopelov Really good and essential point. Most people (not necessarily their fault) have no idea about these things, while some people disingenuously and viciously play on this natural ignorance. I can also remember how, already when I was a student at #UWMadison "pre-1980s mode"), right-wing legislators complained about the financial inefficiency of the university, how faculty basically did no work, etc.For outsiders: University is at the bottom of State Street, state Capitol at the top
       
 (DIR) Post #ASYtCr97eOO3sovH9s by wubfur@mastodon.social
       2023-02-11T06:40:21Z
       
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       @CitizenWald @mcopelov #fuckembucky
       
 (DIR) Post #ASYtQS03wL2HwqARZg by CitizenWald@historians.social
       2023-02-11T06:42:49Z
       
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       @wubfur @mcopelov As it happens, I remember smiling when, many years ago, at a Badgers hockey game, I saw a very old woman wearing a t-shirt with that classic slogan as if it were the most natural thing in the world