The proposal to split UW-Madison from the rest of the University of Wisconsin System should be taken out of the budget and the state Legislature should instead work on a separate bill to give all UW System campuses flexibility, said Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater.
Nass, chairman of the Assembly Colleges and Universities committee, wrote to the co-chairs of the state Legislature's budget committee Tuesday with a "path to resolving the current controversy over the New Badger Partnership (UW-Madison split from the UW System)."
Nass is opposed to the split. He suggests that his committee -- and the state Senate's higher education committee -- work on developing a comprehensive bill to give statutory flexibility to all the UW System campuses, with a goal of having the new bill take effect by July 1, 2012.
That is an alternative to what's currently in Gov. Scott Walker's budget proposal.
Walker's plan would make UW-Madison into a public authority, separate from the UW System, with its own board of trustees and more autonomy from state regulations.
Nass writes: "I recognize the need for reasonable and sound changes in the relationship between the UW System and the state of Wisconsin."
According to a press release, Nass' bill would keep the UW System together, give campuses more freedom in the areas of operations and finances, and call for accountability measures.
