| make the university run on a day-to-day basis. Whether it's health services, buildings, or student-paid services, Bazzell oversees the service. "Human Resources reports to me," Bazzell said in an interview with The Hues. "Business Services with accounting services, the police department and our facilities management function also report to me. But unlike many other campuses, I'm responsible for what the university would call auxiliary operations. Those are self-funded, user fee operations like the Wisconsin Union, recreational sports and the Shell, University Health Services, and athletics. The other thing that distinguishes my job is I also serve as the campus budget director. I serve as part of the senior management team with the chancellor and provost as well." Developing the university's budget has become increasingly difficult as the state legislature continues to squeeze state support for the university. And it has proven to be very difficult to protect the university's core mission. "Our core mission has three components: education, research, and public service, which we call the Wisconsin Idea," Bazzell said. "While we are going through budget cuts, our focus is to protect those kinds of things. Obviously, we give undergraduate education a very, very high priority in terms of what we protect. But it's been a real struggle, no question. Not withstanding our best efforts, we have seen erosion related to our ability to provide quality instruction, the kind of support services that students need, and maintaining our research." The university has been most successful in attracting research dollars, with the vast majority coming from federal and private sources. "We ranked fourth nationally in the amount of research dollars we bring in," Bazzell emphasized. "For a state our size, that is tremendous. Unfortunately, it's one of the best kept secrets in the state. It's one of those things that the further away you get, the more appreciated you are. We have a research program that is almost unparalleled among public institutions including Berkely and other top-notched universities. We have a lot to feel proud of." Making the case for funding for other aspects of the university's core mission has been daunting as the university competes with other fundamental state priorities. "You're competing against property tax relief, k-12 education, the prison system, and Medicare and Medicaid," Bazzell said. "Those are the other big appropriations the state has to deal with. And those tend to fare much better in the competition for limited resources." "We'll never outcompete k-12 for a couple of reasons," Bazzell continued. "Obviously, k-12 education is the foundation and is very, very important. And from a political standpoint, what's the alternative? Increasing property taxes? That has a big implication for legislators and county board officials and others. If they don’t give us dollars, there is no local constituency knocking on their door saying "You're not treating those folks right. There isn't an immediate consequence on that side. With Medicare and Medicaid, those are federal entitlement programs. You have to provide services and the cost of health care continues to skyrocket. You have to set aside money for that need. And we see what's happened with the correctional system over the last one and a half decades. All of the new money that has been poured into there to create new infrastructure because the prison population has been increasing is tremendous. That infrastructure has to be maintained. Once you satisfy those draws, there is not a lot left." For the past several decades, the university's share of state funding has steadily eroded. "Thirty years ago, 44 percent of our budget came from state sources," Bazzell said. "The percent is less than half of what it was. In real dollars, we're getting about the same amount of money we did 10 years ago. If you adjust for inflation, we would be at a deficit." The one place the university has been able to secure additional state dollars is in new building construction. Next issue: The building boom |
| UW Vice Chancellor Darrell Bazzell Budgets and buildings by Jonathan Gramling |
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| Part 1 of 2 Darrell Bazzell, vice chancellor for administration at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has a pretty good view to see what's happening on campus. His office in Bascom Hall has a view of Bascom Hill, Library Mall, and beyond. And he's in charge of the operations that |
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