I loved a note from Steve Anderson of Eau Claire following last week’s passage of the new state budget.
After reading the excellent recap of what’s in the new “bipartisan compromise” state budget by Cap Times reporters Andrew Bahl and Erin McGroarty, Anderson couldn’t help commenting on the provision that directed University of Wisconsin faculty to spend a certain amount of hours in the classroom.
In their latest attempt at micromanaging an institution for which their support ranks 44th among the 50 states, the budget contains a provision that requires faculty members to teach at least 24 credit hours per year, a number that is reduced to 12 credit hours for the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Faculty can buy down the number of courses they must teach by replacing their compensation with funding from other sources, like grants, the reporters explained…