And this mornings cspan bus is on the campus of the university of wisconsin in madison and joining us on the bus is ray cross, whos the president of the university of wisconsin system. Thank you for being here. Lets begin with this distinction of being the president of the university of wisconsins system. What does that mean . Within the university of wisconsin system, greta, theres 13 fouryear institutions and 13 twoyear feeder institutions extension is in all 72 counties, in addition to that, there are 180,000 students throughout the system. 40,000 employees. Its roughly the sixth largest system in the United States, with about a 6 billion budget. Its pretty sizable Higher Education, Public Higher Education operation. What does it mean that you are the president of the system as opposed to a president of just lets say the university of wisconsin, madison, of one site . Part of the theory behind a system is that theyre meant to coordinate and to develop state wide issues, issues that impact the whole state. And serve the institutions in a way that in terms of shared resources in helping them more effectively and cost effectively deal with some of the issues that are common to all of them. We represent each of these institutions in the capital, its a collaborative effort on issues related to state legislation or federal legislation. And you reference the 6 billion annual budget for the university of wisconsin systems, state funding makes up gifts grants and contracts at about 5 billion dollars. The impacts, 15 billion plus annually. What does that mean, this Economic Impact . Most economic analysis, that impact in terms of what it duds to the economy throughout the state, it has an impact of what we purchase and how other higher and how that money play into the economy. To thats more or less a direct and indirect impact of those expenses on the economy in the region. And we want to hear from wisconsin residents this morning. We have a fourth line set aside for them. We have divided lines by students, parents, educators and wisconsin residents. Want to hear from you about the university of wisconsin and impact on your state. Were talking with ray cross, whos the president of the university of wisconsin system. How big is the university of wisconsin madison . Madison has about 43,000 to 44,000 students. Its probably in the middle of the big ten, sixth or seventh, in that category of big ten. Its the Third Largest recipient of u. S. Dollars, its a major institution, its been ranked in the top five ever since i can remember. It puts a tremendous emphasis on research, and all the work thats being done in Stem Cell Research. And changing those into different heart cells and even retina cells. Research in the biosciences, its a phenomenal institution when it comes to research and energy and areas like that, its been very active in the weather station. I think we have 18 nobel prize winners, engineering and chemistry and medicine and physics, its a Major Research institution. And the university of wisconsin madison, its tuition fees for undergraduate degrees, for in state, youre looking at a little over 10,000. Out of state the price tag is 26,660. The room and board costs come in at about 8,600. Who decides how much tuition costs . Im sorry, i didnt hear all of that, greta. Who decides the price tag for in state and out of state . The board of regents has authority to establish tuition, however thats generally negotiated with the legislature and a lot of that depends on the state aid forthcoming from the state legislature. As the University Puts forward its budgets and developing its budget, it does so in collaboration with the board, the board of regents and that process of determining tuition is a balance of what the state will do in revenue or state aid and what we need in terms of tuition. What is the regents board, who sits on it . There are 18 members on the board. Theyre appointed, well, some of them, most of them are appointed by the governor and affirmed by the senate. But several of those members are also occupying positions as a result of their positions, so there are two student appointees from the Governors Office, but the superintendent for the department of public instruction sits on that. One is a representative from the technical college, the board silts on the board. So there are some positions like that that are also part of the 18member board of regents. Have they voted to increase tuition every year . Oh, no, currently there is a tuition freeze. Were in the second year of that tuition freeze and we are proposing that in the next two years that we also freeze tuition, we think we can do it for two more years. That does put some strain on us, theres no question about that, but we believe affordability is really, really an important issue, given student debt and those kinds of issues. We have been working with legislators and in particular the Governors Office to try to balance that off so the state picks up a little bit larger portion of our budget, thats a challenge, given the states revenue situation, and the demands on the states budget, as you probably know, medicaid and other nondiscretionary portions of the budget are growing rapidly, i think medicaid will go from about 17 or 18 of the states budget to over 30 in the next decade. That leaves legislators with less discretionary portion which the higher end comes from. Governor walker wants a tuition freeze, hiss opponent mary burke the democrat concurs. How many students are eligible for Financial Aid at the university of wisconsin . I think at the madison campus, its about 61 or 62 currently get Financial Aid. Obviously i believe we could do more in that area. Were trying. The Madison Initiative for undergraduates alone has dramatically helped . In a few moments im going to go over and meet with the fund for wisconsin scholars, another tremendous Financial Aid effort. The wisconsin system has increased its Financial Aid to help offset some of the costs for students. About 73 , as i recall, greta, of the students throughout the system receive Financial Aid. As you said, 61 of under grad students are receiving some sort of Financial Aid. There has been a tuition freeze at the university of wisconsin systems and you want to continue that, president cross. Im wondering because affordability as you said is a big issue, do you think college is worth it . Of course. I think every study thats been done shows that students in terms of economic analysis, College Graduates earn more, considerably more than their non college counterparts. In addition to that, the Unemployment Rate for College Graduates is roughly half of what it is for non College Graduates. There is a definitely distinguishing characteristic economically. But i dont think it should be measured only on an economic scale. The value of the University Education goes beyond that, and its important to understand what it means to have an educated citizenry. Thats the fundamental, i think the fundamental piece of what a Higher Education experience is all about. Economic impact on the family and the state is important. I think its also important in the state of wisconsin where we are about 150,000 to 170,000 vacant job positions right now, its important for the university to address the high impact talent, probably 30 , 40 , or 50 of those positions require a degree. Lets get to phone calls. Pam is up first in middleton, wisconsin. Go ahead. Caller good morning, thank you for taking my call. Good morning, president cross. Im calling in reference to your statement that our college is a premier and Progressive Research institution. I was surprised to learn that my alma mater is conducting highly controversial experiments on baby monkeys. I have also recently learned that a petition by change. Org started last week and over 200,000 people have signed that so it appears im not alone. So im calling to see how you reconcile this in the testing that so many researchers are calling unnecessary, cruel and outdated with our image and reputation as a Progressive School . Thank you, pam, the process that one goes through on University Campus to secure approval to do research of that type is very extensive. As i recall, there are four Different Levels and the faculty that review that come from all different disciplines and its a very rigorous process. And the need for this has to be warranted through that process. Thats handled here at the madison campus by some very conscientious and diligent people. That process has been under way and this research has been through that process so i think we have to let that process guide us. Secondly, i am aware of these concerns and i have received those and were taking those very seriously, and were sharing this with the board, were reevaluating this so we are concerned about this. And president cross, is there federal oversight on how research is conducted at universities like the university of wisconsin, madison, does the federal government have something to say about that . Any research involving federal funds, there are rigorous processes at the federal government requires and there is a serious oversight process and of course thats a part of this too, greta. And how does that process work . Well, it depends on the type of research thats being undertaken. Most of that, there are pieces of that depending on whether youre doing lab work or if animals are involved or if theres Human Research involved, and there are protocols that are required by the federal government, they audit that on a regular basis and they establish the processes that help guide that. By the way, cspans big ten bus tour started out at the university of minnesota last week, if you missed that, go to cspan were doing a month long series of viz sits to various big ten institutions, the university of wisconsin systems president ray cross is with us aboard cspans bus. Greg is in madison. Thank you for taking my call, mr. Cross. I was listening when you were talking about the state providing tuition for as a graduate of uw, i did hear of those studies that already started, i dont recall if they had already started. I think i heart the previous caller talking about that. My bigger concern or one of my biggest concerns was that the system has not passed full committee and it only went to a subcommittee without full approval. Is that your recollection of what transpired . Its my understanding that it did go through the entire process, that the point at least. Im not sure that it has started, but im sure its gone through i think it has gone through the entire process. President ray cross, let me throw in another issue for you and that is rural colleges, wisconsin being a rural state, you have a background in running rural colleges. What are the challenges of reaching students in these rural areas of wisconsin . There are a number of challenges facing those students and i was just reading about, i think, Florence County in wisconsin, which has a high school of 25 students. The size of and the scale of those institutions limits their ability to do a lot of things, im sure they would like to be able to do. Ironically, a number of the problems facing rural wisconsin schools are also facing urban institutions. And they obviously are approaching them differently, they are on both ends of the spectrum, but the challenges facing them are similar, how we deal with that and what we do to help serve those folks is, i think, very important. Were attempting to do more course options, that is students taking High School Credit courses, concurrently with College Courses to help them get started. The University Needs to improve its ability to speak to the remedial needs of both rural and urban students. We need, we badly need to make sure that students get into the educational pipeline, they that succeed and retain in that educational pipeline and that we connect them to businesses and opportunities both for their career and for their life here in wisconsin. And thats a challenge both in the rural setting and in an urban setting. With the cost of tuition at the university of wisconsin madison being 10,000, room and board, you add on another 8,600 what about online education. Wisconsin i think offers Something Like 5,400 courses online. And we have been pioneers in the whole area of competency based education, which is an Innovative New approach into what you know and what you can do, rather than how much time is spent in the classroom. That kind of activity, i believe has a great future. Now it faces a number of challenges, because in wisconsin, and im sure elsewhere, in wisconsin, there are somewhere between 750,000 to a million working age adults with some college, but without a degree. That number nationally is around 31 million. Now if we can deal with that effectively, i think we need to educate more working adults, not just 18yearolds, but so they can compete in a future economy that requires this kind of education. Do you see the future of education be it online or other Technology Reducing the price tag of tuition as well as room and board . Im not sure. There are some examples where it has. I think it has tremendous potential. It also creates several concerns. Ideally, it would be a blend, a hybrid if you will between online models. But it takes the right type of student to engage in this online process and leverage it to its maximum ability. Some students are just suited for that type of learning. Remember, were focusing this type of education on Adult Learner who cannot simply put their children in daycare and return to a dorm and live on campus. Were trying to serve them effectively. It is a different experience, it is not the same as you gain in a residence experience is very important. But we want to be able to serve them with the kind of experience they need at that point in their lives and i think that will ultimately have a huge impact on both them and the people throughout the state. Gene on twitter asks this, of those enrolled, what percentage go on to graduate . Im trying to remember that number i would say that we probably retain 60 and graduate in time is another things, i think in madison, in six years, the percentage is in the 70 . Were working very hard to increase that, i believe the madison campus alone has about a 4 1 2 year time frame for most graduates. That time to degree not only saves a student and their family money, it also gets them into the workplace quicker and its something that we want to do not only to make it affordable, but also to help our economy grow in the state of wisconsin. President cross, what percentage of students are taking more than four years to graduate . More than four years, throughout the system, thats probably going to be around 40 , in that range. I dont remember the number, greta. We are above were better than the National Average, were considerably better than the National Average throughout the system. However we dont think thats good enough, we want to do better, i think its interesting that in my era, most students graduate within four or five years at least. However today many students are dual majoring, theyre doing a study abroad, its a high impact learning practice, theyre doing internships that delay that graduation. The education theyre getting is much more enhanced and complete than it was 40 years ago. Were going to chesapeake, virginia, arthur is waiting there. Go ahead, arthur. Caller i want to ask the professor about the Stem Cell Research, are you all doing anything for stem cells, as far as arthur, you got to turn that television down when youre talking with the guest, president cross hes talking about Stem Cell Research at the university of wisconsin madison. Im not familiar with everything were doing, but i am family with something theyre doing with what i would call nondifferentiated stem cells. Theyre trying to take skin cells and convert them into stem cells which then can be converted into specific cells, heart, i know of one project where theyre actually working on creating retina cells from those stem cells. So those are some of the Broader Research projects that im aware of involving stem cells. Susies next, in springfield, missouri, an educator there. Hi, susie. Caller i have two questions. Sometimes Research Universities have issues related to those advanced senior faculty having contact with undergraduates. Im wondering how many adjunct or course professors teach undergraduates and the second question is im also understand ing that the number of majors in that institution impacts the cost. How many majors in each discipline and how many popular majors have you had to eliminate. Thanks. I think if i understand the question correctly, theres two parts, and that is how many senior faculty teach freshman courses. I think were very similar to most institutions, that process is focused on making sure students do well. Balancing that with their ability to interact with quality professors. Since about, i dont know in the last five or six years, those majors related to the stem field Science Technology engineering and math, including in some areas as art, the demand for those disciplines has gone up around 15 . Unfortunately, the number of faculty serving those fields has remained about the same. So one of our challenges is to increase the number of faculty in those critically important field th