Brainstorming sessions provided helpful suggestions

In the midst of snowstorms, final exams and harried schedules, you came to share your ideas about the opportunities that lie ahead for the university, even as our economy weakened. I am writing to thank you.

A series of campus brainstorming sessions — three in December and one last week — proved to me that the faculty, staff and students share a sense of purpose and a willingness to work together creatively to find ways to make the campus work more effectively and efficiently.

Hundreds of people — students, faculty and staff — came together to share their ideas. Dozens of ideas emerged — thoughtful, workable ideas — that have the potential to improve our operation, make us better stewards of our resources and more accountable to our stakeholders.

Deans sat next to students, who sat next to staff, and staff next to faculty, all thinking together for the university’s common good. It was a fine example of how our university community can come together at difficult times to meet the challenges we face.

We shared the ideas that were generated on a blog, allowing those unable to attend to share their thoughts as well. If you were unable to make it to these idea-generating sessions, I urge you to take a look at the results and add your thoughts.

The ideas ran the gamut from cutting down on paper use to consolidating information tech functions around campus to creating more green jobs and finding ways to help reduce textbook costs for students. The list is long.

We don’t intend to allow these ideas to sit on a shelf. We can’t afford to. They will be part of the discussion we’re having as Gov. Jim Doyle prepares to unveil his biennial budget against the backdrop of a projected $5.4 billion deficit.

Our goal is to maintain affordability and access to our university, maintain and enhance our world-class research and educational opportunities, and find innovative ways forward for the university at this crucial time. Tuition increases will be necessary in this environment, to maintain the high quality that Wisconsin citizens expect from its flagship university, but we will work to ensure that these increases are buffered by student aid hikes that will protect low- and median-income families.

We know that when the recession subsides, higher education will help pave the way to a full recovery, through research discoveries that address some of the world’s most urgent problems, that build community, that produce cultural value, that drive the economy and provide jobs. It will be public universities that will have continued providing the kind of affordable education that allows graduates to compete in the global economy. We will not allow the current economic crisis to undermine the economic engine that has the promise of pulling us out of the fiscal problems we face today.

The challenges we face are enormous, but so, too, are the opportunities to look at our work differently. I was heartened by the outpouring of thoughtful ideas from every corner of this university, ideas offered with a sense of shared love and concern for the university and its potential contributions to the larger public.

In the coming weeks, we will have a final reaccreditation report and a campus strategic framework that builds on the work of our reaccreditation theme teams. Both projects suggest a renewed sense of purpose, a clear sense of priorities and innovation. They will guide us as we strengthen our programs and seek to become a national model to which other public universities look for transformative ideas. Finding and seizing new opportunities will depend on the same kind of inspiring concern, creativity and hope for the future that you have shown over the past few months. I look forward to our ongoing work together. Thank you again.

— Carolyn “Biddy” Martin is UW-Madison’s chancellor.