Extension notes budget changes

Extension’s budget makeup is changing, says Marv Van Kekerix, UW-Extension provost and vice chancellor.

County and federal percentages remained about the same 1988-2001; state tax funds decreased from 45 percent in 1988 to 34 percent in 2001; and program revenue increased from 38 percent in 1988 to 44 percent in 2001. Gifts, grants and contracts increased by a third from 1997-2001.

Extension Chancellor Kevin Reilly says the changing funding picture highlights Extension’s reliance on non-state funds.

“As we continue to draw more money from outside sources, will the public believe we’re impartial?” Reilly asks. “The right kinds of partnerships can bolster the university’s reputation for neutrality. The wrong kind can damage it.”

Reilly, reporting Feb. 7 to the UW System Board of Regents, says the time involved in seeking federal dollars can detract from UW-Extension’s basic mission, and that it also requires additional staff.

The public good can be compromised as well, Reilly says. Some important causes, such as land-use planning and serving disadvantaged people, do not have sponsors that are ready sources of funding.

On the staffing side of the equation, Reilly noted that academic staff has risen from 511 to 821 from 1987-88 to 2000-01. The level of faculty has stayed about the same (413 to 415 in the same time period). The chancellor asked, “How important is the ability to hire tenure-track employees?”

“The preceding issues make getting and keeping GPR funding critically important,” Reilly said. He concluded with a reminder that UW-Extension’s services are in especially high demand during economically turbulent times.

Extension leaders, in a recent presentation to the UW System Board of Regents, also highlighted some successful Extension partnerships.

In one example, Connie Foster, vice president for television operations with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, says Wisconsin Public Television’s partnership with UW-Extension is making possible some of the best applied research in digital video and broadband technologies.

“Wisconsin is leading efforts to reforge links between universities and public broadcasting,” Foster adds. The recently created National Center for Outreach, funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, is hosted by Wisconsin Public Television. Its mission is to promote community engagement through TV.

In another example, Darrell Bazzell, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, says Extension staff assist a DNR-initiated program “to engage a greater number of Wisconsin citizens in issues relating to the preservation of natural resources.” Extension provides staff, resources and valuable connections with local farmers, business people, landowners and others concerned with the use of natural resources. Specific goals of the program include building local capacity for leadership of national resource issues; integrating agencies, resources and programs; and providing resource education.