Wisconsin

Earlier this month, Governor Scott Walker announced his 2015-2017 budget plan which included a $300 million cut to the University of Wisconsin System. Additionally, documents were leaked providing evidence of changes to the Wisconsin Idea, the mission of the University of Wisconsin System. Governor Walker later recanted the changes to the Wisconsin Idea, blaming a "drafting error." The University of Wisconsin and the state of Wisconsin are near and dear to my heart.

I understand the need for budget cuts. I don't understand how Governor Walker can cut $300 million from public universities while also pledging $220 million to a new stadium for the Milwaukee Bucks. It doesn't make sense to me that a stadium for a professional sports team should take priority over the education of over 179,000 students per year. I'm truly hoping that my friends and family in Wisconsin will reach out to their senators and representatives to make their feelings known.

I did not understand the "drafting errors" in the Wisconsin Idea at all. Senator Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) was quoted as saying "I really believe the governor has lost his bearings as to who he is and what he does. His job is not to rewrite the Wisconsin Idea. It's to promote the Wisconsin Idea." I can't agree with this more!

One of the changes reportedly made was that the mission of the system is "to meet the state's workforce needs." In my opinion, college is for learning, exploring, and discovering new subjects. It's for meeting new people and expanding your horizons. Sure, the ultimate goal is to find a career after graduation. But, the mission of a system of four-year universities should not be to simply meet the state's workforce needs. Many of the state's workforce needs can be met by those with high school or technical school diplomas. A bachelor's degree (or higher) is so much more.

I received my Bachelor's of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I completed two years of general education courses and then two years as a student of the School of Nursing. I can see how one might think that my degree enabled me to meet the state's workforce needs as a nurse. It didn't. Don't get me wrong, the University of Wisconsin School of Nursing did an absolutely excellent job at preparing me to be a nurse. But, in nursing, what you learn in the books in school is sometimes completely different from what the actual job is like. Also, it's absolutely impossible to thoroughly prepare a nursing student to enter the workforce. There are so many possible places for a nurse to work: a hospital with many different units, an outpatient clinic with many different specialties, a laboratory, a primary or secondary school, a college, and so many more. How in the world could a school of nursing prepare a nurse to work in such a variety of settings in just two years?

Schools don't. Through the coursework and clinical work of a four-year undergraduate education, a nursing student learns how to think critically, communicate in a variety of ways, and work with different people along with the basics of being a registered nurse. What the university gave me were tools to learn how to become a physical rehabilitation nurse once I stepped on that specific unit. I knew the basics of being a nurse and I knew how to learn to be a physical rehabilitation nurse. This is the purpose of a four-year university.

I truly hope that the State of Wisconsin will be able to adjust this proposed budget to one under which the University of Wisconsin System will continue to thrive. I also hope that all the politicians in the state see what happens when someone messes with something as important to the state as the Wisconsin Idea.