Proposed $300 Million University of Wisconsin System Cut Could Mean Reduction in UW-Extension Programs
Tuesday, May 12th, 2015 -- 8:45 AM
(Wisconsin Ag Connection) -A proposed $300 million budget cut in the University of Wisconsin system could mean a drastic reduction in the number of local county agents that work for the UW-Extension program.The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that the Cooperative Extension division of UW-Extension, which includes agriculture and 4-H agents, could lose between 65 and 80 positions at the county level. The paper says such a cut would be the most severe downsizing at Cooperative Extension since the 1980s.
Extension has an annual budget of about $220 million, with some of that money coming from other sources like the federal government, county governments and tribal nations, and grants.
Currently, every county in the state has at least one UW-Extension official. Some have between three to five positions, each being paid an average annual salary between $55,000 to $60,000.
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