UW-Extension's Uncertain Future, Final
Thursday, February 4th, 2016 -- 11:20 AM
-County UW-Extension offices are beginning the first steps of reorganizing due to the $250 million budget cut to the UW-System approved by the Wisconsin Legislature.The Regional Director of the UW-Extension's Northwest Regional Office came to Clark County on Thursday of last week to speak with Extension employees and some board members of the County's Extension Committee about the proposed changes. Because of the cuts to the system, the Cooperative Extension Program is facing a $3.6 million budget deficit. The proposal heading to Extension Chancellor Cathy Sandeen would group Extension offices into multi-county offices with a reorganization of employees. Clark County would be grouped with Marathon, Wood, Portage and Waupaca.
Some other items brought up at the meeting include the fact that Clark County may not end up grouped with the above mentioned counties. There could be change and Clark County could end up with Taylor, Price, Lincoln and Langlade Counties as they are more similar to Clark County then the other group. There were also questions about mileage and sharing programs cross county lines. However, it was stated that Clark County already does that. The County Chair also mentioned that he wrote a letter to Chancellor Sandeen stating that Clark County would be willing to be a hub for whatever group they're in due to its strong agriculture communities. Also, the uniqueness of Clark County was mentioned once again and that being able to accommodate the county isn't easy, regardless of what group they're put into.
None of this is set in stone at this point and there are still many questions to be answered and many things to figure out. At this point, the optimistic timeline is that a decision on the reorganization will take place soon and they will begin putting committees together soon after. They hope to begin implementation by July of 2016 and most personnel changes are expected to begin by late this year or early next.
n Case You Missed It:
Part 1: http://cwbradio.com/news/?fn_mode=fullnews&fn_id=15915
Part 2: http://cwbradio.com/news/?fn_mode=fullnews&fn_id=15932
Part 3: http://cwbradio.com/news/?fn_mode=fullnews&fn_id=15939
Part 4: http://cwbradio.com/news/?fn_mode=fullnews&fn_id=15945
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