27 Apr Push for State Budget Cuts Phases Out UW Med School's Clinical Lab Science Program
MADISON – The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health will no longer be accepting students into its Clinical Laboratory Science program, which is being phased out through the end of 2012 as a consequence of Gov. Jim Doyle’s call for reductions in the UW System, the UW student newspaper Daily Cardinal reported.
But Lisa Brunette, a UW spokesperson, downplayed the budget-cutting push as a factor in the closing, telling the newspaper that Doyle’s office made no official request to take action in budget cuts: “The decision was based on several factors, including the fact that this educational program is available at other Wisconsin campuses. We are deeply appreciative of the incredibly strong and consistent support from Governor Doyle for all of our school’s missions.”
She added, however, that UW “contemplated the question that all public schools are now facing — how to cope with the national economic downturn in the best way possible.”
In his 2009-2011 biennial budget proposed in February, Doyle cut funding for the UW System by $174 million as part of a package of measures to plug a $5.4 billion deficit in the state’s budget. Lawmakers are expected to pass Doyle’s budget by the end of their session, which ends in June, the newspaper reported.