Meet the Chancellor Posted on June 3, 2015June 3, 2015 by Sean Cornell UWM Chancellor Mark Mone took on a series of questions from a panel of journalists at the Milwaukee Press Club located in downtown Milwaukee. Mone was chosen as chancellor of UWM in December of 2015, succeeding Michael Lovell who took was named president of Marquette University. Mone had served on the faculty in the UWM Lubar School of Business since 1989. The focus of the questioning by the panel was centered on the university’s reaction and preparation to the proposed state $300 million budget cut to University of Wisconsin System. Reports from inside the Joint Finance Committee anticipate that the cuts the UW System will not be as large as the proposed $300 million. The budget cuts were endorsed and proposed by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Mone opened with a speech talking about the successes and exclusivity of the schools within UWM. He spoke about the UWM Film School being ranked 20th in the world, hosting the only School of Architecture and Urban Planning in the state of Wisconsin and hosting the only School of Freshwater Science in the nation. Mone also said UWM is the only school to have an undergraduate program for American Sign Language. More than 1.000 veterans also are currently enrolled in UWM, more than any other school in a six-state radius. Mone also touted statistics from an independent economic analysis that reported that UWM generated $1.5 billion in revenue for the state of Wisconsin last year. Out of 160,000 graduates of UWM, roughly 75 percent of them will stay in the state of Wisconsin. After his opening statements, Mone took questions from the panel. When asked what the university will do to absorb the budget cuts, Mone said, “It’s harder to keep graduation rates up when you’re dealing with budgetary cuts.” He then iterated that larger class sizes and fewer classes could be anticipated, as well as a longer time to graduate. UWM announced it will also be offer severance packages to some of its senior employees. Out-of-state tuition is also expected to rise in the coming years.