MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The University of Wisconsin Extension is making plans to reduce staff and leave vacancies open amid the largest cut in state support it’s ever faced. The $5.2 million reduction is part of the state budget signed by Gov. Scott Walker. It represents an 8 percent cut in state funding for UW Extension, a university system whose mission includes educating communities that lack a four-year campus. Under the new budget, the agency’s Cooperative Extension division could lose 10 percent of its positions. The dean of the division, which includes agriculture agents, says about 7 percent of the positions are already vacant. Every county in Wisconsin has at least one UW Extension agent. Now more counties will probably have to begin sharing agents.
