First, we learn about the impacts of rising gas prices in Wisconsin. Then, we talk to a researcher and an advocate about Wisconsin’s FoodShare program and new work requirements.
March 11, 2026
Research
Trump cuts upend UW-Madison students’ plans and research projects
The Trump administration disrupted university research last year by canceling grants, delaying new awards and seeking other policy changes that put millions of dollars in jeopardy both in and beyond Wisconsin.
“There continues to be great volatility and uncertainty around federal funding, which is our largest single source of external revenue,” Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said at a campus meeting last month.
Higher Education/System
Survey: Fewer than 10 percent of UW-Madison faculty are conservative
Fewer than 10 percent of faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison identify as conservative, while 70 percent identify as liberal, according to a new poll from the school’s Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership.
The study surveyed 2,388 tenured and tenure-track faculty across all of UW–Madison’s schools and colleges on ideological composition, campus climate, academic freedom, free expression and hiring.
Campus life
Wisconsin Film Festival features ‘September’ songwriter documentary
“The World According to Allee Willis” will be screened as part of the Wisconsin Film Festival on April 10 at the Chazen Museum of Art. Fenton, an award-winning creative visualist and writer (she’s won three Emmys and a Grammy) and Willis’ longtime partner, will lead a discussion after the screening.
Willis grew up in Detroit in the 1950s during the height of Motown and was heavily inspired by the music coming out of the city. She studied journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before moving to Los Angeles.
Academic Staff approve resolution opposing Flock Safety cameras on UW-Madison campus
Academic staff at the University of Wisconsin-Madison approved a resolution Monday opposing the university’s use of license plate reader cameras operated by the company Flock Safety.
Academic Staff Assembly calls on UWPD to cancel Flock Safety contract
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Academic Staff Assembly passed a resolution on Monday calling for UWPD to end their contract with Flock Safety and publish all other contracts with surveillance technology companies, like Motorola Safeties and Rhombus.
Community
Prescribing improv to improve patient-doctor relationships
Amy Zelenski, associate professor and director of Education Innovation and Scholarship at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, teaches an elective class in improvisational theater.
She recently visited WPR’s “The Larry Meiller Show” to discuss the relationship between improv and improving health care.
“I started my career working with medical residents, and I realized that they could say the words, but they were struggling with the connection piece,” Zelenski recalled.
Arts & Humanities
Former Milwaukee-based artist creates installation for Obama Center
Before she was commissioned by the Obamas, she made her mark in Milwaukee contributing work to Shepard Fairey’s “Voting Rights are Human Rights” mural on the north side of the Colby Abbot building, 759 N. Milwaukee St.
In 2010, she received her master’s in fine arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Two years later, she became the first Black woman to win the Mary L. Nohl Fellowship for individual artists. In 2015, she won the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Love of Humanity award.