How sad that over a half century and more of history has been jettisoned by a “rebranding exercise.” (“UW System rolls out new name for itself: Universities of Wisconsin,” Oct. 12).
An increasing number of first-year UW-Madison students are qualifying for two of UW-Madison’s tuition promise programs, with Pell Pathway intended to tackle the ever-growing cost of attending the state’s largest university.
The bipartisan legislation would direct the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents to establish a pilot program to research psilocybin, the primary psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms, as a treatment for PTSD in veterans aged 21 and over. The bill would also require researchers to report to the governor and the state legislature on the program’s progress and findings.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s beloved mascot is tangled in a trademark fight.
The state flagship and its licensed retail manager, Fanatics, are badgering a Texas economist who applied to trademark the phrases “buckynomics” and “buckymarkets.”
And, it’s not just a problem at Columbia. On Nov. 18, around noon, roughly 20 members of a neo-Nazi group began a march near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus and moved toward the State Capitol, according to an email UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin wrote to the campus community denouncing the march. Men dressed in red, covering their faces, marched carrying large black swastika flags, according to videos posted online. “There will be blood,” the members of the neo-Nazi group chanted.
In a poorly ventilated room in a dairy lab on ninth floor of UW-Madison’s Animal and Dairy Sciences building, more than $1 million of research equipment sits on decades-old desks. An average-looking air purifier on the floor nearby keeps the machines running.
On Aug. 21, 2021, Najib Azad, his wife and their four children fled Afghanistan as American military forces withdrew from the country and the Taliban regained power.
Today, the family is living in Stevens Point as part of a refugee resettlement program, and Azad, a former press secretary in the Afghan government, is teaching global affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Late fall is crunch time for John Achter and his team of counselors across the state public university system.
The novelty of the new school year has worn off, the realities of classes have set in and finals are looming. An increasing number of students have been seeking counseling in recent years, often during this stressful period of the semester.
The University of Wisconsin-Platteville community is mourning the loss of athletic director Kristina Navarro-Krupka, who died suddenly on Saturday from natural causes. She was 39 and pregnant with her first child.
Katherine Zimmerman had a very good problem on her hands. So many students showed up for the September kickoff meeting of an organization she leads that she had to move attendees to a larger room on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
That’s not surprising for a school bursting at the seams. But the turnout was unexpected, given the group’s focus on a topic long treated as taboo: mental health.
In the fall of 1963, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee was just seven-years old. During that fall semester, eight upper class students were enrolled in a Political Science seminar focused on the Civil Rights Movement. The memorable March on Washington had taken place just weeks before the start of class. The professor, Wilder Crane, had been a Republican member of the Wisconsin Assembly before joining the faculty.
According to the Pensions & Investments U.S. Endowment Returns Tracker, the biggest was 10.5 percent for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, followed by a 9.8 percent return for the University of Nebraska Foundation; 9 percent for the University of Illinois Foundation; 8.6 percent for Syracuse University; 8.2 percent for the University of Arkansas Foundation; 7.8 percent for the University of Colorado Foundation; 7.5 percent for Leigh University; 7 percent for the University of Minnesota Foundation; and 7 percent for Case Western Reserve University.
The cost of college. Workforce shortages. Educational inequality. We’ve all heard those phrases. How do they fit together?
I don’t have all of the pieces of the puzzle fit together, but I am searching for answers as part of a new reporting beat at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel focusing on the intersection of education and Wisconsin’s workforce.
But instead of embracing Evers’ plan to put $365 million toward a pandemic-era program to support child care providers, create a state paid family and medical leave program and provide more funding for a new engineering building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Republicans opted to go in a different direction.
Evers’ proposal would have allocated $365 million in new child care funding, increased spending for the Universities of Wisconsin by $65 million, devoted $200 million to paying for a new engineering building on the UW-Madison campus, established a 12-week family medical leave program costing $243 million, and created workforce education and grant programs.
Wisconsin Badgers Director of Athletics Chris McIntosh expressed his condolences for the family, friends and coworkers of Navarro-Krupka. “All of us in the Badger Athletic Department are greatly saddened to hear of the passing of UW-Platteville Director of Athletics Dr. Kristina Navarro-Krupka,” McIntosh said. “Kristina was a friend to a number of us at UW-Madison and a great partner to our department.”
It’s pretty hard to explain, isn’t it? While Wisconsin is sitting on a multibillion-dollar budget surplus, its highly regarded state university campuses are being forced to lay off faculty, cut back classes, even close some two-year campuses to balance their own budgets.
The Legislature should quickly take up and approve funding for a new engineering building on the UW-Madison campus. If the Republican-run Legislature thought AmFam Field was a good proposal for Wisconsin — and it definitely was — then get a load of this offer: a $350 million engineering building that costs the public less and delivers the state economy far more.
The system is also dealing with headlines about layoffs, campus closures, declining enrollment, increasing tuition, and a funding stalemate with the legislature.
Legislative committees controlled by Republicans have blocked the UW system pay increases even though Evers and the full Legislature have already authorized them. The inaction came after Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said the UW system had to either eliminate its diversity, equity and inclusion programs or hand over its power to create university roles to the Legislature.
Evers has since sued the Legislature over the matter, alleging in a lawsuit filed directly with the liberal-majority Wisconsin Supreme Court that Republicans are violating the Constitution’s separation of powers by allowing legislative committees to “impede, usurp, or obstruct basic executive branch functions.”
Despite pressure from business leaders from across the state, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos this week held firm on the Legislature’s decision to withhold state funding for a new engineering building at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
As part of its workforce development proposal, the UW System has proposed programs in AI across the state.
UW-Green Bay is considering program changes in low-enrollment areas such as theater and dance, economics and environmental science as it seeks to equalize its student-to-faculty ratio among departments.
The Republican war on diversity, equity and inclusion could cost Wisconsin hundreds of engineers.
The GOP-controlled Legislature declined to fund a new engineering building for the University of Wisconsin-Madison as part of the state budget. The project would expand enrollment in the engineering college.
Isabelle Bogan is a junior studying marketing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is also a sexual assault survivor.
“I wasn’t treated very well by friends when I told them about it or by people who knew the [assaulter],” said Bogan.
Bogan said she never wanted to be labeled as a sexual assault survivor. She said she just wanted to continue on with her life the best way that she could. That’s why she became a peer facilitator at Promoting Awareness Victim Empowerment, or PAVE.
In June, the Wisconsin Legislature approved pay increases for the 34,000 employees of the Universities of Wisconsin. Months later, Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said legislators wouldn’t give final approval for the pay raises until the university system eliminates 188 positions — all the university system’s jobs Vos claims are dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion. Last month, a GOP-controlled committee affirmed the decision: The approved raises would go to all state employees except those who work within the university system.
In response, Gov. Tony Evers sued the Legislature, calling the move an unconstitutional “legislative veto.”
Change will impact shared governance principle, ASM chair says.
Students and faculty of the University of Wisconsin River Falls are mourning the loss of four members of the campus community.
In September, a professor of journalism died unexpectedly of natural causes. The obituaries of the three students say they all lost their battles with depression. Two of these students were from Minnesota. Last year, 43 percent of the student body came from Minnesota.
UW-Parkside is looking to eliminate about 50 jobs in the coming months, either through layoffs or voluntary retirements, the latest Universities of Wisconsin school to slash staffing to make up for projected budget shortfalls.
Just like in Richland Center a year ago, the latest communities to lose a UW system branch campus are uncertain what their campus will become and whether they’ll be stuck footing the bill for unused county buildings. There seems to be no established protocol for how counties can and should proceed when the UW system decides to cut its losses.
The institute plans to develop an internship and will collaborate with the University of Wisconsin and Auburn University in Alabama, which are developing similar institutes.
The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents unanimously voted to end a policy requiring universities to consult with students before setting university and program-specific tuition adjustments during a Thursday meeting at UW-Madison.
Layoffs and budget cuts have taken a decidedly serious toll for some students, staff and professors at the University of Wisconsin System campuses. “My fellow student was telling us about how sometimes her professor would tear up” in front of the class, said Chris Parish, a UW-Oshkosh junior. They’d say “‘I just need a minute because it can just be so overwhelming.’”
For the first time since 2014, enrollment at the Universities of Wisconsin grew over the previous year, climbing by more than 1,700 students, according to the official 10-day enrollment figures announced this week.
The University of Wisconsin system is ending a policy requiring schools to consult with students when seeking to raise tuition for specific programs.
The Regents unanimously approved the policy change at a board meeting Thursday.
The University of Wisconsin-Parkside projects cutting about 9.5% of its workforce positions over the next year, joining the ranks of two other public universities making significant cuts to balance their budgets.
This fall, the Universities of Wisconsin saw its first growth in enrollment since 2014.
According to official 10-day enrollment figures, enrollment increased by more than 1,700 students. This brought the Universities of Wisconsin total enrollment to 162,528, which is a 1.1% increase from last year’s enrollment.
The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay is considering discontinuing some programs, citing shifting student demands and budget constraints.
It’s the latest in a series of budget cutting moves by state colleges, and comes as the school said it’s the fastest-growing university in the state.
With 1,700 more students that last year, UW system enrollment grew by 1.1% to about 162,500 students. These are the official numbers, based on the system’s 10-day enrollment count, that are reported to the federal Department of Education.
Assembly Republicans passed two bills Tuesday that would ban the consideration of race in some college financial aid programs and would hold higher education institutions financially liable for violating a person’s free speech.
Under the bill, which passed 63-34 in the Assembly, state high schoolers who graduate in the top 10% of their class would be guaranteed admission to UW schools. Those in the top 5% would be guaranteed admission to UW-Madison.
The bill would allow high school students in the top 10% of their class to receive guaranteed admission to a Universities of Wisconsin institution or technical college of the applicant’s choice, with the top 5% guaranteed spot at UW-Madison.
WISCONSIN NEWS Wisconsin Assembly to pass Republican bill banning race, diversity factors in financial aid for UWNOVEMBER 7, 2023 / 3:29 PM CST / APThe Republican-controlled Wisconsin Assembly was scheduled to pass a bill Tuesday that would ban Universities of Wisconsin officials from considering race and diversity when awarding state-funded financial aid.
A spokesperson from the University of Wisconsin at Madison told The Badger Herald, a campus newspaper, that “we have asked our registrar’s office to carefully review the academic calendar in all future years to identify potential religious conflicts well in advance so that we can make changes when appropriate.”
People looking to become special education teachers in Milwaukee have a new paid opportunity to do so.
UW-Madison is partnering with Milwaukee Public Schools on a Special Education Teacher Residency program.
Assembly lawmakers on Tuesday approved a wide range of proposals that would affect higher education in the state, including an automatic-admission policy for the flagship campus at the Universities of Wisconsin and standardized rules around free speech on state campuses, which Republicans argued would expand intellectual diversity and Democrats warned would have a chilling effect.
The UW–Madison Special Education Teacher Residency Program comes with a commitment: three years working in MPS after finishing the master’s. Those teachers continue receiving mentorship and guidance for at least the first two years of teaching after finishing the degree.
The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Assembly passed a bill Tuesday that would ban Universities of Wisconsin officials from considering race and diversity when awarding state-funded financial aid.
Assembly Republicans have voted to bar University of Wisconsin system officials from considering race when deciding how to distribute publicly funded financial aid to students, setting up a likely veto by Gov. Tony Evers.
The bill, which passed 62-35 along party lines Tuesday, seeks to eliminate race-based criteria for college scholarships, grants and loan programs.
The Assembly passed a Republican bill Tuesday to guarantee admission to Universities of Wisconsin schools for the top 10% of Wisconsin high school graduates and guarantee UW-Madison admission for the top 5% of high school graduates.
Public universities and colleges in Wisconsin could be liable for up to $100,000 in damages if they have been found by a judge to have violated a person’s right to free speech under legislation the Republican-led Assembly passed Tuesday.
Class is in session, but the student commons at UW-Oshkosh at Fond du Lac is barren and deathly quiet. The library’s lights, set on timers, have turned themselves off as only one person studies at a table along the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers announced last week he was suing legislative Republicans, in part because they blocked raises for University of Wisconsin System employees.
Higher education officials would be prohibited from factoring in race when considering grants, loans and student retention plans, and public universities and colleges could be liable for up to $100,000 in damages if they have been found by a judge to have violated a person’s right to free speech, under legislation the Republican-led Assembly will take up Tuesday.
It is uncertain whether the funding will be approved by the Legislature’s budget-writing committee after Assembly Speaker Robin Vos’ repeated attempts to eliminate DEI efforts.
Announced Monday, the proposal splits the $32 million among the system’s 13 four-year schools. All schools would use the funding toward educating students in engineering, nursing/health care, business/finance and computer/data science.
The Universities of Wisconsin on Monday proposed using $32 million the Legislature withheld earlier this year over the UW system’s refusal to eliminate its diversity, equity and inclusion programs to expand training in several high-demand fields at 13 schools in the UW system.
A campaign launched this week by the Wisconsin Alumni Association, a nonprofit arm of UW-Madison that facilitates much of its fundraising efforts, is encouraging business leaders and others around the state to contact their legislators and push them to take up legislation to construct a new engineering building.
Editor’s note: This is the final chapter of a 5-part series in which former University of Wisconsin System President Tommy Thompson and Vice President Jim Langdon reflect on their experience guiding the system though the COVID-19 pandemic.
Universities of Wisconsin (UW) administrators are telling their employees that they are advocating for the release of pay raises currently withheld by Republicans in the state Legislature.
