Most students who responded to a survey about free speech on University of Wisconsin campuses said they’re afraid to express their views on controversial topics in class because they fear other students won’t agree or it could hurt their grades, according to findings released Wednesday.
(PHOTO CAPTION) The TikTok app logo is pictured in Tokyo, Sept. 28, 2020. University of Wisconsin System officials said Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, that they will restrict the use of TikTok on system devices.
Meanwhile, the law schools at Gonzaga University, Seattle University and the University of Wisconsin at Madison announced that they will not participate in the law school rankings. Wisconsin dean Dan Tokaji said, “The ranking contravenes UW Law’s mission of providing an outstanding legal education at an accessible price so our graduates can pursue any career path they choose” and “The ranking undermines UW Law’s core value of equal access to the legal profession by penalizing schools in states that allow licensure without the bar exam.”
The University of Wisconsin Law School won’t participate in this year’s U.S. News & World Report rankings, a decision made in protest of how the magazine prioritizes metrics that the school says conflict with its underlying values of accessibility and affordability.
The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Fox Cities cafeteria needs an upgrade, and the two counties that jointly own the campus buildings had planned to put up $2 million each for the renovation project this year.
But then the news about UW-Platteville Richland hit late last fall. With just 60 degree-seeking students, the southwestern Wisconsin campus had reached the point where enrollment could no longer justify its traditional existence. The UW System said this spring semester will be the last for in-person degree programs.
The listening session Thursday was a forum in which community members could share ideas on how to revive the Richland Center campus, or at least keep it on life support. And while speakers offered suggestions on how to keep a presence at campus, they also at times directed their frustrations at state Rep. Tony Kurtz, state Sen. Howard Marklein and University of Wisconsin System Vice President for University Relations Jeff Buhrandt.
Jermika Jackson believes her son is destined for greatness. From a young age, D’Marion Jackson seemed wise beyond his years. He was a voracious reader who quickly finished handfuls of library books.
He is now a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and that was made possible by the college’s in-state tuition guarantee. D’Marion is one of about 800 freshmen receiving Bucky’s Tuition Promise.
When, how limitations will be carried out is unclear.
The University of Wisconsin System is banning use of the popular social media app TikTok on UW-owned devices, a spokesperson said Tuesday.
The decision comes about 10 days after Gov. Tony Evers signed an executive order banning the TikTok app on most state-issued devices. The mandate applied only to the executive branch, which consists of most of the state’s agencies but not the UW System.
University of Wisconsin System officials said Tuesday that they will ban the use of TikTok on system devices.
System spokesman Mark Pitsch told The Associated Press about the move in an email on Tuesday. He did not explain whether the system was banning the use of the app or limiting its use to only certain situations.
Letter to the editor: The state reportedly has a hefty surplus. Yet no one can find the money to give the students and faculty of UW-Platteville Richland a couple of years warning about their future. Typical, I guess, but puzzling.
The UW System Board of Regents unanimously approved King’s appointment as chancellor Thursday, following a recommendation from a selection committee. The board’s pick brings an end to the nearly two-year search, which included input from a 12-member group of regents, students, faculty, staff and community representatives.
Corey King will be the third permanent chancellor in five years to lead the 11,000-student institution. King is the vice chancellor for university inclusivity and student affairs at UW-Green Bay.
UW-Platteville administrators are pledging to work with University of Wisconsin System administration and Richland County officials to find a use for the Richland Center campus, which is set to end in-person instruction July 1.
More than a hundred people packed into a small Richland Center room to beg lawmakers for action in the ongoing effort to keep the University of Wisconsin’s Richland campus open.
In a listening session with state legislators Monday, UW-Platteville at Richland students and supporters pushed back against the UW System’s decision to close the area’s branch campus.
UW-Platteville’s Richland campus would lose all in-person programming under a draft plan Platteville administrators drew up at the request of University of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman.
One City was authorized by the University of Wisconsin System Office of Educational Opportunity.
Noted: Controversy exploded in August, when the association’s president, James H. Sweet, a leading historian of the African diaspora at the University of Wisconsin, published a column in its magazine called “Is History History?,” which lamented a “trend toward presentism” and a troubling politicization of scholarship.
The study of pre-modern history, Sweet wrote, is shrinking, while scholars of all periods increasingly question whether work that doesn’t focus on “contemporary social justice issues” like race, gender and capitalism really matters. “The allure of political relevance, facilitated by social and other media,” he argued, has encouraged “a predictable sameness” that misses the messiness and complexity of the past.
Noted: In a letter to North Shore Classical Academy officials, Vanessa Moran, the University of Wisconsin System’s Office of Educational Opportunity director, said the school’s application “was lacking the necessary detail in each of the five sections of the application to demonstrate that the school would be able to open successfully.”
Noted: Representing themselves as a member of the Indigenous community benefited LeClaire in many ways. In March, they began a 10-month paid residency at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where they helped students and staff “understand the stakes of cultural appropriation for Indigenous communities.”
Written by Matthew T. Hora, an associate professor of adult and higher education and co-director of the Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
As most University of Wisconsin System campuses grapple with consistent enrollment declines, some have increasingly relied on out-of-state students to fill the gap. That’s brought in more tuition revenue along with some concerns about limited access for state residents.
On the evening of July 12, 1893, in the hall of a massive new Beaux-Arts building that would soon house the Art Institute of Chicago, a young professor named Frederick Jackson Turner rose to present what would become the most influential essay in the study of U.S. history.
It was getting late. The lecture hall was stifling from a day of blazing sun, which had tormented the throngs visiting the nearby Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition, a carnival of never-before-seen wonders, like a fully illuminated electric city and George Ferris’ 264-foot-tall rotating observation wheel. Many of the hundred or so historians attending the conference, a meeting of the American Historical Association (AHA), were dazed and dusty from an afternoon spent watching Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show at a stadium near the fairground’s gates. They had already sat through three other speeches. Some may have been dozing off as the thin, 31-year-old associate professor from the University of Wisconsin in nearby Madison began his remarks.
Noted: I was interviewed for a Forbes article with the title “A Computer Can Now Write Your College Essay—Maybe Better Than You Can.” Forbes fed ChatGPT two college essay prompts, one the 650-word Common Application prompt—“Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story”—and the other the “Why Wisconsin?” essay from the University of Wisconsin at Madison supplement. According to the article, each essay took ChatGPT less than 10 minutes to complete. That is both far less time than we hope students would spend composing essays and far more time than most admissions officers spend reading essays.
Wisconsin will join the growing list of states to ban the use of the popular social media site TikTok on all state-issued devices over cybersecurity concerns.
Gov. Tony Evers said Friday he would issue an executive order by early next week. As of Friday, it wasn’t immediately clear what the executive order would include or if the University of Wisconsin System would have to abide by the TikTok ban
Noted: Soaring prices for cattle, land, and everything else, have made it difficult for someone to get started in dairy farming.
And soon there will be one fewer educational resource available as University of Wisconsin-Madison shuts down its School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers, which has graduated around 600 budding farmers since the 1990s.
The non-degree program has offered instruction in what’s called “grazing,” a type of dairy farming where cows graze on pastures for most of their food rather than consuming a diet of grain and spending most of their time indoors. In addition to classroom instruction, the program has offered on-farm internships, business planning assistance and mentoring.
We have multiple attributes valuable to higher education. The campus is located in a beautiful environment that supports the Wisconsin Idea, exemplifying how all colleges could be revived and offer what the regents want: affordability and accessibility.
Gov. Tony Evers offered insight into the upcoming budget process and project initiatives to look forward to in 2023.
Hillel International has gotten into the fight against antisemitism in the University of Wisconsin system, enrolling administrators in a free educational program and presenting to the UW System Board of Regents.
It’s not clear if there has been a speaker before at a board of regents, on antisemitism, at a large public university anywhere. If so, it’s likely a rarity.
“We were pleased to provide Hillel the opportunity to address the board,” said Mark Pitsch, spokesman for the UW-System. “It’s critical we identify issues so we can educate and sensitize our university communities to these issues.”
Four University of Wisconsin System universities misspent a total of $239,000 in federal COVID-19 relief money, directing the cash to consultants, online maps and student entertainment, according to the Legislative Audit Bureau.
System administrators dispute some of the findings, however.
The report by the Legislature’s nonpartisan audit bureau found UW-La Crosse, UW-Superior, UW-Platteville and UW-Stevens Point all misspent federal relief funds in the 2021-22 fiscal year.
University of Wisconsin System schools have been asked to consult a central calendar and minimize conflicts with major religious holidays, under a new policy adopted in the wake of a conflict between Rosh Hashanah and the first day of school.
The new University of Wisconsin System policy, approved Nov. 9, 2022, comes after two years of discussion between Jewish groups and university officials.
UW-Madison has its own slate of issues. There, a growing population is pitted against on- and off-campus housing availability. I wrote about the tactics used to clear returning students out of the dorms to make room for freshmen, and the frenzy that ensued as students put their lives on hold to secure housing for next fall.
In 2018, students called on UW-Madison to remove the name of Fredric March – a UW alum and one of Hollywood’s most celebrated stars in the 1930s and 40s – from a theater in Memorial Union.
That came after a UW-Madison study, commissioned in the wake of the 2017 white supremacist march in Charlottesville, examined the history of student organizations in the 1920s.
The University of Wisconsin System spent nearly $240,000 of federal COVID-19 relief money on expenses not allowed under federal criteria, a new nonpartisan state audit found.
The $239,200 in misspent funds identified by the Legislative Audit Bureau on Dec. 22 represent less than 1% of the $564 million that UW System received in federal money to help navigate through the pandemic.
The past 12 months in higher education have been filled with attention-grabbing headlines and news from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Those stories included protests, a professor winning the MacArthur “genius” grant and a mysterious case of toy soldiers appearing on campus.
John Karl Scholz, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, plans to step down and return to the faculty at the end of the 2022-23 academic year.
Linda Gentes ordered “Save our campus” buttons this fall to hand out around the University of Wisconsin campus in Richland Center. She was worried about her former employer and its future. With just 60 degree-seeking students enrolled this semester, she and others felt the need for a public awareness campaign to do something, anything, to turn the tide.
The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point unveiled a $10 million gift Thursday, the largest donation in the school’s history, which will help the institution elevate the profile of its business school and enroll more students.
An expert at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls hopes a new focus on humane handling of animals at slaughter facilities will help the meat industry build a more sustainable future.
UW-River Falls launched the new Humane Handling Institute at the end of October through funding from the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection’s Meat Talent Development program. Starting next fall, the program plans to offer five different 2.5-day workshops designed primarily for people already working in the meat industry. The topics focus on everything from the safe transport of animals to the operation and maintenance of equipment.
Noted: Less than three-percent of all current Wisconsin law students are Black women. According to 2022 numbers, there were 17 Black women enrolled at Marquette Law School (out of 594 total students.) There were 16 (out of 757 students) at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
A statue honoring Vel Phillips, the first Black woman to graduate from University of Wisconsin Law School in 1951, is currently under construction for the corner of West Main and South Carroll at the Wisconsin State Capitol (across from the Park Hotel.) Vel broke the state’s color barrier in 1971, when she was named to the Milwaukee County bench as Wisconsin’s first Black female judge. She was also the first woman elected to the Common Council of Milwaukee (in 1956) and the first African American elected Secretary of State in 1978.
Mabel Watson Raimey became the first Black woman to earn a Bachelor’s degree from UW-Madison in 1918, but was fired from her teaching job after her employer found out she was Black (she had white ancestors, so people often assumed she was, too). Mabel then enrolled in Marquette Law School, where she was the first Black woman to attend, and later, the state’s first Black female attorney.
Aaron Bird Bear, UW-Madison’s tribal relations director, is retiring. He joins us to reflect on his 22 years on campus in that role and others.
As opioid deaths surge in Wisconsin, a growing number of universities are making the overdose reversal drug naloxone publicly available in dormitories and other campus buildings.
This fall, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, UW-Milwaukee, UW-La Crosse, UW-Eau Claire and UW-Parkside installed opioid overdose rescue kits called “Nalox-ZONE” boxes aimed at preventing opioid overdose deaths. They join UW-Oshkosh, which installed the boxes in late 2021.
Students and faculty point to other issues that they say started soon after regionalization and restructuring; this is when UW-Platteville acquired the campus in 2018 and several administration positions at UW-Richland were either eliminated or outsourced. It’s also the same time period that enrollment began to decline.
University of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman recently contributed to the coming demise of Richland Center. He has effectively closed a two-year campus that has been in Richland Center for over 50 years. It has been a cultural hub, a financial asset and a source of great pride.
Chancellor Mnookin’s pay raised to $765,000.
Dear Editor: Jay Rothman, president of the UW Board of Regents, recently contributed to the coming demise of Richland Center. How? He has effectively closed a two-year campus that has been a mainstay in Richland Center for over 50 years. It has been a cultural hub, a financial asset, a source of great pride.
Noted: Just this month, the University of Wisconsin-Madison broke ground on a new on-campus housing facility that will contain 142 units with a total capacity of 536 residents in rooms ranging from one to five beds.
By this time next fall, the University of Wisconsin System’s smallest campus will cease to exist in its current form.
In-person degree programs at UW-Platteville Richland will end July 1. The 60 students enrolled this fall can transfer to another campus or end their academic pursuits. The two dozen employees who still work there might have a job elsewhere within UW, but there’s been no assurances offered.
New University of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman was confronted Thursday with the real human cost of his decision to end in-person degree programs at the Richland Center campus.
About a dozen students, or roughly 20% of the 60-person student body at UW-Platteville Richland, delivered a petition to Rothman at the UW Board of Regents meeting that was signed by nearly 1,400 individuals pleading for the campus to be saved.
The UW Board of Regents on Friday handed out 2% raises to nearly all University of Wisconsin System chancellors, which is in line with 2% salary increases taking effect for all UW employees at the start of 2023.
Students at UW-Platteville’s Richland Center campus and community leaders on Thursday petitioned University of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman to reverse his decision to end in-person instruction at the campus.
Ahead of a Thursday Board of Regents meeting at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, 11 students from UW-Platteville Richland Center handed a petition to UW System President Jay Rothman in an effort to save their campus.
The University of Wisconsin System’s budget request also includes proposed funding for staff pay increases, diversity efforts, Title IX compliance, sustainability and student mental health programs.
The WPF analysis also noted that funding budget requests from the UW System and the Wisconsin Technical College System would cost about $377 million. Increasing general K-12 school aids by 1% in each year of the budget would cost about $157 million, and increasing shared revenue to local governments by 1% in each year would cost about $25 million.
Dear Editor: Wisconsin’s projected surplus of $6.5 billion is an opportunity to realize Wisconsin values.
The University of Wisconsin is also valued by citizens. The surplus must support at least an inflationary budget increase, offsetting a continued freeze in undergraduate tuition. The UW educates thousands, supports businesses and farmers statewide, and its research and knowledgeable graduates are valuable to businesses.
Rumors had spread that the Richland Center campus would cease its degree programs in 2025, but Bell thought he would just squeeze in, completing his degree by spring 2024.
However, University of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman’s decision last week to ax in-person classes at the Richland Center campus, starting July 1, upended Bell’s current and future career plans.
“When we found out about this news, it was really abrupt and devastating, sophomore Jackson Kinney said. “‘No one was really expecting this to happen.”
The cancellation of in-person classes at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville’s Richland campus next year” should not be read” as a cautionary tale for other branch campuses.
That’s according to UW System President Jay Rothman, who appeared on Wisconsin Public Radio’s “The Morning Show” Thursday. He said the decision was “based on facts” specific to that location.
