At a time when American politics are increasingly polarized and partisan, the University of Wisconsin-Madison is launching a new undergraduate major focused on working across those divides to create evidence-based public policy.
Researchers with a few more years of experience are more protected, but still facing setbacks. Fátima Sancheznieto is an associate researcher at the University of Wisconsin who studied biomedical sciences for her Ph.D., but now focuses on education and social science research. Before the Trump administration began cutting federal research funding, she was looking for faculty positions as an assistant professor — now she’s put that search on hold.
“You always have the — I don’t want to call it imposter syndrome, but — imposter phenomenon of, ‘Do I really belong here?’” Sancheznieto said. “When you start to notice maybe that you’re not getting as many job offers or career advancement opportunities and things like that — is it because I’m out and transgender?”
The University of Wisconsin-Madison won the Big Ten “We Give Blood Drive” competition, earning $1 million that will go toward student or community health initiatives.
The competition, sponsored by Abbott, challenged all Big Ten schools to collect the most blood donations to help address the nationwide blood shortage.
For the first time in more than 40 years, the University of Wisconsin-Madison is launching a new college.
Approved by the UW Board of Regents on Thursday, the “College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence” is set to open in July.
“We see the new college as kind of the next step,” UW-Madison Interim Provost John Zumbrunnen said. “We envision it as a hub around computing, data and AI on our campus, but really beyond our campus too.”
The addition of general managers for football and men’s basketball teams contributed to a 15% increase in the total salary for University of Wisconsin athletics administrators this season compared to the year before.
The Badgers are paying 17 people with a title of athletic director, deputy athletic director or associate athletic director a total of nearly $5.1 million in the 2025-26 school year, according to salary information provided by the university through a public records request and the contract for AD Chris McIntosh.
Surrounded by tools and wires in his lab at UW-Madison, Luis Izet Escaño holds up a tiny object, 3D-printed with metal powder in a device he created. It’s a little product that could lead to something much bigger, and he’s crafted it through his startup company.
That effort is getting some help from a new program at UW-Madison, through which he gets some seed money from the university and one year of training, with the help of campus experts, to get his company out of the door and pitch it to real-world investors.
The University of Wisconsin won in the second season of Abbott and the Big Ten’s We Give Blood Drive, overcoming Nebraska in a close contest.
Running from Aug. 27 through Dec. 5, the “We Give Blood” competition, was announced at the 2025 Discover Big Ten Football Championship Game in Indianapolis.
More academic programs at Wisconsin’s public universities could be on the chopping block under a new metric campuses must use to monitor enrollment trends.
The Universities of Wisconsin, also known as the UW system, formed a taskforce last year to explore program cuts in response to declining enrollment and persistent financial pressures.
UW-Madison has the go-ahead to start a new College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence.
The UW Board of Regents on Thursday gave UW-Madison permission to move the School of Computer, Data and Information Sciences (CDIS) out of the College of Letters and Science and transform it into the new college.
The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents approved the reorganization of the School of Computer, Data and Information Sciences to create a new, standalone College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence during its December meeting on Thursday.
UW Board of Regents approved UW-Madison’s proposal to create a College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence (CAI), school officials announced on Thursday
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences (CDIS) will be reorganized into the College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence under a proposal approved by the UW Board of Regents Thursday.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison received approval to separate the school’s largest and fastest-growing majors into a new college focused on Artificial Intelligence and computing ahead of next fall.
The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents voted unanimously Thursday to authorize creation of a new College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence (CAI) at UW-Madison, the first new academic division since 1983, when UW-Madison created the School of Veterinary Medicine.
A series of federal and campus funding cuts have plunged the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s foreign language programs into financial uncertainty.
Last spring, UW-Madison regularly offered 31 different foreign languages through the fourth semester level, but now, the future of many lesser-taught languages are in limbo after the Trump administration withheld federal funding and university-ordered campus-wide budget cuts.
For the first time in 42 years, the University of Wisconsin-Madison will launch a new college.
In 1983, the college opened the School of Veterinary Medicine so students could learn how animals and humans relate.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is set to create a new college for the first time in more than 40 years.
The Board of Regents — which oversees UW-Madison and Wisconsin’s 12 other public universities — approved a proposal Thursday to establish the College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence.
This is one of those moments where I can really say I did walk a mile and trudge uphill in the snow to find out about a grade. I was an undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and when professors posted grades, it was on a sheet outside their office door, and since we didn’t have email, we just relied on when they said they might be posting the grades. It was common to arrive at the door and find that nothing was posted yet. We did not bang on the door, asking why it had taken a little longer. We didn’t march to the provost’s or president’s office and demand to talk to someone about our complaints. Instead, we walked back downhill, picked up a coffee, and headed home. A day or two later, we would try again. And if we had questions about those grades, we checked the syllabus for when the office hours were and planned to see the professor then.
John Miller, who previously served on the UW Board of Regents and several national boards and commissions, has been appointed secretary and CEO of the state’s top economic development agency, Gov. Tony Evers announced Wednesday.
Following the Trump Administration’s crackdown on higher education, University of Wisconsin-Madison administrators, student and faculty groups alike have stepped up lobbying efforts.
Lobbying reports from OpenSecrets show UW-Madison has spent $831,000 on lobbying since the beginning of the year, but information from the last quarter of the year has not been reported yet. During all of 2024, UW-Madison spent $807,000.
The leader of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Graduate School is anticipating another “cautious” admissions cycle for students seeking a spot on campus next school year.
Dean William Karpus’ remark at a campus meeting followed guidance he recently sent to the university’s graduate programs to help them prepare for fall 2026 enrollment.
A series of federal and campus funding cuts have plunged the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s foreign language programs into financial uncertainty.
Last spring, UW-Madison regularly offered 31 different foreign languages through the fourth semester level, but now, the future of many lesser-taught languages are in limbo after the Trump administration withheld federal funding and university-ordered campus-wide budget cuts.
Ono is an outlier whose career has been untraditional since the very beginning. As a child, pressure from his parents made him so miserable that he didn’t finish high school. Without a diploma, he still went to college, developed his passion for math and taught for decades at the University of Wisconsin and Emory before moving to UVA in 2019. He also led the nation’s top research program for elite undergraduates and mentored 10 winners of the Morgan Prize, including his new boss.
This State Journal editorial ran on Dec. 11, 1925:
It is probable that no street the length of Langdon Street in the state has dwelt so many significant people of the earlier period.
The sons and daughters of Langdon Street are known in the world’s affairs, and today are carrying on in many places. The ancestral homes have no special right to complain that, in the march of progress, they have been intruded upon.
The Badger Herald requested text messages and emails from university officials involved in the visa terminations issue in order to look at the inner workings of the university and, in particular, the communications department.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison wants to separate the school’s largest and fastest growing majors into a new college focused on Artificial Intelligence and computing.
The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents will vote Thursday on the creation of a new College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence at UW-Madison, meeting materials show.
UW-Madison is seeking to break its computer school out into a separate college that will focus on computing and artificial intelligence — a move the university says will position the institution as a leader in AI. The UW Board of Regents will vote Thursday on whether to move the UW-Madison School of Computer, Data, and Information Sciences (CDIS) out of the College of Letters and Science into a new College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence.
The massive terrace overlooking Lake Mendota sees about 800,000 visitors each year, and Memorial Union has about 3 million annually. Memorial Union says it’s one of the most visited destinations in the state.
Customers at the Union Terrace from Memorial Day to Labor Day bought about 68,000 cups of beer and more than 41,000 pitchers.
Chicago schools blow millions on travel while students can’t read, more violent threats appear on midwestern campus.
In fall 2026, UW-Madison will launch the state’s first undergraduate major in public policy. Students will be able to earn a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science in public policy from La Follette.
“Our point here is not to change anybody’s values, but to have students exercise their intellectual muscles to hear different points of view with the hope that when they enter into the workforce, they will be more amenable and curious about other points of view,” said La Follette School Director Susan Webb Yackee. .
The Regents unanimously approved a seven-year extension with the apparel provider that contains a three-year mutual option in a special meeting Tuesday morning.
Some details of the extension emerged Monday morning when the Board of Regents posted an agenda for a special meeting Tuesday at which it gave unanimous approval. The total amount of cash and merchandise credit for Wisconsin is increasing from $96.75 million under the existing 10-year deal to $104.5 million over the next 10 years.
The contract, which has to be fully signed before it’s released in response to a public records request, is for seven years with a three-year mutual extension, but both Wisconsin and Under Armour were considering it a 10-year arrangement
The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents Nov. 19 approved two policy documents established in the 2025 Wisconsin Act 15, regarding general education requirements and teacher workloads, according to an update from UW News.
The proposed policy document regarding UW general education requirements aims to define the Core General Education Requirements for Universities of Wisconsin and the way they transfer between the different universities, according to the Board of Regents meeting notes.
A record number of degrees were disbursed among University of Wisconsin students last Spring. According to UW, 13,733 degrees were awarded to 13,663 recipients, the highest number in UW’s history. The number exceeded the previous year’s record total of more than 1,200 degrees, according to UW.
The competition has grown so much, in fact, that it’s too big for the five staff members of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association to handle. They’re now handing the reins to the Universities of Wisconsin, which has sponsored the event since its inception.
The games will be overseen by the university system’s Wisconsin Institute for Citizenship and Civil Dialogue, which will soon become the Office of Civic Engagement, said Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman. Separately, that office will host civic education workshops for teachers across the state over the next three years, funded by a $1.1 million grant through the U.S. Department of Education’s American History & Civics Seminars program.
Her older son, 20, is now studying computer science at Santa Clara University. Her younger one, 18, is a computer engineering student at the University of Wisconsin. In school, they played in a jazz band and cultivated their love for music. These are things, she believes, they couldn’t have had in China. Gao couldn’t spend the last year of her father’s life with him due to the pandemic, but, “I have no regrets,” she said. “Because I see my kids.”
The number of new international students at colleges and universities across the country fell 17%, according to the nonprofit Institute of International Education’s annual report released Monday from data collected from 825 U.S. higher education institutions, including UW-Madison.
The University of Wisconsin is seeking approval for an extension of its agreement with Under Armour to be the Badgers’ official apparel supplier.
The Board of Regents scheduled an 8 a.m. special meeting Tuesday to consider a seven-year extension through 2033 that carries a three-year option through 2036.
Students have criticized the changes, though. Members of the university’s student governing body say they are concerned about “the lack of clarity and transparency from university administration about the future of DEI at UW-Madison.”
The state budget passed this summer increased the UW system’s budget by $256 million but came with strings, including requiring all core general education courses be transferable between UW campuses and satisfy general education requirements at the receiving institution by fall 2026.
Universities of Wisconsin students will have an easier time transferring general education credits from one campus to another after the Board of Regents approved a new core general education policy this week.
A new collaboration between UW-Madison, Microsoft, and TitletownTech is set to boost scientific research in Wisconsin. The partnership will leverage advanced AI tools to help researchers tackle major challenges more efficiently.
The UW Board of Regents on Nov. 19 approved controversial changes to a teaching workload policy despite some criticism and concern from faculty.
Under the proposal, full-time instructors would be required to teach at least 24 credits every school year, or four three-credit classes each semester. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison and UW-Milwaukee, where professors are expected to produce more research, the minimum load is 12 credits per year, or two classes per semester.
The UW Board of Regents on Wednesday approved minimum teaching requirements for Universities of Wisconsin professors and a redesign of general education courses to make them easier to transfer between schools.
As John D. Wiley, former provost at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, correctly noted almost 20 years ago, “We are already seeing this very phenomenon of degree inflation, and it is being caused by the professions themselves! This is particularly problematic in the health professions, where, it seems, everyone wants to be called ‘doctor.’ I have no problem whatsoever with the professional societies and their accreditors telling us what a graduate must know to practice safely and professionally. I have a big problem, though, when they hand us what amounts to a master’s-level curriculum and tell us the resulting degree must be called a ‘doctor of X.’ This is a transparently self-interested ploy by the profession, and I see no conceivable argument that it is in the public interest. All it does is further confuse an already confusing array of degree names and titles, to no useful purpose.”
Experts also expressed concerns that the process of disseminating funding or services may change once they’re moved to other federal agencies. Nicholas Hillman, a professor in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says he wonders, for instance, if a college that is seeking funding from an OPE grant will now be asked different questions and will have to undergo a different review process, which could potentially create “additional hurdles” for colleges that are “already stretched pretty thin.”
Lawmakers also took up a measure to penalize the UW system and the state technical college system if they’re found to have violated the free speech rights of their students and staff. Another bill would require the UW system to drop any fees it levies for online-only classes. Both passed largely along party lines.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez discussed her support for increased funding for the University of Wisconsin System, saying tuition hikes are a “burden” for families in an interview with The Daily Cardinal Monday.
When lawmakers passed a new state budget this year, they approved a roughly $256 million increase in funding for Wisconsin’s 13 public universities. But that money came with strings attached, including new requirements for how much faculty need to teach.
A conservative nonprofit on Wednesday filed a complaint against UW-Madisonover a university policy intended to allow those on campus, such as transgender and gender-nonconforming students or visitors, to use the restroom of their choice.
“My work, in partnership with states and national nonprofit organizations, shows that direct admissions programs can not only increase students’ early-college going behaviors but also subsequently raise their college enrollment outcomes,” said Taylor Odle, a professor of education policy studies at the University of Wisconsin. “These benefits are particularly large for students of color, those who will be the first in their family to attend college, and those from lower-income communities. States who have implemented direct admissions also consistently report higher enrollment levels following implementation.”
National Nontraditional Student Week is in November. Once considered outliers, adult students are enrolling in larger numbers and bringing much-needed perspective to college campuses.
The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation will give nearly $207 million to UW-Madison and the Morgridge Institute for Research to boost research and future facility costs, the university announced Thursday.
About half as many students in the Universities of Wisconsin system are getting bachelor’s degrees in ethnic and gender studies as did at their peak in 2013.
Bachelor’s degrees focusing on gender and ethnic groups have been on a steady decline, from 157 in the 2012-13 school year to 67 in 2023-24, according to Universities of Wisconsin data reviewed by the Badger Institute. In the most recent school year, 2024-25, the total number rebounded slightly to 82.
UW system administrators went too far this fall with proposed changes to how general education course credits transfer, according to faculty and staff across the Universities of Wisconsin.
“It’s a clear overreach,” said Amy Lewis, an assistant professor of music at UW-Madison who co-leads the United Faculty & Academic Staff union on campus.
Dorota Grejner-Brzezińska a year ago stepped into a top role at UW-Madison with big plans to expand its billion-dollar research operation.
Then the executive orders poured in. Her plans had to change.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is testing out a new artificial intelligence chatbot that helps students practice civil discourse through simulated conversations and real-time feedback.
The pilot program, part of the university’s new Wisconsin Exchange: Pluralism in Practice initiative, launches this month in collaboration with the Institute for Citizens & Scholars. The AI-powered, voice-based tool allows students to choose topics they care about and engage in short conversations with AI partners that take opposing viewpoints.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Data Science Institution will invest in artificial intelligence through their Research, Innovation and Scholarly Excellence (RISE) program to improve studies around the new technology
This new initiative, called “RISE-AI,” already hired 35 employees and current staff, students and faculty. They aim to “become the guides for society” in navigating the rapidly-changing world of AI, conducting research about AI’s uses to explore issues relating to medicine, agriculture and communications.
As artificial intelligence rapidly advances, University of Wisconsin System universities are launching new majors and certificates to prepare students for an increasingly AI-driven workforce.
The programs aim to teach students how to use the technology ethically, practically and responsibly as the technology becomes more integrated into everyday life.
The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire started offering majors, certificates and minors in Artificial Intelligence this fall, while the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater has offered an AI-related certificate since as early as spring of 2022. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, engineering students have been able to add a capstone certificate in AI since April.
Last spring, UW-Madison awarded the largest number of degrees in the university’s history, the campus reported Wednesday.
The university awarded 13,733 degrees to 13,663 recipients. The total is 1,200 more degrees students earned the year prior.
After he graduates from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Drew Wesson hopes to begin a career in strategic communication, a field with higher-than-average job growth and earnings.
