On Monday, the administration said about 70% of the more than 30,000 executive branch employees were at least partially vaccinated as of Friday. Executive branch employees don’t include the University of Wisconsin System or local school districts.
Then-Gov. Tommy Thompson, a Republican, picked Vos to serve as a student representative on the University of Wisconsin’s board of trustees. Vos was also college roommates with Reince Priebus, who later became chair of the Republican National Committee and Trump’s first White House chief of staff. Priebus didn’t respond to inquiries about Vos.
The University of Wisconsin System and the University System of Georgia have consolidated some of their two- and four-year institutions in recent years. But consolidation is rare in higher ed. Given the rising cost of trying to be all things to all people, universities have to form centers of excellence via regional partnerships.
State Sen. Steve Nass has officially asked the Legislature’s Republican leaders to sue the University of Wisconsin System after system officials refused to submit their COVID-19 protocols to his committee for approval.
It didn’t generate nearly as much attention, but Jordan had a separate tweet yesterday featuring recent footage from a University of Wisconsin football game. The video showed celebrating fans, nearly all of whom were standing side by side without masks, packed into a stadium.
At one such game, University of Wisconsin’s home opener against Penn State, no vaccination proof or negative test was required. Masks were required indoors but only “strongly encouraged” in outdoor spaces. More than 76,000 people attended. The Madison, Wisconsin, metro area, home to more than 660,000 people has seen a steady increase in cases since mid-July and a positive test rate of 3.4 percent, according to Public Health Madison and Dane County.
Sen. Steve Nass officially asked the Legislature’s Republican leaders Tuesday to sue the University of Wisconsin System after system officials refused to submit their COVID-19 protocols to his committee for approval.
UW-Whitewater is hoping to help students and community members capitalize on the extension of the $100 COVID vaccine gift card benefit.
State Senator Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) is requesting legislative leadership take legal action against the UW System for refusing to comply with rules regarding COVID-19 mandates.
Interim UW System president Tommy Thompson visited UW-Oshkosh on Tuesday, where he thanked students for getting vaccinated for COVID-19 and encouraged the unvaccinated to get a shot.
On Tuesday, state Sen. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) formally sent a letter to Senate Maj. Leader Devin LeMahieu and Speaker Robin Vos, asking them sue UW System to determine if university administrators need legislative approval to enact any COVID-19 restrictions.
#54. University of Wisconsin-Madison- 40-year NPV: $1,178,000- 10-year NPV: $125,000- Graduation rate: 86%- Median debt: $19,639
Republicans already appeared divided over how far to go in confronting the University of Wisconsin System — specifically former Governor Tommy Thompson — over setting its COVID-19 policies.
The University of Wisconsin System could soon face a lawsuit filed by the Wisconsin legislature over whether university administrators or an Assembly committee have the final say over mask and vaccine restrictions on the UW campuses.
Sen. Robert Cowles issued a statement Thursday saying he wouldn’t support a legal challenge. He said tying the system’s hands isn’t in the best interests of local communities or businesses.
UW-Madison reported on Thursday that nine out of every 10 members of the campus community are fully vaccinated — even without mandating students and employees to get the shot. “I’m proud of our students and employees for taking this important step to protect themselves and others,” Chancellor Rebecca Blank said in an announcement. “And I’m grateful to our staff, who worked tirelessly to achieve these results.”
Former Wisconsin governor, and national health secretary under President George W. Bush, Tommy Thompson is now at the helm of the UW System as interim president. Thompson recently kicked off a tour that will include stops at all the campuses this fall to urge students to get vaccinated.
Fewer students transferred between colleges over the 2020-2021 school year, and new data show that trends in who is transferring between colleges — and where they’re going — may be exacerbating existing inequity.
The UW Board of Regents may allow more campus community members to serve on chancellor search committees, potentially relaxing a rigid and controversial policy that faculty viewed as restricting their input on a critical task.
More than 1,000 nursing and pharmacy students took advantage of this opportunity during the 2020-21 academic year.
he credit is provided by funding from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
The embattled chairman of the Natural Resources Board sought and received counsel from aides to Republican state Senate leadership on his decision to not vacate his seat at the end of his six-year term in May, emails show — contrary to claims he hadn’t.
Frederick Prehn solicited advice from and shared information with several people since May, according to documents obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, including Madison lobbyist Scott Meyer, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, and former University of Wisconsin Regent Gerald Whitburn.
Letter to the editor: Before people nominate UW System President Tommy Thompson for a “Profiles in Courage” award for his refusal to let the Legislature in effect run the UW System, let’s consider the following. If Thompson is correct that UW has the right to determine how to manage its own health policy (which I strongly suspect he is), he is simply doing his job by refusing to let legislators like Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, dictate whether mask or vaccine mandates can be used.
Faculty members at the University of Wisconsin at Madison are questioning whether it is possible for anyone to get permission to teach online, The Wisconsin State Journal reported.
At the height of the pandemic last year, half of all internship opportunities had been canceled, according to job site Glassdoor. The ones that weren’t canceled were mostly virtual and some were unpaid. By spring 2021, just 22% of students said they’d had an internship during the school year and only half of those said they were in-person, according to research from the Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Video: UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank details the university’s plans to combat a likely increase in COVID cases on campus due to the highly-contagious delta variant with in-person classes starting September.
The Assembly Majority Leader said Thursday he is not on board with suing the University of Wisconsin System over control of its COVID-19 policies, as one Republican senator has called on legislative leaders to do.
Wisconsin needs more Tommy Thompson and less Steve Nass.
Thompson, the former Republican governor, put his foot down this week when a meddlesome group from his own party tried to tell him how to run the University of Wisconsin System.
Alverno College announced Thursday that all students, staff and faculty must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Nov. 1.
UW System interim President Tommy Thompson said Thursday he doesn’t plan to seek the job on a permanent basis, estimating about six months before he leaves the post.
The second-highest ranking member of the state Assembly said Thursday he does not support suing the University of Wisconsin System to control campuses’ COVID-19 policies, an idea pitched by a fellow Republican earlier this week to legislative leaders.
University of Wisconsin System President Tommy Thompson pushed back Tuesday against Republican lawmakers who claim campuses need their permission to implement COVID-19 policies.
UW System interim President Tommy Thompson won’t be deterred by Republican lawmakers who say he needs their approval to enact COVID-19 regulations on campuses, he said Tuesday.
The University of Wisconsin System will not cooperate with legislative efforts to control campuses’ COVID-19 policies, interim System President Tommy Thompson said Tuesday in his strongest rebuke of Republicans to date.
Column by interim UW System president Thomnpson: The University of Wisconsin System owns a critical responsibility to open our classrooms this September to deliver the in-person education students deserve and parents expect. And we are planning to do just that. Unfortunately, some want us to ignore our unambiguous authority and duty under Wisconsin law to protect the “health, safety, and welfare of the university.”
As the fall semester approaches, more Wisconsin universities and colleges are looking at ways to reduce debt that could keep students from continuing their education.
Officials at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee announced Friday they had forgiven more than $5 million in outstanding balances owed by students from the 2020-21 school year.
University of Wisconsin System interim President Tommy Thompson says he will not comply with an order from Republican state lawmakers to submit COVID-19 safety restrictions and requirements for their approval. Thompson said he doesn’t think the state Legislature will sue over the matter but said if it goes to court he’s confident the UW will win.
Republican leaders have said they’ll be filing a lawsuit in an attempt to force UW and the former Republican governor to comply.
A defiant Thompson said repeatedly during a call with statewide media he believed the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules (JCRAR), which sets policy for state agencies, does not have the legal authority to dictate how the university system enacts rules that address campus safety.
The war of words between the University of Wisconsin System and a Republican lawmaker heated up Tuesday after System President Tommy Thompson told lawmakers to “get out of my way.”
University of Wisconsin, MadisonTuition cost for Gen X (adjusted to 2021 dollars): $3,094Tuition cost for Gen Z: $10,766Percent increase in cost: 248%
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee became the latest college to wipe out millions of dollars in student bills Friday, leveraging federal COVID-19 stimulus funds to pay off outstanding student debt incurred during the pandemic.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison announced a weekly COVID-19 testing requirement Wednesday for all students and employees who do not show proof of vaccination against COVID-19.
The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents last month fired a UW-Stout engineering professor for failing to wear a mask while on campus last year, according to documents obtained by the Wisconsin State Journal.
When I had an opportunity to become vaccinated against COVID-19 last spring, I didn’t hesitate. The vaccine clearly was the best way for me to protect myself and the people I care about from death or hospitalization due to COVID. I was also eager to do my part to help our society beat back this insidious disease.
Zashary Torres, a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, tried to study abroad in Barcelona in January.
COVID-19 pushed it back to this fall.
Now, he’s set to arrives in Spain on Sept. 1, despite Spain’s “Level 4: Do Not Travel” advisory.
Every University of Wisconsin System campus in the state has instituted mask requirements or expectations for individuals regardless of their vaccination status as the number of new coronavirus cases rises. The measures come amid an effort by Republican lawmakers to block COVID-19 restrictions at universities.
The Wisconsin state budget is an excruciatingly complicated document that takes your state and federal tax dollars and spends them on programs like food assistance for poor residents, projects like county highway repairs and public employees like school teachers.
Quoted: “Teachers do not deliberately set out to make students feel bad about themselves. The problem this bill seems to identify, that Wisconsin’s teachers intentionally or otherwise want to make students feel bad, is simply not real,” said Jeremy Stoddard, a University of Wisconsin-Madison curriculum and instruction professor.
“What I fear is that if it becomes law, it will have a chilling effect inhibiting teachers from teaching a full account of history.”
This August, faculty, staff, and more than 160,000 students at the 13 University of Wisconsin campuses are hard at work, getting ready for a new academic year. Wisconsinites are justifiably proud of the UW System, and with good reason. Our public university system, built on the foundation of the Wisconsin Idea, truly serves every corner of the state.
But the System has so far resisted those calls, taking the same position that the majority of other colleges have in strongly encouraging but stopping short of requiring that students get the shots. Many UW campuses are instead offering incentives such as laptops, gift cards and tickets to sporting events.
Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, is insisting that universities seek approval from him and a handful of his skeptical colleagues for masking, vaccine and testing requirements on state campuses. Never mind that University of Wisconsin System schools have adopted and adjusted similar rules for more than a year now, which helped control COVID-19 among students, staff and surrounding communities.
Peanut butter sandwiches and canned foods.
That’s what made up most of the diet of one student in the first year of professional school at UW-Madison.
Fresh fruit and vegetables were too expensive; time to prepare much of anything nutritious was impossible.
The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, UW-Stout and UW-La Crosse have announced they “expect” employees, students and guests to wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status, stopping short of reinstating a requirement as two other UW schools have.
Both colleges said the face covering requirement will remain in place until further notice and cited increased community transmission rates as their reason to return to the mask requirement.
Despite a state legislative committee’s determination that it could overrule COVID-19 restrictions issued by the UW System, the chancellor of its Milwaukee campus told faculty and staff Thursday that the UW System has affirmed the schools’ authority to enact these precautions. UW Milwaukee Chancellor Mark Mone stated Thursday that his university will keep its mask and testing mandates in place to keep its students safe against the coronavirus.
A top university official in Wisconsin is butting heads with state Republican legislators over who has the authority to impose COVID-19 restrictions on campus.
Just hours after a Wisconsin state legislature committee on Tuesday required all University of Wisconsin schools to receive permission before issuing new coronavirus guidance, University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank reinstated her campus’s indoor mask mandate.
State employees will have to wear face masks starting Thursday because of a surge in coronavirus cases, Wisconsin officials announced Wednesday.
The move came shortly after the two largest University of Wisconsin schools, in Madison and Milwaukee, put in place their own mask requirements. The policies are being enacted as the delta variant of COVID springs up around the world, including among those who have been fully vaccinated.
Branches of the University of Wisconsin and school districts in Arizona and Florida are ordering students and staff to wear masks indoors in spite of statewide regulations and laws that prohibit them from doing so, as the Delta variant’s rapid spread sparks new showdowns over mask orders between state and local governments nationwide.
