Category: Higher Education/System

The University of Wisconsin System and UW-Madison have not kept pace with their peers nationally in key funding areas due to the state’s tuition freeze, stagnant funding and declining enrollments over the past decade, according to a new Wisconsin Policy Forum report.

At the end of one of the most tumultuous semesters in the history of the University of Wisconsin System, Board of Regents President Drew Petersen says he “couldn’t be happier” with the performance of the system’s colleges amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

UW System President Tommy Thompson says surge testing on system campuses is helping the entire state of Wisconsin.

Freezing tuition at the University of Wisconsin without adding more state funding to offset the loss has contributed to the system falling behind its peers and hurting its competitiveness, according to a report by the Wisconsin Policy Forum released Tuesday.

Some of the causes of the revenue declines, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum, include shifts in how Wisconsin funds the University of Wisconsin System and the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS).

The University of Wisconsin System President Tommy Thompson announced additional details today about incentives to UW students with nursing skills and other health backgrounds to work on the front lines of Wisconsin’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. These include qualifying criteria, deadlines and how students can apply.

According to a news release, the program is open to all students who are currently employed or become employed in a Wisconsin clinical or health care setting.

The University of Wisconsin System announced Friday that its campuses would expand COVID-19 testing for the spring semester, including new requirements for students who live off campus, faculty and staff.

A majority of University of Wisconsin campuses hope a decision to waive application fees for the next two years will open doors for lower-income students and fill seats at a time when many universities are struggling to increase enrollment.

UW System residential undergraduate students will be tested for COVID-19 at least once per week during the spring 2021 semester, UW System President Tommy Thompson announced Friday.

On Dec. 10, the UW System Board of Regents will meet to vote on an employee compensation increase proposed by UW System officials. The payment plan directly targets two upcoming fiscal years, during which salaries will be raised by 2 and 2.5 percent if the plan successfully passes through the legislative process.

The University of Wisconsin System COVID-19 surge testing sites will operate at least until Christmas, System President Tommy Thompson announced Monday.

University of Wisconsin System Interim President Tommy Thompson says he wants to transform one of the state’s prisons into a college for inmates.

A growing number of University of Wisconsin System campuses are canceling spring break in hopes of preventing outbreaks of COVID-19. While most UW System schools are keeping spring break plans in place, administrators say that could change.

As COVID cases continue to overwhelm our hospitals, UW System Interim President Tommy Thompson said, “We have a terrible situation in Wisconsin.”

UW System President Tommy Thompson announced the new initiative Tuesday. The system’s roughly 4,000 nursing students will be able to receive a $500 tuition credit for working in hospitals and other health care settings over the winter break, along with helping to administer potential vaccines for COVID-19.

The UW System is giving nursing students an incentive to help our health care facilities. They can earn a $500 tuition credit for agreeing to work in hospitals and to help administer vaccines through the winter break. System President Tommy Thompson says this proposal is another example of the Wisconsin Idea in action.

A white anti-racism speaker was paid more than a black speaker at an annual University of Wisconsin-Madison Diversity Forum event.Robin DiAngelo, a white woman who authored the best-selling book, White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, was paid $12,750 to speak at the event. Austin Channing Brown, a black woman who was the other keynote speaker, was paid $7,500 for her appearance, according to receipts obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. No other speakers were paid for their appearances.

As those outbreaks continued, state and local governments cracked down, ordering students quarantined to campus, like at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, or asking colleges to send students home, like at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

By mid-September, counties with a significant population of college students were fueling the nation’s worst coronavirus outbreaks. As those outbreaks continued, state and local governments cracked down, ordering students quarantined to campus, like at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, or asking colleges to send students home, like at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Evers has used his powers to declare three public health emergencies this year. The first came March 12, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The second, issued July 30, led to the first mask mandate and came as COVID-19 cases were beginning to climb. And the third, declared on Sept. 22, extended the mask mandate as COVID-19 cases were surging on University of Wisconsin campuses.

A growing number of University of Wisconsin System campuses are moving classes online after the Thanksgiving break to prevent further spread of COVID-19, as hospitals around the state near capacity for new patients.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has worked with 13 UW System campuses to implement “surge testing” sites following a donation of 250,000 BinaxNOW rapid antigen tests from health care company Abbott.

With over 30,000 undergraduates, the University of Wisconsin-Madison is truly massive. In spite of that, the school breaks down into much more manageable groups, with students finding a home away from home on sports teams, in fraternities and sororities, or even in political activism; something the school is known for.

The two recipients of the award were Dalila Ricci of UW Madison and Rkia Talbi of UW Platteville. Ricci is planning to graduate in May 2021 with a degree in civil engineering while Talbi plans to graduate in December with a degree in mechanical engineering and a minor in French.

The Abbot BinaxNOW tests can provide results in 15 minutes, according to a press release from the UW System sent Wednesday.

“Our universities are perfectly positioned to help Wisconsin combat the spread of COVID-19,” said UW System President Tommy Thompson on Wednesday.

The University of Wisconsin System has been provided with 250,000 rapid-result COVID-19 tests as part of a new partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to establish surge testing sites on UW System campuses.

UM is not the only U.S. university that offers online courses to their students in China. University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) is developing curriculum for how to academically succeed in a remote learning environment. The curriculum is to be offered in all 2020, John Lucas, executive director of University Communications at UW-Madison told Xinhua.

Furloughs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will continue for the first six months of 2021 to offset losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but Chancellor Rebecca Blank offered hope for next year, telling employees on Monday that “we expect to avoid the sort of dramatic cuts that many feared.”