Chuck Neinas, a longtime administrator in college athletics who was also a Wisconsin native and University of Wisconsin graduate, died Tuesday at 93.
College football ‘visionary,’ Wisconsin alum Chuck Neinas dies at 93
Wisconsin State Journal
Category: Higher Education/System
The Oscar Rennebohm Foundation marks $100 million for Madison
Madison Magazine
Oscar Rennebohm — who would go on to a magisterial career that included serving as Wisconsin governor and president of the UW-Madison Board of Regents — opened his first Madison pharmacy in 1925. There were eventually more than two dozen Rennebohm’s that were purchased by Walgreens in 1980.
Across the years, major beneficiaries have included the UW School of Nursing, Edgewood University, Access Community Health Centers, the Henry Vilas Zoo — the list is long.
Wisconsin’s 32 Most Influential Black Leaders for 2025, Part 2
Madison 365
Dr. Earlise Ward is faculty director for the Cancer Health Disparities Initiative (CHDI) and co-director of the T32 Primary Care Research Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. She conducts community-engaged clinical intervention research focused on African American adults’ mental health and culturally competent mental health services. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Baruch College, master’s degree in counseling and Brooklyn College and PhD in counseling psychology at UW-Madison.
Donald Dantzler is an alder for the City of Fitchburg, candidate for Dane County Board, and a Survey and Research Specialist for the Madison Metropolitan School District. He was previously faculty and adjunct faculty for UW-Whitewater, and has also worked as a research associate at Wisconsin’s Equity and Inclusion Laboratory and a project assistant for the UW System Administration Office of Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Success. He earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UW-Whitewater and is a doctoral candidate in the Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis program at UW-Madison.
Winter commencement speakers stress uncertainty, disruption and a wavering job market
The Daily Cardinal
On one of the coldest days of the year, 2,151 graduates packed into the Kohl Center Sunday to walk the stage and celebrate their UW-Madison graduation. The ceremony featured speeches from UW Regent and former American Family Insurance CEO Jack Salzwedel, Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin, keynote speaker Grace Vanderhei and student speaker Jeeva Premkumar.
UW-Madison students graduate in Winter Commencement
Spectrum News
More than a thousand students walked across the stage at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the 2025 Winter Commencement.
UW-Madison nursing, education students fear new federal loan limits could threaten their careers
Wisconsin State Journal
UW-Madison student Nai’Taija Williams McMorris is eyeing what’s next. Set to graduate from her nursing program next year, Williams McMorris aspires to enter the master’s program she needs to complete to become a nurse practitioner.
But new federal loan caps going into effect in July may reduce her and other Wisconsin students’ options to enter careers that require a graduate-level degree. The new law lowers the amount of money students seeking some advanced degrees, including nursing, can borrow in federal loans.
Wisconsin’s 32 Most Influential Black Leaders for 2025, Part 1
Madison 365
Maurice Thomas is chief operating officer at Greater Holy Temple Christian Academy, a 4k-8th grade Christian school in Milwaukee. He is an alum of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and expects to earn a master’s degree in education leadership from Harvard in 2027.
Jerry Jordan is a nationally-known painter working in the style of contemporary realism. He counts the unsung artists of the Harlem Renaissance as his artistic role models. By day, Jordan is an academic and multicultural advisor with the UW-Madison School of Education. He holds a degree in art from UW-Whitewater.
Dr. Bashir Easter is founder of Melanin Minded, a company that aims to empower Black and Latino communities by culturally appropriate resources and support for individuals affected by Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias. He began his career in elder care nearly 15 years ago with Milwaukee County as an elder abuse investigator, human services worker, and dementia care program specialist, and later served as associate director of the All of Us Research Program at UW-Madison.
UW system to get $54 million after mandated changes to gen eds, faculty workloads
Wisconsin State Journal
The Legislature is releasing $54 million for the Universities of Wisconsin now that the Board of Regents has fulfilled mandated changes to faculty workloads and students’ general education.
Legislative panel approves new teaching requirements for UW faculty
Wisconsin Public Radio
A Republican-led state legislative committee approved new teaching requirements for Universities of Wisconsin faculty Thursday, a condition of the bipartisan state budget passed this summer.
New UW teaching workloads, credit transfer rules pass final hurdle
The Cap Times
Starting next fall, full-time faculty and instructional academic staff at UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee will need to teach at least one course per semester and a minimum of 12 credit hours each school year. Employees at the other 11 state universities face higher requirements.
All credits for general education courses must also be transferable and satisfy general education requirements across the universities by September.
‘We need each other’: UW-Madison faculty grapple with Trump administration’s higher education rhetoric
The Daily Cardinal
A panel of University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty called for higher institutions to rebuild public trust during a panel Dec. 3, sharing both hopeful and pessimistic sentiments about the Trump administration’s threat to higher education.
History professor Giuliana Chamedes said the ability of students, faculty and staff to speak up has been “central” to restoring democracy and academic freedom. She referenced similarities between the Trump administration’s policies and historical attacks on higher education from fascist regimes, highlighting higher education’s historical ability to overcome persecution.
Need a study buddy? Students explore AI tutors
The Daily Cardinal
As final exam season starts, many University of Wisconsin-Madison students are increasingly turning to a new kind of study partner — one that never sleeps, charges hourly rates or judges a panicked 2 a.m. homework question.
Artificial Intelligence tools like ChatGPT have become embedded in student life with 86% of students using AI in their studies, according to a study by the Digital Education Council, marking a rapid cultural shift in how students prepare for exams and complete coursework.
Trump promotes economy amid signs of a job market slowdown
Bloomberg
Flagship universities are typically the oldest, largest, and best-funded public research institution in a state, and an examination of those schools across the country find a wide variation in the nonpayment rate on federal student loans. The highest rate is at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, at 19%. The lowest rate — 4% — is found at the University of Michigan, the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, the University of Virginia and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. On average, across the 50 states, the nonpayment rate is around 8.5%, or 1 in 12 attendees of flagship public institutions, according to government data. Among the Ivy League schools, some of the most elite universities in the country, the rate ranges from 3% to 5%.
UW-Madison chancellor says new AI college will connect campus, serve most popular majors
Wisconsin Public Radio
Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin, who leads the University of Wisconsin-Madison, sees opening a new College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence as the right move to support in-demand majors and says funding the school won’t come at the expense of other areas of the university.
New UW-Madison major will teach students to bridge partisan divides
Wisconsin Watch
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.
Early-career trans researchers reconsider their futures amid lost funding and fear
STAT News
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?”
UW-Madison earns $1 million for winning Big Ten blood drive competition
WMTV - Channel 15
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.
‘The next step:’ UW-Madison details $80 million college focused on AI
WMTV - Channel 15
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.”
How much Wisconsin pays its top athletic department administrators
Wisconsin State Journal
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.
UW-Madison’s new Hub envisions seeding students’ startups across Wisconsin
Wisconsin State Journal
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.
University of Wisconsin wins Big Ten blood drive, securing $1M for health initiatives
WKOW - Channel 27
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.
UW schools will use stricter guide to decide whether to cut programs
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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’s proposed AI-focused college gets Regents’ OK
Wisconsin State Journal
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.
UW Board of Regents approves new College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence
The Badger Herald
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.
New College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence approved for UW–Madison
WMTV - Channel 15
UW Board of Regents approved UW-Madison’s proposal to create a College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence (CAI), school officials announced on Thursday
Regents approve UW-Madison plan to create College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence
Channel 3000
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.
UW receives approval to move L&S’s largest majors to new AI-focused school
The Daily Cardinal
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.
Future of UW foreign language programs at risk amid federal, campus funding cuts
The Daily Cardinal
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.
UW-Madison creating a new college for artificial intelligence
Wisconsin Public Radio
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.
Why UW-Madison is creating a new college focused on AI
The Cap Times
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.
The new college version of “The dog ate my homework”
Psychology Today
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.
Former UW Regent John Miller appointed state economic development CEO
Wisconsin State Journal
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.
UW-Madison increases lobbying efforts amid federal, state political challenges
The Daily Cardinal
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.
UW-Madison will be cautious in admitting grad students for next fall
The Cap Times
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.
Future of UW foreign language programs at risk amid federal, campus funding cuts
The Daily Cardinal
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.
The math legend who just left academia—for an AI startup run by a 24-year-old
The Wall Street Journal
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.
UW’s ‘exuberant cult of fraternity and sorority’ was defended a century ago
Wisconsin State Journal
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.
Behind the scenes at UW: How staff manages communication on visa terminations
The Badger Herald
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.
UW-Madison proposes moving L&S’s largest majors to new AI-focused school
The Daily Cardinal
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 seeks approval to break school of AI, computing into separate college
Wisconsin State Journal
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.
How much beer, brats and ice cream the Union Terrace sold this summer
Wisconsin State Journal
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.
Fox News Campus Radicals Newsletter: School grapples with ‘whiteness,’ OnlyFans lecture, Thanksgiving turmoil
Fox News
Chicago schools blow millions on travel while students can’t read, more violent threats appear on midwestern campus.
UW-Madison will launch Wisconsin’s first public policy undergraduate major
Wisconsin Public Radio
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. .
Regents unanimously approve extension of Wisconsin apparel deal with Under Armour
Wisconsin State Journal
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.
The important details for Wisconsin in extending contract with Under Armour
Wisconsin State Journal
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
UW System Board of Regents approves two policy documents from Act 15
The Badger Herald
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.
UW awards record number of degrees in spring 2025
The Daily Cardinal
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.
How a Madison woman’s question sparked a growing statewide civics contest
Wisconsin Watch
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.
To help their kids ‘climb the ivy,’ Chinese mothers uproot their families for Silicon Valley schools
San Francisco Chronicle
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.”
U.S. colleges’ international enrollment drops 17%. How has UW-Madison fared?
Wisconsin State Journal
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.
Wisconsin asks for approval of extension with apparel provider that adds NIL funding
Wisconsin State Journal
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.
‘Separating us makes us weaker’: Students decry UW-Madison’s DEI cuts
The Cap Times
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.”
New UW gen ed policy may ease transfer process. But will it erode campus autonomy?
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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.
New general education policy will make transferring between UW campuses easier
Wisconsin Public Radio
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.
UW-Madison, Microsoft, TitletownTech team up to boost Wisconsin research with AI
WKOW - Channel 27
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.
New UW faculty workload policy could hinder faculty recruitment, professors say
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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.
UW Regents pass workload requirements, redesigned gen eds
Wisconsin State Journal
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.
It’s time to break up the programmatic accrediting agency monopolies
Inside Higher Ed
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.”
What the Trump administration’s latest moves to dismantle the Education Department mean for schools and students
Time
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.”
Abortion, school funding, free speech measures passed by Wisconsin Senate
Wisconsin State Journal
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.