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Category: State news

UW-Madison to cover degrees for Wisconsin Indian students

WKOW-TV 27

Starting fall 2024, Wisconsin residents from federally recognized Wisconsin Indian tribes will receive full financial support while they pursue their undergraduate degrees — including tuition, housing, meals and other expenses. This program is accompanied by a five-year pilot program that will cover in-state tuition for law and medical students who are Wisconsin tribe members.

Wokesters Without Giant Endowments

Wall Street Journal

Rich Kremer reports for Wisconsin Public Radio, which is staffed by employees of the University of Wisconsin-Madison: The Universities of Wisconsin will have the opportunity to give pay raises to its 34,000 employees and build a new $347 million engineering building in Madison under a deal approved Wednesday by the Board of Regents. But the universities will also freeze DEI staffing through 2026 and eliminate or refocus about 40 positions focused on diversity.

UW system is committed to DEI, despite deal with Republicans, UW-Madison diversity chief says

Wisconsin State Journal

UW-Madison’s chief diversity officer on Thursday tried to allay concerns that the Universities of Wisconsin is stepping back its support for diversity, equity and inclusion programs, despite UW system President Jay Rothman and legislative Republicans brokering a deal that authorizes about $800 million for the UW system in exchange for DEI changes.

Rep. Fitzgerald says Congress shouldn’t play role in certifying elections despite his 2020 objections

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Fitzgerald’s remarks misconstrue that process, according to former University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor David Canon, whose research focused in part on election administration.

“He has it exactly backwards,” Canon said. “They don’t vote individually to certify the results in all 50 states.”

After Months of Political Pressure and a Failed Vote, Wisconsin’s Regents Approve Deal on DEI

Chronicle of Higher Ed

After a months-long standoff between the University of Wisconsin system and the Republican-controlled Legislature, the two parties brokered a deal to release $800 million in state funds — for long-delayed UW pay raises and key campus building projects — if the system agreed to realign dozens of diversity, equity, and inclusion positions and support several other Republican-backed priorities.

UW regents reverse position, accept GOP deal on funding and limits to DEI programs

Wisconsin Public Radio

The Universities of Wisconsin will have the opportunity to give pay raises to its 34,000 employees and build a new $347 million engineering building in Madison under a deal approved Wednesday by the Board of Regents. But the universities will also freeze DEI staffing through 2026 and eliminate or refocus about 40 positions focused on diversity.

What to know about UW Regents Amy Bogost, Karen Walsh and Jennifer Staton, who changed their votes on diversity, pay raises

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Three members of the UW Board of Regents changed their votes on a controverisal deal over diversity efforts and pay raises.

The vote-flipping by Regents Karen Walsh, Amy Bogost and Jennifer Staton solidifed a deal months in the making between the University of Wisconsin System and Republican legislative leaders.

Want to boost school report card scores? Start with better pay for teachers.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

UW-Milwaukee’s “Milwaukee Tuition Promise” and University of Wisconsin-Madison’s “Teacher Pledge Program” are blueprints that other colleges can consider replicating. The longevity of the programs are reliant on private fundraising, however, and represent a fraction of the twenty-one four-year colleges in the state. A systems-level, state approach could offer funding sustainability to colleges seeking to attract students into education, an issue impacting all of Wisconsin.

UW President Jay Rothman speaks to media following vote that changed DEI

WKOW-TV 27

During a brief press conference following the UW Board of Regents vote that ultimately changed the role of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion positions at UW schools, President Jay Rothman stated multiple times that he understood this was a ‘difficult decision for the regents’ and he respects all the people who voted for it or against it.

UW Board of Regents to vote again on deal with Republicans over pay raises, UW-Madison engineering building

Wisconsin State Journal

The UW Board of Regents will meet again on Wednesday to reconsider a deal brokered between Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman and legislative Republicans to secure pay raises for UW system employees and funding for UW-Madison’s long-awaited engineering building in exchange for restructuring system diversity efforts.

Wisconsin has country’s highest death rate due to falls

Wisconsin Public Radio

Dr. Gerald Pankratz, an associate professor and geriatrician at UW Health, said the most common injuries from falls are innocuous and might include a few bruises or cuts.

“On the more serious side, we’re definitely concerned about fractures of the big bones, the hip, most predominantly — there’s a marked increased risk in mortality and institutionalization in the months after having a hip fracture,” he said.

UW regents to discuss legal options in battle over pay raises, DEI

Wisconsin Public Radio

Members of the Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents will consult with attorneys Tuesday about a lawsuit challenging the power of the Legislature, a move that comes just days after the board rejected a deal with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos involving pay raises and limits on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Wisconsin GOP leaders say they’re done negotiating with university over pay raises, diversity deal

The Associated Press

Wisconsin’s top Republican lawmakers said Monday that they are done negotiating with the Universities of Wisconsin over a deal that would have given the university system’s employees a pay raise and paid for the construction of a new engineering building in exchange for reductions in staff positions focused on diversity, equity and inclusion.

After Hours Work Could Hurt Productivity, Big Labor And Big Tech Partner On AI And More

Forbes

Another battle over diversity, equity and inclusion programs on college campuses has reached a fever pitch. After a long standoff with Wisconsin’s Republican-led state legislature, the University of Wisconsin agreed on Friday to freeze all new hires related to diversity, equity and inclusion in exchange for $800 million for pay raises and a new engineering building on the UW Madison campus.

Underage cigarette and vape sales increase while Wisconsin law lags behind

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Patrick Remington, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, said the rate of underage tobacco sales is going in the wrong direction.

“It’s more than just a minimal change,” Remington said. “To me, that would be cause to certainly redouble the efforts to vendors and sellers to comply with federal law.”

UW Board of Regents rejects system deal struck with Republicans on DEI, UW-Madison engineering building

Wisconsin State Journal

A narrowly divided UW Board of Regents on Saturday rejected an agreement between Universities of Wisconsin system President Jay Rothman and legislative Republican leaders authorizing UW system funding and pay raises in exchange for changes to universities’ diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

UW and GOP reach deal to ‘reimagine’ DEI by restructuring jobs, freezing positions

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

In a deal months in the making, the University of Wisconsin system will “reimagine” its diversity efforts, restructure dozens of staff into positions serving all students and freeze the total number of diversity and administrative positions for the next three years.

In exchange, the universities would receive $800 million to give pay raises for 35,000 employees and move forward on some building projects, including a new engineering building for UW-Madison.

UW inches closer to deal on pay raises, engineering building and DEI with Republicans

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

On the table are pay raises for 35,000 employees, a new engineering building for UW-Madison and $32 million recouped back into UW’s budget after lawmakers cut it earlier this year. Also being discussed is millions of dollars for building projects at some other campuses and a change in how the state manages money from the tuition reciprocity agreement with Minnesota that would bring more money to campuses.

UW system, Republicans reportedly close to a deal on DEI, engineering building and pay raises

Wisconsin State Journal

Universities of Wisconsin leaders are said to be nearing a deal with Republican legislative leaders that would reclassify a third of the system’s diversity, equity and inclusion employees and put a yearslong moratorium on hiring more, in return for a new UW-Madison engineering building and moving ahead with employee pay raises already approved in the budget.

Studying Wisconsin’s class of 1957

Wisconsin Public Radio

How does late adolescence impact you in your 80s? A decades-long study aims to answer that question after following thousands of students who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957. We hear from Michal Engleman, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and current director of the study, on takeaways from one of the longest longitudinal studies in the country.