The 2022 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools” highlighted UW’s School of Education, ranking them fourth nationwide for the second year in a row.
Category: Top Stories
‘Plan to be in Madison in the fall:’ UW-Madison details fall semester plans
Blank says nearly all of the courses that were offered in-person in the fall semester of 2019 will return to being in-person in the fall of 2021.
‘A new normal’: UW-Madison students told to prepare for return to campus in fall
“I feel confident that next semester will look more like Fall 2019 than Fall 2020, with offices occupied and throngs of students changing classes in the middle of the day,” Blank said. “But it will be different than before – it’s a new normal, not our old normal.”
Chancellor announces loose plans for Fall 2021 semester in optimistic blog post
In a blog post today, Chancellor Rebecca Blank announced loose plans for the Fall 2021 semester and said there are hopeful signs of a ‘new beginning’, such as vaccination clinics, low infection rates and in-person graduation.
UW Chancellor: Fall semester expected to look more like 2019 than 2020
University of Wisconsin-Madison students should expect to be back in the classroom this fall nearly as much as they were when the academic year began in 2019, according to a new plan outlined by Chancellor Rebecca Blank.
Broadway star, prominent psychologist to address UW-Madison graduates
Broadway star André De Shields and psychologist John Gottman will address graduates of their alma mater at ceremonies at Camp Randall on May 8, the university said. De Shields will speak to undergraduates, and Gottman will address those getting their graduate degrees.
UW Varsity Band members return for first large practice in more than a year
There’s no spring concert on this year’s calendar, and practice maybe looked a little funny, with students wearing slitted masks and bell covers slipped over instruments to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but UW-Madison’s beloved band is back.
More than 10,000 vaccine doses given at UW-Madison so far
UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank and other UW System officials toured the COVID-19 vaccine clinic on campus Tuesday as the university says it has now given out almost 10,500 doses to date.
UW leaders visit campus vaccine clinic, plan to scale up operations
UW Chancellor Blank and other UW System leaders took a tour of a campus vaccine clinic Tuesday, as the university plans to scale up operations as more COVID-19 vaccines become available. The Nicholas Recreation Center, or ‘Nick,’ became a vaccine clinic for UHS in February. According to UW, the university has administered nearly 10,500 COVID-19 vaccine doses to its community.
AstraZeneca reports 79% effectiveness rate for COVID vaccine in trial, conducted in part at UW-Madison
AstraZeneca reported Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine provided strong protection among adults of all ages in a long-anticipated U.S. study, a finding that could help rebuild public confidence in the shot around the world and move it a step closer to clearance in the U.S.
Pandemic, lack of spring break strains UW-Madison students’ mental health
While UW-Madison students are hopeful about vaccination efforts ramping up and spring weather arriving, many are still struggling to make online classes work while also worrying about their finances and health. This month marks the halfway point in a 14-week semester taking place almost entirely online and without a spring break, a schedule that students say is leading to burnout and in some cases damaging their mental health.
Daryl Watts’ overtime goal gives Badgers their sixth NCAA women’s hockey championship
Make room for a sixth NCAA championship banner in LaBahn Arena. Watts scored a stunner from behind the net in overtime Saturday, and the Badgers had another title to celebrate.
UHS opens vaccine portal as Wisconsin enters new wave of vaccinations
UW-Madison’s University Health Services (UHS) opened a portal on Wednesday for the university community to sign up for COVID-19 vaccinations.
Paul Fanlund: These UW-Madison students solve problems across the state
An example is a $600,000 item buried in Gov. Tony Evers’ $91-billion proposed two-year state budget. The money would expand a six-year-old University of Wisconsin-Madison program designed to tap the expertise and energy of students on the flagship Madison campus to solve problems and improve lives in communities throughout Wisconsin.
UW lifts testing requirements for vaccinated students, staff
As COVID-19 cases continue to decline, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has lifted testing requirements for students and staff who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
With vaccinations on the rise, UW opens online portal with eligibility status, appointments
Members of the University of Wisconsin-Madison community can now check their COVID-19 vaccine eligibility status and make appointments through an online portal, instead of waiting to receive an email invitation.
UW-Madison students record lowest COVID-19 positivity rate
UW-Madison spokesperson Meredith McGlone says she is encouraged to see the steady decline. “We think this is a terrific sign. We also want to make sure that folks don’t let their guard soon. We are in what I think we all hope will be the homestretch of the pandemic,” McGlone said.
UPDATED: UW announces increased vaccine eligibility for staff, students, future eligibility depends on supply
The University of Wisconsin has announced new eligibility for university staff and students to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Capital City Sunday: Evers reflects on pandemic anniversary, COVID-19’s lasting effects on society
UW-Madison Epidemiologist Ajay Sethi and UW-Madison Economist Tiffany Green join the program to discuss lasting lessons from the pandemic.
Student COVID-19 positivity rate falls to all time low
Over the last week UW-Madison recorded its lowest ever seven-day COVID-19 student positivity average for tests administered on campus, marking a milestone for the university’s efforts to stop the spread of the virus.
UW-Madison will host two in-person graduations this summer, but no families will be allowed
The University of Wisconsin-Madison announced Thursday that it will hold two in-person graduation ceremonies this year, with the caveat that graduates will not be allowed to have guests present.
UW-Madison plans graduates-only commencement ceremony at Camp Randall
The university announced Thursday that its traditional stadium ceremony will be held for only graduating students in two ceremonies, one for undergraduates and another for graduate students, both of which will be May 8.
UW-Madison plans graduates-only commencement ceremony at Camp Randall
UW-Madison’s Class of 2021 can expect to celebrate commencement at Camp Randall this May — just not with their families or other guests.
UW announces in-person, graduate-only spring 2021 commencement
“While today calls for excitement and hope, we must continue to keep positive case numbers low in order to realize this opportunity to be at Camp Randall,” senior class president says.
Blank: UW-Madison Faces $320 Million Pandemic Loss by June
The University of Wisconsin-Madison will face $320 million in pandemic-related losses by the time the current fiscal year ends in June, Chancellor Rebecca Blank said Thursday.
If approved, UW capital budget would allow new L&S building, Humanities demolition by 2030
The University of Wisconsin-Madison hopes to remove two residence halls, relocate 10 departments and programs and ultimately tear down the obsolete Mosse Humanities Building by 2030.
UW applications up 17%, international interest reflecting national rebound
The University of Wisconsin-Madison received a record 53,800 freshmen applications this year, with increases among in-state, domestic and international students.
Unbeaten Badgers volleyball team pauses all activities for 14 days due to COVID-19 cases within the program
The Badgers, who have been ranked No. 1 throughout the season, announced the season has been put on pause for two weeks because of multiple exposures to COVID-19.
Gov. Tony Evers wants $2.4 billion for state building projects, nearly half for UW System
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers wants to spend about $2.4 billion over the next two years on state building projects, with about $1 billion of the proposed money going to the University of Wisconsin System.
With COVID-19 cases rising at UW-Madison, officials issue warning to students
The first month of UW-Madison’s semester last fall saw nearly 1,900 on-campus student COVID-19 cases, two dorm quarantines, at least one hospitalization and a public rebuke by Dane County’s top leader.
Tommy Thompson: 75 Percent Of UW’s Fall Classes Will Be In-Person
At least three-fourths of all University of Wisconsin System classes will be in-person this fall according to system interim President Tommy Thompson.
As COVID-19 vaccines roll out, Thompson sets goal of 75% of courses in person on UW campuses in fall
University of Wisconsin System interim President Tommy Thompson told campus chancellors to aim to have at least 75% of their courses in person next fall, with the hope that COVID-19 vaccines will allow a return to some normalcy.
UW-Madison claims nearly $31 billion in annual economic impact to Wisconsin
UW-Madison and its affiliated entities are an economic engine contributing $30.8 billion a year to the Wisconsin economy, according to a new report commissioned by the university and funded by UW Foundation.
New CDC guidance on masks cites UW-Madison invention, research
New guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourages Americans to make their masks work better by tightening their fit, including by using a simple, homemade tool designed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
‘Financial disaster’: UW System campuses show $317.7 million in lost revenue, added expenses from COVID-19 in 2020
New figures show the University of Wisconsin System saw $317.7 million in lost revenue and additional expenses between March and December as universities continue to weather the widespread budgetary impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Facing ‘financial disaster’ from COVID-19, UW System pushes for borrowing ability
COVID-19 has caused the “biggest financial disaster” the university has ever seen, UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank said. Through federal stimulus money, furloughs, pay cuts for leadership, travel restrictions and targeted budget cuts to different units, Blank said she’s optimistic the financial gap can be resolved over the next two years. But she also renewed her case for giving the university borrowing authority.
UW Arboretum designated as National Historic Landmark
UW said the designation is based on the Arboretum’s “pioneering work in restoration ecology, its place in the history of conservation, and its commitment to Aldo Leopold’s land ethic.”
UW nursing, pharmacy students join effort to bring vaccines to rural areas
Over 200 University of Wisconsin nursing and pharmacy students have volunteered to help administer COVID-19 vaccines at statewide mobile clinics in local high-need areas.
UW-Madison’s research rank, once among top 5 in US, remains in 8th place for 2nd year
UW-Madison ranked eighth in research spending among hundreds of institutions in the latest year — again falling outside the top echelon where it had perched for decades — according to the latest figures by the National Science Foundation.
UW online MBA program stays in national top ten, engineering improves ranking
The University of Wisconsin MBA Consortium maintained its standing as the nation’s tenth-best online MBA program this year, while UW-Madison’s online master’s in engineering increased in rank, according to the U.S. News & World Report 2021 rankings.
UW-Madison asks for patience as new COVID-19 testing program comes with learning curve
In one of the first campus-wide emails of the new year, UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank shared some new, slightly odd wisdom for the semester ahead: “Pool your drool.”
Can universities manufacture a post-industrial future for the Midwest?
Rebecca Blank, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says that Madison’s thriving industries, such as biotechnology, software and gaming, are “areas that are basically all very much rooted in both the students who graduate from here and the faculty and the research work that we do here”.
UW Chancellor Rebecca Blank: Up to 70,000 tests per week will help protect our campus and community
As we prepare to resume classes, we’re going to continue doing our part to curb the spread of the virus. We learned from experience that a high degree of testing, followed by quickly isolating and quarantining those who test positive or were exposed, is key to limiting that spread.
UW-Madison student creates educational board game to ‘light the star’ in refugee children
Shaped by his experience growing up and getting his education in a refugee camp in Uganda, UW-Madison student Joel Baraka spent years developing a way to help children back home learn in a fun and engaging way.
UW prepares to ramp up testing capacity with smartphone app, 12 new testing locations
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is gearing up to drastically expand testing for spring semester, with more rigorous requirements, 14 testing locations and a mandatory smartphone app.
First UW-Madison employees, students receive COVID-19 vaccine
The University of Wisconsin-Madison administered its first round of COVID-19 vaccines to eligible employees and students on Tuesday. The vaccine was given to employees and students, such as Eden Charles, who work directly with COVID-19 patients and directly with the virus and virus samples.
UW-Madison receives its first COVID-19 vaccines
UW-Madison received its first COVID-19 vaccines on Monday and plans to begin inoculating some employees as soon as Tuesday.
It Spied on Soviet Atomic Bombs. Now It’s Solving Ecological Mysteries.
“They counted every rocket in the Soviet Union,” said Volker Radeloff, an ecologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison whose lab has used the images in its studies. “These images kept the Cold War cold.”
UW leader pledges return to in-person learning this spring
Atop University of Wisconsin System official said Monday that students will be allowed to return to campus for the spring semester and take more in-person courses, hoping that more robust COVID-19 testing will help stave off the outbreaks that forced the system to turn to online-only instruction a few weeks into the fall semester.
UW campuses may serve as COVID-19 vaccine distribution hubs
UW Board of Regents President Drew Petersen said the idea is under discussion with the federal government, given how well he said the System rolled out free COVID-19 testing to the community through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
UW-Madison to use mandatory testing, phone app to keep campus safe in spring
Testing will be required at UW-Madison as students return to campus in January. Every student will have to be tested twice weekly. “The goal of this mandatory testing is to identify cases sooner, so folks can take precautions, stop the spread,” said UW-Madison spokesperson Meredith McGlone.
UW-Madison’s fall reopening: A story of success, failure or simply survival?
When COVID-19 cases skyrocketed in early September, Chancellor Rebecca Blank knew she had to try something. So on Sept. 9, the fifth day of classes, when the university reported 404 infections of the nearly 5,300 it would accumulate by the end of the semester, she announced a two-week lockdown for two large dorms and a campus-wide pause on face-to-face instruction. “A lot of people thought that we would never recover from that,” she said in an interview on Friday, the final day of the semester. “More than one person has come up to me and said, ‘I thought we’d never get back to in-person classes. I thought you’d have to send everyone home.’ And, you know, we did recover from that.”
COVID-19 vaccination ramps up in Wisconsin but will take months
UW Health expected to vaccinate 250 employees against COVID-19 by Wednesday and SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital anticipated immunizing about 500, as a weeks-long effort to inoculate Wisconsin’s 450,000 health care workers and nursing home residents against the coronavirus before others can get the injections started to ramp up.
COVID-19 drives surge in applications at UW medical school
Medical school applications are at an all-time high during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the University of Wisconsin is no exception. In fact, it’s exceeding national trends.
UW Health workers among first in state to get COVID-19 vaccine
Ten UW Health employees on Monday were among the first people in Wisconsin to get the nation’s first approved vaccine against COVID-19, as 3,900 doses of Pfizer’s inoculation arrived at UW Hospital in ultra-cold freezers, offering a glimmer of hope against the pandemic.
Wisconsin’s tuition freeze squeezes its campuses tighter than other states have, report says
Few states controlled tuition at their public universities as tightly as Wisconsin has done in recent years and the handful that did offset the squeeze with some additional state money, according to a new report released Tuesday.
UW Health receives first COVID-19 vaccine shipment; first employees get vaccinated
On the day U.S. deaths from COVID-19 surpassed 300,000, respiratory therapist Tina Schubert became the first UW Health employee and one of the first Wisconsinites to be inoculated with the vaccine made by Pfizer and the German biotechnology firm BioNTech.
Report: Wisconsin’s public colleges are falling behind as state funds lag and enrollment drops
A new report on the financial health of Wisconsin’s state universities and technical colleges found lagging state investment, enrollment challenges and — for University of Wisconsin schools — an ongoing tuition freeze as some of several factors threatening their competitiveness.
UW Hospital receives first COVID-19 vaccine shipment
UW Hospital began vaccinating frontline health care workers on Monday after the hospital received thousands of doses of COVID-19 vaccine, the beginning of an effort to tamp down the pandemic.
Wisconsin expects first batch of COVID-19 vaccines soon, general public may not see it until mid-2021
St. Mary’s Hospital and UW Health, both in Madison, will operate as regional distribution hubs for the Pfizer vaccine. “These vaccines will be going to frontline healthcare workers first, and there are still uncertainties around the quantities we’ll get and the timing of their arrival,” Matt Anderson, senior medical director of ambulatory operations with UW Health, said in a statement. “The public must remain diligent as it will not be widely available anytime soon.”