The University of Wisconsin System released its annual accountability report on Monday. The system has put these studies out since 1993.
The document is basically a self report on a range of topics and issues. This year’s version is titled “Investing in Wisconsin’s Future.” The report will be presented to the UW System’s Board of Regents during meetings later this week at UW-Madison.
Admissions officials across the University of Wisconsin system have made their decisions about who will be in next yearâ??s freshmenâ??s class.
Some UW campuses say the down economy is affecting enrollment in unexpected ways.
Pamela Harvey-Jacobs, director of Admissions at UW-Green Bay, says theyâ??re expecting about 1,000 students on campus next fall, on par with last yearâ??s enrollment numbers. But Jacobs says theyâ??re still leaving spots open specifically for students from across the Green Bay area. (8th item.)
We learned a lot about Madison, but we also learned a lot about Lexington, each other and maybe ourselves.
About 260 Central Kentuckians spent three days last week on Commerce Lexingtonâ??s 70th annual Leadership Visit. Like many others I spoke with, I left Wisconsinâ??s capital city thinking the same thing I did last May when we left Austin, Texas.
Metro Lexington is a more beautiful place, with better year-round weather, than either of those cities. So why do they rank higher on national surveys of quality of life and economic vitality?
John Okonek said he was unaware of how concerned Madison police were about two Downtown bars he owns.
The long list of violations compiled by both bars apparently had made little impression.
But he was snapped out of his ignorance this week by a public hearing on denying the renewal of the bars’ liquor licenses.
When the hearing was over, the city had an important agreement. Okonek got to keep the liquor licenses but only under strict conditions – a month-long license suspension for one bar, plus requirements that both bars make specified improvements to maintain law and order.
Members of the Legislature’s budget-writing committee are hoping to finish their work on Thursday.
After delaying the start of Wednesday’s budget session by nearly nine hours, Joint Finance Committee co-chairman Mark Pocan (D-Madison) announced the panel would not be meeting after all. The Madison Democrat says drafting of the final budget language would likely be done by about 2 AM on Thursday. So, rather than delay the meeting further, the decision was made to push of final votes on the budget plan.
The Wisconsin legislature’s budget-writing committee canceled its Wednesday meeting, but still plans to finish all its work by the end of Thursday.
Committee co-chair Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, said the meeting had to be canceled because of delays in drafting motions for the committee to consider. But Pocan said there is agreement among Democrats who control the committee on the remaining unresolved issues. Those include aid to schools, cuts to state agencies and Gov. Jim Doyle’s proposals to impose a new tax on oil companies and let some felons out of prison early.
Madison is the nationâ??s seventh-best city when it comes to stable employment, new career opportunities and presence of the â??creative class,â? according to a new ranking by Kiplingerâ??s Personal Finance, a money management magazine.
The magazine cited Madisonâ??s unemployment rate, which is lower than the national average; UW-Madison and state government, which account for 20 percent of employment in the metropolitan area; and the cityâ??s â??strong mix of tech and biotech firms.â?
Two downtown Madison bars who faced non-renewal of their liquor licenses are safe for now, but the fate of a third bar is in the hands of the Alcohol License Review Committee.
Madison Avenue and Johnny Oâ??s, located next door to each other on University Avenue, will keep their licenses as part of a stipulated agreement reached between the Madison Police department and the barsâ?? owner, Jon Okonek,. It includes closing Madison Avenue from July 1 to July 30 of this year.
Madison’s Alcohol License Review Committee agreed Tuesday night to accept lesser punishments for two of three bars in lieu of liquor license non-renewal â?? the punishment originally proposed by police.
The agreements allow the Downtown bars Johnny Oâ??s Restaurant and Madison Avenue, both owned by John Okonek, to keep their licenses, while imposing several new requirements on them and suspending the liquor license for Madison Avenue from July 1 to 30.
The full-scale unveiling of a new online jobs tool for highly skilled UW-Madison alumni is set for August, after a successful test launch with about a dozen area firms finished up this month, organizers said.
“We got very good feedback,” said Mary DeNiro, vice president of marketing and communications for the Wisconsin Alumni Association.
Some faculty and staff at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee are concerned that expansion plans could hurt the university by moving academics away from the main campus to other locations, according to a recent survey.
But others said they support the initiatives, a central part of Chancellor Carlos Santiago’s ambitious plans to reshape the university.
UWM’s university committee recently surveyed 298 faculty and staff about the university’s master plan, which includes planned developments on the east side main campus, the planned engineering research complex in Wauwatosa, a School of Freshwater Sciences research facility at the lakefront and a downtown health research complex.
Wisconsinâ??s same-sex couples are a big step closer to having their relationships recognized by the state.
The Legislatureâ??s budget committee voted 12-4 Friday for a plan allowing gay and lesbian couples who live together to form domestic partnerships and receive some of the same benefits as married couples.
Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and legislative leaders said Thursday that state aid for local governments and public schools will be cut 2.5%, and more than 1,400 state workers might have to be laid off to offset a recent $1.6 billion drop in tax collections.
The University of Wisconsin-Parksideâ??s teacher education program could lose its state accreditation because of â??serious deficienciesâ? in its ability to prepare teachers and meet state requirements, according to the results of a state investigation released on Wednesday.
Parkside staff allowed some students into the teacher education program before they completed the required coursework and allowed some to student teach without passing required tests, Department of Public Instruction officials found after they investigated a complaint about the program.
Three campus-area bars might not have their liquor licenses renewed because of alleged violations, according to papers filed by city officials.
The city attorney’s office filed the formal paperwork on Monday. The complaint alleges that Ram Head, Johnny O’s and Madison Avenue Bar near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus had repeated violations during the past year that led to the formal police complaint.
During the weekend, a fight broke out inside Madison Avenue Bar on University Avenue. According to the police report, it took 17 officers from four departments to bring it under control, WISC-TV reported.
A former state Supreme Court justice and a commercial litigator from Madison are being recommended to President Barack Obama for consideration for a federal judgeship here.
Democratic U.S. Sens. Russ Feingold of Middleton and Herb Kohl of Milwaukee forwarded the names in a letter to the White House today to fill a vacancy in the federal court for the Western District of Wisconsin created by the retirement of Judge John Shabaz.
So many officers descended on Hoyt Park to join in the search for murder suspect Steven Weber on Tuesday that Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain lost count of the departments on the scene.
“That happens when you have an ‘all hands on deck’ situation,” DeSpain said, a day following the intense manhunt in the west side park for Weber, 49, accused of shooting and killing his ex-wife Francesca Weber on Saturday night outside her Fitchburg apartment.
A massive manhunt for Steven Weber, suspected in the shooting death of his wife Saturday, ended Tuesday evening with the discovery by Madison police of a manâ??s body in Hoyt Park on the Near West Side.
(UW Police and other law enforcement agenices were also involved in the search. According to the paper’s print edition, Steven Weber was among a group of construction workers inured when a portion of the UW-Madison Pharmacy Building collapsed while under construction in June 1999.)
The Dane County Parks Department announced on Monday that it plans to conduct aerial spraying to fight off gypsy moths this week.
UW-Madison faculty and staff who get paid through federal grants will have to take 16 unpaid days off over the next two years, just like other state workers.
This is according to a document that UW-Madison has posted on its Web site, in response to frequently asked questions.
Fights inside Madison Avenue, a popular campus-area nightclub, resulted in two dozen officers descending on the melee early Sunday morning, Madison police reported.
Only one person was arrested at the nightclub at 624 University Ave., following the brawl that was reported at 1:50 a.m. Sunday.
Jessy Tolkan has squared off against Pat Buchanan on MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews.” She counts the oil and coal industries among her fiercest adversaries. But she never imagined that she would one day take on her father in her battle against climate change.
The 28-year-old daughter of a Milwaukee auto dealer and UW-Madison graduate has emerged over the past few years as one of the leading young voices in the country on clean energy issues. Tolkan, who grew up in Glendale, is part of a growing network of advocates trying to build an organized movement of young people committed to solving climate change.
MADISON, Wis. — Baseball commissioner Bud Selig steered clear of controversy in his message to graduates at the University of Wisconsin.
Selig told graduates in a commencement address Saturday not to be afraid of the difficult economy they are entering but instead to dream big and not fear failure.
What Selig didn’t do was talk about the ongoing drug problem in professional baseball, or this season’s drop in attendance.
A former adviser to Senator Harry Reid is President Obamaâ??s choice to lead the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, giving opponents of a nuclear waste repository in Mr. Reidâ??s home state of Nevada another well-placed ally. The new chairman, Gregory B. Jaczko, has served on the five-member commission since January 2005. He will now serve as the commissionâ??s official spokesman and as its chief executive, overseeing day-to-day operations as well as long-range planning. [Jaczko earned his doctorate at UW-Madison]
Beginning Monday, May 18th, 2009, City Engineering will begin Phase 2 of the reconstruction of the Gorham Street-University Avenue-Campus Drive corridor. Phase 1 of the construction from State Street to Park Street will continue as well. Phase 2 of the project is expected to last until the end of August. The construction project will include replacement of utilities located beneath the street as well as replacement of pavement. Construction of this phase will impact traffic as follows:
Letter writer criticizes the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates.
Road construction will shut down several streets on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus for three weeks beginning May 18, as the second phase of the reconstruction of the Gorham Street/University Avenue/Campus Drive corridor begins.
The first phase of the project, reconstructing Gorham and University from State Street to Park Street, will continue as well, so motorists should use caution on these main arterials heading into campus.
They landed in Calcutta at midnight and what Rick Brooks remembers is the piles of rags. They were everywhere. He saw them on sidewalks driving from the airport and he saw them again from his hotel window. Rags, and more rags.
“They were all people,” Brooks was saying Friday.
He was 13 years old, and it changed his life.
Brooks, 60, is an outreach program manager in UW-Madison’s Division of Continuing Studies. He is also, I think it’s fair to say, a kind of consummate Madisonian.
Dear Editor:
In response to “UW-Madison chancellor’s proposed tuition hike elicits little pushback,” a major reason for the widespread campus support for the Madison Initiative — approved Friday by the Board of Regents — is that it will have concrete benefits for the educational experience of undergraduates.
The story in political science, where I am the current chair, has been a simple one over the past 10 years: a larger number of students combined with a smaller number of faculty. Over this decade, our faculty decreased by 20 percent while the number of majors increased by over 85 percent. Compared to our peer institutions such as Michigan, Ohio State, and Minnesota, we serve far more majors with fewer faculty.
Alumni service days are fast becoming a rite of spring for colleges and their graduates across the country. At least 10 schools have launched such days in the past two years and plan annual events.
Among the names that have surfaced as prospects for the U.S. Supreme Court spot that will open with the retirement of Justice David Souter are several individuals with ties to Wisconsin. We’re particularly pleased, for instance, that Kimberle Crenshaw has been boomed by Princeton Professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell as President Barack Obama’s first high court pick.
Crenshaw, a University of California-Los Angeles School of Law professor who also teaches courses on civil rights, race and justice, and constitutional law at Columbia Law School, earned a master of law degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1985.
MADISON (WKOW) — In a statement on Wednesday, Representative Steve Nass requested that the Board of Regents delay the approval of a $1,000 tuition surcharge on UW-Madison resident students.
According to Nass’ statement, Nass believes UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin has worked to educate faculty, students and administrators on the goals of the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates. However, Nass feels that that plan is being moved forward without reasonable time for analysis of its specific details.
Road construction starting later this month will make the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus a maze, but at least crews will be waiting until the spring semester is over before making travel difficult.
“In many ways it’s a perfect storm of construction activity,” said Rob Kennedy, senior transportation planner on campus. “We want people to be aware of the challenges they will face around campus this summer so they can take alternate routes.”
….Two Metro bus routes on campus, 80 and 85, are being affected by construction, but alternate routes have not been determined yet.
University of Wisconsin-Madison staffers will be screaming for Babcock Hall ice cream inside instead of outside Wednesday afternoon, thanks to Mother Nature.
With the threat of rain, the annual employee appreciation ice cream social will begin at 1 p.m. in the lobby of Birge Hall, just south of Bascom Hill.
They’re women, not girls
Madison West High School has a “girls'” basketball team. The University of Wisconsin has a “women’s” basketball team. It’s not much of a surprise when Joe Sixpack fails to honor this distinction. It’s mildly disconcerting, however, when the high-salaried athletic director of a major university fails to do so.
In a recent State Journal article concerning UW-Madison women’s basketball coach Lisa Stone’s one-year contract extension, Barry Alvarez is quoted referring to the “girls” who played for her this past season. A careless mistake, or does his gaffe beg a more complex character analysis?
Either way, I suspect many of UW’s female student-athletes would appreciate the dignity of being referred to as the women they are, rather than as the girls they are not.
— Ray Johnson, Evansville
A presentation at Electric Earth Café Friday showed how the Mifflin Street Block Party has changed significantly since its beginnings on May 1, 1969, moving from a political protest to an apolitical drinking event.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Allan H. â??Budâ? Selig will deliver the commencement address at four UW-Madison undergraduate ceremonies on Saturday, May 16, and Sunday, May 17, at the Kohl Center.
Selig, former owner and president of the Milwaukee Brewers, graduated from UW-Madison in 1956 with a degree in political science and American history.
When it comes to restorations that impress, fancy buildings or miraculous rehabilitations often do the trick. But sometimes it’s something as familiar as a gas station.
….Another public building honored was the John Olin House at 130 N. Prospect Ave., the chancellor’s residence for the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The new head of the stateâ??s largest university made the case for her proposal to fund UW-Madisonâ??s future in a talk Tuesday.
In her first year as chancellor, Carolyn â??Biddyâ? Martinâ??s â??Madison Initiativeâ? called for implementing a differential tuition for undergraduates that will be phased in during the next four years, starting with an additional $250 per year for in-state students. It would increase to $1,000 per year.
Only at an academic conference at UW-Madison would you find a scholarâ??s paper called “Ode to a Norwegian Urn” â?? one of more than 250 parts of an explosion of Scandinavian esoterica that will be assembled here Friday and Saturday.
Nearly 300 scholars are arriving to participate in the annual meeting of the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study. UW-Madisonâ??s Scandinavian studies department is the oldest in the country, so its host position â?? once a decade or so â?? is both an honor and a duty.
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee chancellor is staying put for now. Letâ??s hope his vision for the school is more fully realized.
Instead of setting aside $15 million for star faculty, a group of University of Wisconsin faculty and staff want to give it to needy students.
Gov. Jim Doyle created a $15 million fund within the next two-year budget to keep and recruit high demand faculty.
The Association of University of Wisconsin Professionals, a statewide union of faculty and academic staff at UW System schools, endorsed a proposal to reallocate the funds for student financial aid. The union does not include representatives from UW-Madison.
STEVENS POINT, Wis. — Officials with the University of Wisconsin System said they won’t rush to fill the chancellor position recently vacated at UW-Stevens Point.
Linda Bunnell resigned from the position Thursday. There were controversies involving her leadership and handling of a traffic accident in her state vehicle.
The National Science Foundation on Thursday said it has awarded nearly $5 million in grants to 14 universities so they can participate in the IBM (NYSE: IBM)-Google (NSDQ: GOOG) cloud computing initiative for research projects.
Through the NSF’s Cluster Exploratory, or CLuE, program, the universities will use software and services running on the IBM-Google data center. The companies launched the joint university initiative in 2007 to help teach computer science students. UW-Madison is among the recipients.
Mark Rosenberg, a beloved, brainy and bespectacled Florida International University professor and administrator whose FIU career spans more than three decades, emerged from a national search Saturday to become the school’s fifth president.
His selection came in dramatic fashion as the remaining finalist withdrew only hours before the FIU Board of Trustees was to make its decision.
For months somebody (I don’t know who) has been running a Facebook profile that bears my name, my personal information and several photos of me.
An old high school friend had connected with the faker, instead of me. Several of the people with whom fake Matt is friends also appeared to be fakes, including a copycat of Vertex Pharmaceuticals ( VRTX – news – people ) founder and chief executive Joshua Boger. (Boger has a real Facebook profile but isn’t friends with me. He declined to comment on the fakesters.) I couldn’t see this Fake Matt’s profile myself, even by searching for my name.
U.S. News and World Report named several University of Wisconsin graduate programs among the best in the country as a part of its â??Best Graduate Schoolsâ? 2010 list released Thursday.
After a controversial traffic accident and a no-confidence vote by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point student government, Chancellor Linda Bunnell announced her resignation Thursday, effective May 31.
After months of controversy concerning her leadership, the embattled chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point will step down May 31, officials announced Thursday.
Linda Bunnell, who was appointed chancellor in 2004, became the public focus of attention after she failed to report an accident in her state vehicle in February. Community anger over the incident brought to the surface a long-simmering battle among Bunnell, the UW-Stevens Point Foundation and some of the school’s major donors.
University of Wisconsin -Stevens Point Chancellor Linda Bunnell announced her resignation Thursday amid criticism from students and donors and questions about how she handled a traffic crash.
Bunnell, who has been chancellor since 2004, said she was stepping down effective May 31. The announcement was an abrupt turnaround from last week, when she said she planned to lead the central Wisconsin school known for its environmental programs another five years.
Central Wisconsin will lose a strong force in economic development and higher education with Linda Bunnell’s planned resignation May 31, local leaders said.
Many are confident, though, that the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point will replace its chancellor with a new leader who will build upon Bunnell’s contributions.
Linda Bunnell, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, resigned today following a hit-and-run incident that occurred after she had bought three alcoholic drinks, the Associated Press reported.
In mid-February, Ms. Bunnell hit a parked car with her state-owned vehicle, then drove off. She later acknowledged that she had purchased a cocktail and two glasses of wine at a club in Madison, Wis., before the accident, but â??she had time to drink only one of the three and was not tipsy at the time of the crash,â? according to local news reports.
Embattled Chancellor Linda Bunnell announced Wednesday that she will step down from her leadership of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point on May 31.
The decision comes after nearly a month of controversy in which the university’s Student Government Association passed a unanimous vote of no-confidence in Bunnell’s leadership, and UWSP Foundation leaders criticized her spending and her poor relationships with some members of the community.
I would like to respond to the Opinion piece by Dan Walters on April 23 (â??Cynicism justified on conduct codeâ?) regarding the proposed changes to student conduct policies for the UW System. Mr. Walters is wrong when he argues students have the right to full representation by an attorney at a formal misconduct hearing. There simply is no such right, as a review of case law will attest.
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Chancellor Linda Bunnell announced her resignation Thursday amid criticism from students and donors and questions about how she handled a traffic accident.
Bunnell, who has been chancellor since 2004, said she was stepping down effective May 31. The announcement was an abrupt turnaround from last week, when she said she would not resign and planned to lead the central Wisconsin school known for its environmental programs for another five years.
During the annual State of the City address Wednesday, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said Madison must work to recover from the current economic recession by restructuring and redefining its economy to make the city both progressive and pro-business in the future.
The Chancellor of University of Wisconsin Stevens Point says she knew she was wrong when she left the scene of a hit and run accident in Madison in February.
The University’s leader says she began the evening of February 17th, 2009 at The Madison Club, a members only establishment.
Bunnell says she ordered a mixed drink and two glasses of wine at the club, but only had time to drink one glass of wine before driving to a speech given by Wisconsin Governor Jim
Metro bus riders will be taking alternate streets on several routes beginning Wednesday.
Landowners interested in learning how to grow switchgrass can now get a “how to” guide from the University of Wisconsin-Extension.
The guide, “Establishing and Managing Switchgrass,” was released Wednesday.
Switchgrass is a native prairie grass that has been shown to be a good fuel source for heat or power.
The late Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson fostered the idea of a day dedicated to awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment. The Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, devoted to “understanding the relationships between people and the planet, and on seeking solutions to environmental problems at all scales,” is hosted by UW-Madison. It came about through the contributions of Wisconsinites Nelson, John Muir and Aldo Leopold.
