The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the consideration of race in college admissions, a ruling that may complicate how Wisconsin’s most competitive universities recruit diverse student bodies.
Evers previously said he would not sign a state budget that includes tax cuts for wealthy residents or maintains a $32 million cut to defund diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the UW System.
Both measures were included in the budget passed Thursday, but Evers has since softened his position and signaled he could support the UW provision because Republicans on the budget-writing committee included a companion provision that allows UW officials to request for the funding to be restored if the committee approves their plans for it.
In Wisconsin, the decision will likely have the largest effect on the University of Wisconsin System’s most selective campus, UW-Madison. While the school has long struggled to attract students of color, it recently ushered in its most diverse freshman class in the institution’s history. About one-third of last fall’s freshmen, or 2,695 total, identified as students of color.
Taxes would be cut across all income levels, with the wealthiest benefiting the most, and the University of Wisconsin would get nearly half a billion dollars less than it asked for under a two-year spending plan up for approval Wednesday in the state Senate.
Another contentious spending provision is Republicans’ plan to cut the University of Wisconsin System’s budget by $32 million in an attempt to force the school officials to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion offices and programming.
As part of a $9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wisconsin’s state climatology office will get $1.25 million over four years to reinvent itself. The goal is to raise the profile of the office and make it the go-to spot when people want weather and climate information, said Steve Vavrus, who became the state climatologist this year and heads up the office. Vavrus, also a senior scientist at UW’s Nelson Institute Center for Climatic Research, had worked with the office frequently in past years.
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN: The University of Wisconsin System’s budget would be cut by $32 million, leaving UW nearly half a billion dollars short of funding it requested. Republicans cut the amount they say would be spent on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, over objections from UW leaders who say they may have to raise tuition and cut programs in response. The budget also does not include funding for UW’s top priority building project, $197 million to demolish and build a new College of Engineering building on the Madison campus. Republican leaders say there are ongoing discussions about funding that project.
Republican lawmakers who control the Legislature’s budget-writing committee on Thursday voted to cut funding to the University of Wisconsin System by $32 million and nearly 200 positions in an effort to eliminate diversity offices and programming on campuses.
University of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman defended campus diversity programming this week as Republican state lawmakers consider cutting university funding by around $32 million because of opposition to those efforts.
Campus closures, tuition hikes and the end of some educational programs are all possibilities if the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee goes through with proposed cuts over diversity, equity and inclusion offices on campus, UW System President Jay Rothman said Monday.
A fierce battle over diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education is being waged in the Wisconsin State Assembly, where it has temporarily paralyzed the state budget vote.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said Wednesday he would veto any state budget that includes a proposed $32 million, Republican-backed state funding cut aimed at eliminating University of Wisconsin System diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
Wisconsin Republicans have delayed a vote on the state’s budget for the University of Wisconsin System, hours after a top GOP leader pledged the Legislature would cut the UW’s budget by tens of millions of dollars.
Lawmakers writing the next state budget spent eight hours behind closed doors Tuesday only to delay action on the University of Wisconsin System after the Legislature’s top Republican said UW campuses would see a $32 million cut in state funding − a move the Democratic governor characterized as a “war” on higher education.
After hours of negotiations behind closed doors, Republicans on the Legislature’s budget committee put off any vote Tuesday on whether to slash the University of Wisconsin System’s budget by $32 million in an attempt to gut funding for diversity, equity and inclusion offices and programming.
A UW System student poll and video of a UW-Madison student voicing racist views has officials debating how to regulate freedom of expression at universities.
UW-Madison researchers are part of a five-year, $29 million National Institutes of Health grant using gene editing to develop drugs for two rare diseases that cause blindness.
In the biomedical engineering design program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, students craft solutions to real world problems.
Homo naledi’s shoulders — which were oriented for better climbing — and teeth shared similarities with earlier hominins like Australopithecus, said Dr. John Hawks, professor of anthropology and paleoanthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“To the University of Wisconsin–Madison student body, faculty and community, I sincerely apologize for the harmful actions and comments I made towards African American individuals,” Godlewski said. “My words were utterly disgusting and unacceptable, whether in public or private.”
After a stinging defeat by the Legislature’s Republican-controlled budget committee, which last week rejected a new engineering building at UW-Madison, campus and University of Wisconsin System leaders vowed to bring the project to fruition.
Republicans on the Legislature’s budget committee voted for a $2.4 billion capital budget Thursday, the largest of any state building program in years but considerably smaller than the one proposed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
The capital budget would also leave out funding for several key projects, including a new school of engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the UW System’s top priority.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s new engineering building is in jeopardy after the state Legislature’s powerful state budget-writing committee voted to leave the project out of its $2.4 billion spending plan for state building projects.
GOP lawmakers rejected funding Thursday for the University of Wisconsin’s top priority, the replacement of an engineering building on its flagship Madison campus, approving allocations for about 60% of the state government and UW projects sought by Gov. Tony Evers.
Republicans’ proposed capital budget does not include the $347 million that Evers proposed to build a new engineering building on UW-Madison’s campus, a top priority for the university. A new building would replace the College of Engineering’s 83-year-old facility, which is currently in “poor and unsatisfactory condition,” adding over 1,000 engineering students per year.
Realta Fusion, a fusion energy startup founded in the fall of 2022, received $12 million from the federal government and other organizations to design a magnetic bottle device that could help reduce the reliance industries that make common materials like plastic have on fossil fuels, Realta said.
That company was spun out of a two-year project at UW-Madison led by physics professor Cary Forest, who is Realta’s co-founder and chief scientific officer. The money for that project — $10 million — came from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Project’s Agency-Energy, or ARPA-E program.
Most University of Wisconsin System schools will fall millions of dollars short of the money needed to maintain operations by the end of 2023-24 without additional state support, System President Jay Rothman warned Thursday.
The SSTAR Lab, which conducts original research and evaluation on issues related to college opportunity and student success, will conduct a policy scan of federal, state and institutional policies and programs to develop a comprehensive, publicly available dataset and web-based tool identifying programs that provide financial relief to Indigenous students.
Maybe Jennifer Mnookin had never waded in a cranberry bog, held a piglet at a state fair or ate cheese curds before she became chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, but she’s figuring out the Wisconsin Idea in her first year holding the top job on campus.
Coumbe Gitter, who got her degree in biochemistry with an environmental science minor, graduated in good company outside of her own family tree — Saturday’s ceremony was the largest commencement in UW-Madison history, with 7,826 degrees conferred, according to UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin.
More than 10,000 Madison-area college students will receive degrees this weekend over a two-day span starting Friday.
Mary Papageorge is a testament to putting her classroom learning to use. As one of the 70% of UW-Madison students who have a job offer in hand by the time they don their caps and gowns for commencement, Papageorge will take what she learned in class and on her portable Irish dance platform to improve consumer relationships.
The fight over racial equity and free speech on Wisconsin college campuses is intensifying, mirroring a national battle as Republicans work to close campus diversity offices and demand students and faculty treat conservative speakers with respect.
The language sciences department will offer a semester-long introductory ASL course starting this summer and fall. Next spring, the department will also add a second level ASL course.
The University of Wisconsin System will still launch its Wisconsin Tuition Promise this fall, using $13.8 million it has on hand to fund the program for low-income students.
They are all items you can find in the collections at the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy (AIHP), an archival library located in the basement of Rennebohm Hall, which houses the School of Pharmacy at UW-Madison.
UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin is asking for meetings with student leaders from the Blk Pwr Coalition to address ongoing concerns following a racist video featuring a white student that went viral this week.
In the spirit of progress, Winneshiek addressed the crowd gathering around a new set of sculptures at UW-Madison signifying the Ho-Chunk Nation’s historic presence on campus, as well as its future in the area.
In response to a now-deleted video of a racist rant posted by an alleged UW-Madison student, the university condemned the “deeply harmful” content but said it can’t discipline students or employees for legally protected speech on their social media accounts.
Isbell, who has spent a large portion of his career at Georgia Tech University and has a background in computer science, is expected to start Aug. 1. The provost is the chief academic officer overseeing all educational programs and faculty and outreach areas including the UW-Extension and Wisconsin Public Media.
Charles Isbell Jr. — a dean at the Georgia Institute of Technology — will lead as University of Wisconsin-Madison’s provost starting this summer.
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered a new species of ancient reptile in central Wyoming and named it in the language of the First Nations people indigenous to the area where it was found.
The seven-story building, located in the block between University Avenue and Johnson, Orchard and Charter streets that formerly housed the Service Building and Service Annex, is expected to open in 2025. It will contain flexible classroom space seating up to 1,100 people and a learning center to help students in introductory courses.
Vice Chancellor for University Relations Charles Hoslet said that the university has positively impacted every part of the state since it was founded in 1848. “From the beginning, UW–Madison has been a vital contributor to the state’s industry and economy, and has helped raise people’s standard of living,” Hoslet said.
A “ground blessing ceremony” — which couldn’t accurately be called a groundbreaking ceremony, as a pit already exists where two former maintenance buildings stood — was held Tuesday, with university officials celebrating the growth of the school and emphasizing the importance of data analytics to UW-Madison and society going forward.
“That is what I’m most excited about this building and what we’re doing here,” Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said Tuesday. “To solve real, important problems in the world, so often we must engage across. We can’t do that if we’re siloed. We can’t do that if we’re wearing blinders.”
At over 29,000 square feet, the center includes a pool, an ice rink, indoor track, outdoor terrace, a gaming area, teaching kitchen and weightlifting equipment on every floor. There’s also an area to relax and recharge, with massage rooms, napping pods and yoga studios.
“As we know, mental health and physical health are areas that we need to help our students the most,” said Aaaron Hobson, the director of recreation and wellbeing at UW. “I hope that they find what they’re looking for in terms of their health and wellbeing needs.”
The four-story Bakke Recreation & Wellbeing Center overlooking Lake Mendota replaces the former Natatorium on the campus’ west side. It includes traditional aspects of a gym like basketball courts, a jogging track, a pool and workout areas, plus a climbing wall, ice rink and teaching kitchen.
Nestled along the Lake Mendota shore with a curvature that mimics the waves, a new UW-Madison recreation facility is set to reshape how students view health and wellness.
UW Health and Madison Area Technical College are starting a nurse apprentice program to help diverse medical and nursing assistants get nursing degrees and become registered nurses.
The University of Wisconsin will be launching its first American Sign Language program in the summer of 2023, according to the UW’s Language Sciences website.
The university revealed that construction will begin Tuesday on a nearly 350,000-square-foot building to house the School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences, which was launched in 2019.
Public funding for the University of Wisconsin System ranks as one of the lowest in the nation, according to a new report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr., the first African American to hold that role, will be UW-Madison’s spring commencement speaker.
Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin’s life was personally changed by UW-Madison nearly a year and a half before she took the reins last summer.
The university’s tenet of education extending beyond the classroom has propelled her as chancellor, she told the audience. In December 2020, she donated a kidney to her father, who was diagnosed with late-stage kidney disease. A synthetic solution created at UW-Madison, which increased preservation times for organs outside of the body, allowed her kidney to safely travel on a red-eye flight from Los Angeles to her dad in Boston.
The University of Wisconsin held an Investiture ceremony April 14 at the Hamel Music Center to officially recognize Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin as the 30th leader of the University of Wisconsin.
rom a campus-wide cleanup to a sustainable cooking competition, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Office of Sustainability will launch a free week of nature-centered events from April 17-April 22.
After nearly five years of construction, new upgrades to the Babcock Hall Dairy Plant and a three-story addition for the Center for Dairy Research are finally complete at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
UW-Madison didn’t promptly report a 2019 lab incident involving a potentially dangerous bird flu virus to some authorities, raising questions about whether the public can trust oversight of such controversial research, an investigative reporter alleged Tuesday in a USA TODAY opinion piece promoting her new book.
