The Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities will hold a public hearing on Thursday, December 12 at UW-Oshkosh.  The Committee will consider the following bills relating to UW System:

  • AB 536– establishing a career advancement scholarship program
  • AB 444– free expression

See the public hearing notice for  more details.

The Board of Regents met on Thursday, December 5 and Friday, December 6 at UW-Whitewater. The event kicked off with the All In Wisconsin tour, which coincided with the Board of Regents meeting. Chancellor Watson kicked off the event discussing the university’s success in a variety of areas and highlighted the findings of UW-Whitewater’s new Economic Impact Report. In addition, Regents in the Education Committee voted to approve revisions to UW-Madison’s freshman admissions policy. They were also presented the annual report on the system’s academic programing, showing UW institutions implemented 38 new academic programs, with the majority in areas of high market demand.  The Capital Planning and Budget Committee approved seven project requests, including UW-La Crosse’s request for authority to construct the $49-million Fieldhouse and Soccer Support Facility. A full recap of the December 5 meeting can be found here.

The Friday, December 6 meeting focused on education options that are available to nontraditional adult learners across the UW System. One way the System is expanding access to adult learners is by serving returning adults looking for opportunities in innovative online formats through the newly formed UW Extended Campus. See the UW System news release to learn more.  In addition, Regent President Andrew S. Petersen provided updates on several ongoing searches, including the search for the next UW System President. As the search gets under way, there will be listening sessions to gather input from faculty, staff, other university stakeholders. Input will also be collected on the UW System’s presidential search website. A full recap of the December 6 meeting can be found here.

Meeting materials, including agenda and video webcast, can be found at the Board of Regents website.

President Ray Cross and Regent President Andrew Petersen joined UW-Whitewater Chancellor Dwight Watson on Thursday, December 5, for the eighth stop of UW System’s All In Wisconsin tour to highlight the findings of UW-Whitewater’s new Economic Impact Report. The report showed UW-Whitewater injects $514.9 million into the regional economy, supporting 4,480 jobs and $198.7 million in wages and generating an estimated $23.1 million in tax revenue to the state of Wisconsin. See the UW System news release for a full recap of the event. UW-Whitewater was the final stop for 2019. The tour will resume in early 2020 and visit the four remaining UW System universities.

The Assembly Committee on Government Accountability and Oversight held an executive session on Wednesday, December 4 to vote on the following legislation related to UW System:

  • AB 370– state debt guaranties; delegations by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System; organizations affiliated with the UW System; and standards of conduct for certain UW System employees

The Committee voted to pass the bill in a 5-4 vote.

The Senate Committee on Universities, Technical Colleges, Children and Families held a public hearing on Wednesday, December 4.  The Committee heard the following bills relating to UW System:

  • SB 497– recognizing teaching hours for providing certain extension services of the UW System
  • SB 537– veteran-related tuition grants
  • SB 228– Marquette University School of Dentistry rural scholarship program

The State Building Commission is scheduled to meet on Thursday, December 12, 2019 starting at 9:30 a.m. See the attached meeting notice for more details. The agenda for this meeting is available on the DFDM website. 

 

The Senate Committee on Universities, Technical Colleges, Children and Families will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, December 4 starting at 9:30 a.m. The Committee will hear the following bills relating to UW System:

  • SB 497– recognizing teaching hours for providing certain extension services of the UW System
  • SB 537– veteran-related tuition grants
  • SB 228– Marquette University School of Dentistry rural scholarship program

See the public hearing notice for more information.

The Assembly Committee on Government Accountability and Oversight will hold an Executive Session on Wednesday, December 4 starting at 10:00 am. The committee will consider the following bill relating to UW System:

  • AB 370– state debt guaranties; delegations by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System; organizations affiliated with the UW System; and standards of conduct for certain UW System employees

UW System President Ray Cross testified in opposition of this bill at the public hearing. View testimony documents here.

See the Executive Session notice for more information

 

Are you interested in learning how state education policies stand throughout the Unites States? The Education Commission of the States has a resource that tracks education policy on a wide variety of education topics including enacted and vetoed bills, state education policy watch list, and an archive of state policy tracking for the 1996 through 2016 legislative sessions. Visit the State Education Policy Tracking website to see the resource.

Experts from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, Education Commission of the States, National Conference of State Legislatures and State Higher Education Executive Officers, discuss higher education policy developments that occurred in the states during the 2019 legislative sessions, major state policy trends in higher education and the policy outlook in statehouses next year.  Visit the Education Commission website to view the recorded webinar.