In a virtual meeting, the Board of Regents for the Universities of Wisconsin reviewed and approved the 2025-26 auxiliary rates at each UW university.
While the rate adjustments vary across the universities, the proposal will increase the average segregated fees for students at a four-year campus by 3.5% (or $55), and the average annual room and board cost for the majority of students living on a four-year campus by 2.8% (or $245), for an overall increase of 2.9%.
These increases are driven by several factors including wage adjustments, inflationary expenses, capital projects, and student-initiated programming. Even with the rates approved, overall auxiliary revenue balances are projected to decline.
- See UWs’ PowerPoint, “2025-26 Auxiliary Rate Recommendations”
Tuition proposals will be considered at a future meeting pending final action on the UWs’ $855 million biennial budget funding request. That budget request includes items tuition would need to address if not funded by the State, including: fully funded general wage adjustments; fully funded merit and market salary adjustments; and student accessibility and success initiatives.
Regents say farewell to colleague
The Regents presented Student Regent Audrey Jenkins with a resolution of appreciation, recognizing her service on the Board.
“I was only here a little bit, but it’s been really great … and I’m really grateful for the opportunity,” said Jenkins, who will graduate from UW-Parkside next month with a double major in Political Science and History.
Jenkins plans to attend law school in the future.
In other business, the Regents:
- Approved an addition to the UW Strategic Plan for Major IT Projects. This three-year project will modernize the data infrastructure and overall data collection process to provide new university-level student data warehouse capabilities while also streamlining submission of data at the UW Administration level. The new approach will create a process that reduces manual effort, aligns to broader data strategies, and reduces the lag-time to report official numbers. While the project budget is $3.3 million, this solution will collectively reduce or avoid $1.4 million in annual operating expenses;
- Approved UW-Eau Claire’s request for a Bachelor of Science in Assistive Systems and Robotics Engineering (ASRE). The program will apply fundamental robotics engineering principles to directly help individuals perform tasks that might be difficult or impossible otherwise, including robotics for daily personal tasks, personal mobility, rehabilitation, and communication. Collaborations with Mayo Clinic, the Eau Claire Aging and Disability Resource Center, and the Eau Claire County Veteran Services office will provide students with capstone project opportunities in designing assistive devices;
- Approved UW-Green Bay’s request for a Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering. The program represents an elevation of an existing software engineering emphasis within the B.S. in Computer Science at UW-Green Bay. Students will gain expertise in traditional software engineering and modern AI applications, preparing them for careers as software developers and software engineers in a wide range of industries;
- Approved UW-Madison’s request for a Master of Science in Plant Science and Technology and UW-Madison: Approval of a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Plant Science and Technology. These programs will consolidate and update the previous Agronomy and Horticulture degrees. The new programs will leverage faculty expertise and research interests while encouraging cross-disciplinary collaboration;
- Approved UW-Madison’s request for a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Graduates will be prepared as researchers who can work across multiple industries, including biotechnology, agriculture, environmental science, academia, state and federal agencies, and non-profit organizations;
- Approved UW-Madison’s request for a Master of Science in Quantitative Economics. This program will be housed in the College of Letters & Science. The curriculum will provide training in a range of high-demand quantitative skills in order to manage and analyze a growing volume of economic data. Graduates will be prepared to enter careers requiring specialized expertise in applying modern machine learning and data analytic tools to analyze economic data;
- Approved UW-Whitewater’s request for a Master of Science in Education (MSE) in Elementary Middle Education. This program is designed to accommodate individuals who hold a bachelor’s degree and who seek to enter the education field or broaden their teaching qualifications. Graduates will be prepared to obtain Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Educator Tier II licensure and to work as classroom teachers in grades kindergarten to ninth grade;
- Approved UW-Whitewater’s request for a Bachelor of Science in Medical Sciences. This program will be delivered at the UW-Whitewater Rock County campus in partnership with Mercyhealth. The program will offer two emphases, one in radiologic technology and the other in diagnostic sonography. Graduates will be prepared for careers such as MRI Technologists and as specialists in fields such as Nuclear Medicine;
- In the Education Committee, heard an update from UW-Oshkosh on their Academic Unit realignment. This realignment model was approved by the Education Committee and full board on August 22, 2024, with the new structure expected to go live on July 1, 2025. Edwin Martini, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, and Pascale Manning, Faculty Senate President and Associate Professor of English, summarized the considerable work that has been accomplished to date and shared lessons learned that might be valuable to other UW universities;
- In the Education Committee, heard an update from the ADA Title II Digital Accessibility Workgroup. John Achter, Senior Director of Student Success and Wellbeing at the UWs, facilitated a panel discussion on the new rule for Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act that requires public universities’ digital tools to be accessible by April 2026. The panel discussed the systemwide collective approach to support compliance and implementation of best practices for web and mobile applications, multimedia, and other digital tools;
- Approved UW System’s request for authority to construct nine All Agency maintenance and repair projects at an estimated total cost of $18,101,600 ($3,521,700 PRSB; $2,065,400 Cash; and $12,514,500 Seg Rev).
- At UW-Green Bay, the Environmental Science and Lab Sciences Buildings Exterior Envelope Repairs project completes various maintenance and repair procedures of the exterior envelope for both buildings. The scope of work includes concrete patching and repairs to sealants and metal wall panels;
- At UW- Madison, four projects are being considered for construction.
- The West Agricultural Research Station Hay Storage Replacement Building project will design and construct a new 200-foot x 60-foot storage building to replace the one that was burnt down in July 2024.
- The West Campus Electrical Substation Renovation project will replace the electrical distribution equipment including 14 5kV breakers, metering, relaying, and direct current (DC) system. The West Campus Substation was constructed in 1966 and is owned by both UW-Madison and Madison Gas & Electric (MG&E). The UW-owned components are original to the substation and are obsolete.
- The Multi-Building Sprinkler System Repair & Head Replacement project will correct various reliability and safety issues with the automatic sprinkler systems in Bascom Hall, Computer Science and Statistics, Health Science Learning Center, North Hall and South Hall.
- The Gordon Dining Dishroom Renovation project will address critical inefficiencies resulting from a design originally intended for an à la carte dining model. Constructed in 2011, the facility transitioned to an all-you-care-to-eat service model shortly after opening, which significantly increased the demand on dishroom operations and exposed several key shortcomings;
- At UW-Parkside, the Greenhouse & Headhouse Replacement project completely demolishes and replaces an existing 1970’s era greenhouse (4,000 GSF) that no longer serves the program requirements of the campus and exists in a state of disrepair. The replacement greenhouse will provide approximately 1,500 GSF of instructional greenhouse space and approximately 4,500 GSF of propagation focused greenhouse space;
- At UW-Stout, the Multi-Building Elevator Replacements projects upgrades three hydraulic jack elevators (Bowman Hall, Administration Building, Communications Technology Building), and two traction elevators (Swanson Library). The elevators will require some modifications of the mechanical equipment rooms and other building components to accommodate the equipment, and the appropriate power connections, ventilation and cooling;
- At UW-Stevens Point, the Multi-Building Emergency Generator Replacement project replaces emergency generators at the Communication Arts Center, George Stein Annex, and Trainer Natural Resources buildings. All the emergency generators have been in service for more than 50 years. All new generators will be natural gas and skid mounted on an exterior concrete slab. The project work also includes separating the emergency power loads from the optional power loads through new transfer switches, feeders, panels and circuits for all loads served by the new generators.
- At UW-Whitewater, the Warhawk Drive Reconstruction project will reconstruct Warhawk Drive between Schwager Drive and West Starin Road by replacing the pavement, damaged curb, driveway aprons, and sidewalk. The existing utility structures will have maintenance work performed as part of this project. Continued patching of potholes has happened since 2014, but the road is deteriorating faster than the university can keep up with repairs;
- Approved UW-Madison’s request for authority to accept a gift of a total of 64,016 square feet within two condominiums located at 309 N. Orchard Street and 330 N. Orchard Street, Madison, WI. The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery (WID) was developed as a public-private partnership with WARF, the Morgridge Institute for Research (MIR) and Board of Regents in 2006. Located at 330 N. Orchard Street, ownership of the building, called the Discovery Center, was bifurcated by the establishment of two condominium units: one owned by BOR and, the second owned by WARF. The condominium owned by BOR is dedicated to education and outreach. The balance of the building owned by WARF is focused on research uses. WARF wishes to divest themselves of their ownership interest and will transfer approximately 44,195 square feet of space to BOR with the remaining 176,782 square feet transferred to MIR. WARF is gifting a second condominium that was constructed below grade on an adjacent lot when the Discovery Center was first developed. This lot is now the location of the new CDIS building.
- Approved UW System’s request for authority to construct the Central Plants and Utility Distribution Renovations projects at UW-La Crosse and UW- Stevens Point for an estimated total cost of $14,624,100 ($8,696,990 Segregated Revenue, $4,394,110 Program Revenue Supported Borrowing and $1,533,000 CASH). At UW-La Crosse, they will expand the chilled water capacity at the east plant by replacing the non-functioning chiller with a new chiller. Existing primary-secondary chilled water pumping system will be removed and upgraded to a vari-prime pumping system to match the current pumping system installed in the west plant. At UW-Stevens Point, they will replace aging utility distribution infrastructure along Fourth Avenue, Isadore Street and Reserve Street to follow a planned municipal project to reconstruct the street. Steam and pumped condensate laterals to HEC, Science Building and CPS will be upgraded;
- In the Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee, heard a progress report on the Fiscal Year 2025 Audit Plan as well as summarized results of audits recently issued; and
- In the Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee, received an overview of the Office of Compliance and Risk Management’s duties and functions that support the Audit, Risk, and Compliance Committee’s oversight in accordance with the revised February 2025 Audit, Risk, and Compliance Committee Charter.
The next meeting of the Board of Regents will be June 5-6, 2025, at UW-Milwaukee.