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In response to a declining economic climate and growing costs of higher education, the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents is working to create a systemwide policy to make textbooks more affordable for students. The policy also intends to meet federal policy requiring colleges to address rising textbook costs and alleviate some of the burden on students...
Under new guidelines proposed by the University of Wisconsin System, professors would be encouraged to name their textbooks early in the year, course schedules would include book prices, and teachers would only move on to new textbook editions when the content has significantly changed. The proposed guidelines, up for consideration next week before the UW System Board of Regents, are aimed at helping students save money on textbooks...
Even amidst gloomy budget forecasts and likely cuts, UW-Madison officials had reason to celebrate last week. The bids to build an addition to the Chazen Museum of Art came in around $9 million under budget, eliminating worries that some elements of the project would be shortchanged....UW-Madison has been able to save millions of dollars on building projects over the past few months, in large part because of the slow construction market. Contractors, short on work, are trying to outbid each other for jobs in one of the few bright spots in the industry — campus construction projects...
A state committee vote Wednesday could mean University of Wisconsin schools will have to give up less of their reserve funds to help pay for student financial aid. Gov. Jim Doyle’s proposed 2009-11 state budget included taking $25 million from UW System school reserves — earmarked for maintenance and other projects — to bolster student aid. UW-La Crosse was to provide about $5.3 million, more than any other UW System school. But the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee voted Wednesday to reduce that amount to $16.25 million. That would reduce what each UW campus pays by 35 percent; UW-L would be tapped for $3.4 million...
The Adult and Student Services Center honored 26 students at the Pyle Center Wednesday for their tenacity in earning a UW-Madison degree. According to Judith Strand, director of the Adult and Student Services Center, the goal of the event was to commemorate “non-traditional” students who persevered in pursuing their academic goals...
Here is some more news related to the swine flu -- and this time there is a local hook. University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin sent an e-mail to members of the university community asking faculty, staff and students to "cancel all nonessential planned travel to Mexico until further notice." Martin also noted that UW-Madison has set up a Web site to update the campus on influenza information...
The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay has indefinitely postponed a study abroad program that was to take place this summer in Mexico. Swine flu has that and other universities considering what precautions to take against the outbreak. Students studying abroad are weighing whether to come home early following the outbreak of swine flu. UW-Green Bay currently has two students in Mexico, according to spokesman Mike Heine...
Focusing on the positives and viewing UW-Parkside as a university for all of southeastern Wisconsin will help to change its image, attract more students and build a wider fundraising base. That’s the view of Thomas Keon, one of five finalists for the chancellor’s position at the school...
There was optimism Wednesday that there could be a day in the future when all Racine high school graduates could get free college tuition. Representatives from three cities and a University of Wisconsin think tank spoke Wednesday evening at the Wingspread Conference Center about their experiences with free college tuition programs. Two Racine City Council aldermen have proposed starting a similar free college education program called the Racine Promise...
The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay on Wednesday announced three finalists for the position of provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. They are: Julia Wallace, executive vice president and provost, Central Michigan University; Terry Allison, dean, college of arts and letters, California State University-Los Angeles; Charles Hohm, founding dean, college of natural and behavioral sciences, California State University-Dominguez Hills...
The former treasurer of a University of Wisconsin-Madison fraternity blamed an addiction to video games for his alleged theft of more than $12,000 from the fraternity’s coffers, according to a criminal complaint...
The United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) yesterday presented its 2009 International Distance Learning Award to the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Master of Engineering in Engine Systems (MEES) program in conjunction with the 2009 National Conference in St. Louis, Missouri...
Where administrators are trying to limit budget cuts to academics, Learning and Technology Services is trying to help make up the difference. University administration has given LTS a $645,155 target for budget reductions. To meet the request, LTS has proposed nearly $381,000 of that in base cuts, and about $264,000 in one-time cuts, according to an April 6 LTS newsletter...
The Legislature's budget committee on Wednesday reversed the Governor's proposed spending cuts for Wisconsin technical colleges and trimmed his plan to shield UW students from the impact of tuition hikes. The Joint Finance Committee voted 12-4 to spend $5.2 million more on the Wisconsin Technical College System than Gov. Jim Doyle proposed...To pay for the increase, they cut the governor's plan to boost financial aid for UW System students by more than $20 million. The committee also transferred some of that money to increase financial aid for technical college students and to reduce by $8.75 million a controversial $25 million transfer proposed by Doyle from UW System campus reserve funds...
Wisconsin legislators reversed Gov. Jim Doyle's proposed cut in state aid for the state's 16 technical colleges Wednesday, saying the jobless are increasingly relying on those schools for career retraining. Drafting its version of the state budget, the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee approved Doyle's plan to offset 2009-'10 tuition increases for University of Wisconsin System students whose family incomes are $60,000 a year or less. The "hold harmless" provision will cost an estimated $12million over the next two years...
The state Joint Committee on Finance Wednesday voted to slash Gov. Jim Doyle's proposal to increase financial aid for UW students. The original plan, which took $25 million from UW school auxiliary accounts, provided that amount in new aid to students from households making less than $60,000...
College leaders are often criticized for not making difficult choices, allowing programs that are essentially dead to keep breathing for years with the aid of minimal life support. But with endowment values tumbling and many state budgets slashed, campuses are now making some of those choices – even if they’re still not easy.As colleges grapple with a veritable menu of Sophie’s choices, essential questions are being raised: What kind of institution are we? What do we truly value, and what are mere luxuries accumulated in headier days?...
The Ohio legislature is poised to drastically change the way in which the state funds its public colleges and universities. The new funding formula is part of the state’s forthcoming operating budget, which is being debated this week by the legislature. Instead of funding institutions based on the number of students they enroll, the new formula would appropriate dollars based on colleges' ability to retain and graduate students...
The nation's most gifted college students rightly take pride in their academic achievements, be they in the area of environmental policy, medical research or the classics. But give them the chance to talk about their proudest accomplishments, and a refreshingly eclectic set of extracurricular interests and talents slips into view...
Critics rail. The NCAA preaches restraint. But spending on college athletics continues to soar, a new study finds. Major college programs increased their operating budgets by nearly 11% annually — bumping up expenditures by well more than a third over a recent three-year span — according to the report commissioned by the NCAA. That more than doubled the average 4.9% annual rise in universities' overall spending...
Almost six years after a lawsuit forced the city to pledge to keep better track of students who leave public schools without graduating, the number leaving high schools has continued to climb, according to a report to be released Thursday by the public advocate’s office...Though students can be classified as discharged for a number of benign reasons, including a transfer to a private school or a move out of the city, the Education Department has been sued several times for pushing out students who are struggling and are unlikely to graduate, a practice that can help raise the school’s test-score averages and graduation rates...