The opening of a new academic year at UW Oshkosh is an annual ritual that is normally filled with enthusiasm and hope for a year of high achievement on campus. This year the opening day mood was tempered by the reality of a $13.6 million two-year budget shortfall...Instead, (Chancellor Richard) Wells tackled the budget issue head first by outlining how the university planned to cope with shortfall. Some of the tools to deal with the budget shortfall on the local campus – furloughs, deferred pay increases, and tuition increases, were mandated by the state. But Wells pointed out that strategic local budgets cuts and use of contingency funds had enabled UW Oshkosh to identify $1.5 million for strategic re-investment in campus initiatives. Of the $1.5 million the university is using $500,000 for a unique program that will have a positive impact on the students it serves. Wells announced that the $500,000 was going to be used to create 150 more student jobs on campus...

A new academic program for fall 2009 will give students a taste of multiple majors to prepare them for careers in high-demand fields...

The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh is creating more campus jobs in a bid to help students deal with higher tuition. The school has freed up an additional $500,000 to fund student employment...

Following a tumultuous year that included a vote of no confidence and eventual resignation of Chancellor Linda Bunnell, the new administrations at the height of that battle at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point are working to ensure history doesn't repeat itself. Interim Chancellor Mark Nook and new Student Government Association leaders, president Scott Asbach and vice president Nathaniel Schultz, are going to extensive lengths to keep open the lines of communication and build solid relationships...

The Communication Arts Center at the University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley has been a long time coming. With the process of unveiling the $14 million center to the public now under way, those who have played a role in bringing the project to fruition on the Menasha campus are all smiles...

The decorated humanist and professor Martha Nussbaum spoke Monday on the importance of humanities in democracy, kicking off UW-Madison’s “Year of Humanities.” In an effort to “preserve, interpret, and change the cultures that make us who we are,” UW-Madison and the Arts and Humanities Strategic Planning Council named 2009-10 the “Year of Humanities” to showcase the diversity, breadth and relevance that the arts and humanities must continue to provide in our education and society...

Wisconsin’s not quite over the flu. Badgers coach Bret Bielema said Monday at his weekly news conference that after more than 40 guys were sick over the course of last week, two new players showed flulike symptoms on Sunday...

Three college roommates in La Crosse face fines totaling $26,000 for an underage drinking party they allegedly hosted during the Labor Day weekend...

In an effort to proactively enhance crisis communications, the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh added another mass communication resource to the institution's emergency and crisis communication strategy. The system enables the University to broadcast emergency messages through speakers in four locations on campus...

A lawsuit revived over the summer contests the right of graduates of Wisconsin law schools — including Marquette — to practice law in the state without taking the bar examination...

Wisconsin is the last state in the nation to uphold the “diploma privilege” for law students, something that may be helping or hurting students, depending on where they attend school.The policy allows students who graduate from the University of Wisconsin, as well as Marquette University, to be exempted from taking the bar exam. Instead, after meeting certain requirements, the students are able to go right to working at a number of law firms...

As the H1N1 flu virus continues to spread throughout the country, many local households are finding themselves in a very difficult position in terms of what to do if one person falls sick with the illnesses while those that share their home are still healthy. Medical experts are urging healthy families to formulate a plan if and when members start to get sick. The virus, also know as the swine flu, has already hit the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus and has quickly spread, but health officials are offering advice on how people can protect themselves...

Green studies are blossoming at area colleges, reflecting an increasing interest among businesses to reduce their energy costs...At the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, a new business program is aimed at linking business and science to green thinking...

The number of college campuses offering land lines in dorm rooms continues to shrink. This fall, both Ripon College and UW-Stevens Point stopped providing the service. It's a trend students say isn't so surprising...

When the coughing stops is probably a better sign of when a swine flu patient is no longer contagious, experts said after seeing new research that suggests the virus can still spread many days after a fever goes away..."This study shows you're not contagious for a day or two. You're probably contagious for about a week," said Gaston De Serres, a scientist at the Institute of Public Health in Quebec...

In an effort to support alternatives to traditional scholarly publishing, five major research universities announced their joint commitment to open-access journals on Monday. The institutions—Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of California at Berkeley—signed a compact agreeing to the “timely establishment” of mechanisms for providing financial support for free open-access journals...