Editor: I attend the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. I am writing to inform readers about a bill that would ensure a more geographically diverse Board of Regents and am urging UW students to contact Gov. Doyle to encourage him to sign this legislation...

Laughter and pride filled the University Ballroom at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Saturday night as the school looked back on 40 years and talked of continued growth. About 200 people attended the anniversary gala, which featured music, student art, dinner and dessert. The gala capped a week of events celebrating Chancellor Deborah L. Ford’s inauguration and Parkside’s founding 40 years ago...

Courage was the cornerstone of Deborah Ford’s acceptance speech Friday as new chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. “How will we embrace our future with courage?” she asked the audience in the campus cinema. “We must collaborate, communicate and cooperate”...

There were no oaths of office for Debbie Ford as she became the sixth chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside on Friday afternoon. Kevin Reilly, president of the University of Wisconsin System, simply lifted the silver chancellor's medallion from its stand and settled it on Ford's neck...In her inaugural address, Ford emphasized the four themes that she has spoken of already: academic excellence, student success, community engagement, and diversity and inclusiveness. As chancellor, she said, she would develop a shared vision for success, involve others, listen attentively, build new partnerships, lead by example, and exhibit courage...

There is no isolated ivory tower for the people who put out The Ranger News, the student newspaper of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Budget reality has hit there, too. In the middle of October, the newspaper ceased printing and transformed itself into a purely electronic publication, said Jo Kirst, the paper's editor in chief...

...The University of Wisconsin-Madison band and concert choir plan to honor the 100th anniversary of the first performance of "On, Wisconsin" this week...

Eight proposals have been awarded funding through a tuition increase and associated program approved last summer for UW-Madison, university officials announced Friday. The proposals from faculty, staff and students include ones to "cultivate international internship experiences for UW-Madison students," to add staff at the physics and chemistry learning centers and to provide international students with information about Madison and how to comply with federal visa rules, according to a university news release...

Chancellor Biddy Martin approved the first round of proposals for the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates late last week. Out of 29 proposals submitted by the Oct. 1 deadline, eight were approved after being worked through an extensive review process that included the MIU Oversight Board, Student Board, Chancellor’s Office and Provost’s Office. Approximately $3.8 million of the total $10 million available for the next two years was allocated this round...

...More than 100 people swayed under the glow of multi-colored party lights Saturday at UW-L's Valhalla Hall for the university's Social Dance Club's danceathon. Funds raised from the 10-hour event involving salsa, hip hop, contemporary, techno and swing dancing benefited the Boys&Girls Clubs of Greater La Crosse, said dance club spokeswoman and UW-L senior Anna Lageson...

...The Town of Menasha collector, now 89, has donated about 100 of his radios to the University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley for instructional purposes and aesthetic display. UW-Fox Valley is showcasing a variety of about 24 radios from the 1920s to 1950s in a new exhibit that combines the art and history of radio...

There's been plenty of talk about education this week in Wisconsin.  At the UW-Madison campus on Saturday, the focus was on getting girls interested in math and science. The Microbial Sciences Building hosted an annual event called Science in Action on Saturday.  About 350 sixth, seventh, and eighth grade girls worked with small-scale engineering projects...

Donations to the UW Foundation have decreased 12 percent since last September’s economic downturn, prompting UW-Madison’s colleges and departments to cut back on certain program spending.
The Foundation, which solicits, controls and distributes donations from alumni and friends of the university, reported a 12 percent drop in donations between September 2008 and September 2009 (from $126,903,723 to $112,261,756) while the number of donations received dropped 7.5 percent. Andrew Wilcox, the Foundation’s president, described the decrease as a “freefall” compared to past years, and said the Foundation’s endowment—the pool of invested, long-term donations—also took a substantial hit with the recession, falling from $2.9 to $2.27 billion...

After nearly six months of negotiations, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville finalized on Wednesday a partnership with Case IH Agriculture -- a leading agricultural equipment manufacturer based in Racine...

Many children in war-torn Uganda are forced into a life of violence and struggle to receive an education. A group of students at the University of Wisconsin-Stout have decided to help do something about it. After attending a campus screening of "The Rescue" — a documentary that explores the history of the conflict in northern Uganda and the children who are forced to fight in it — UW-Stout students Lauren Johnson and Rebekah Johnson formed a group to raise money for schools in the country...

Democrats who control the Wisconsin state Senate have unveiled a package of proposals they say will help create and retain jobs and businesses and improve worker education and training...One of the proposals would spend $2 million to increase partnerships between businesses and the University of Wisconsin...

...In the 10 years since it was first administered, NSSE (pronounced "nessie") has developed into something of a movement. Nearly 1,400 four-year colleges and universities have participated at least once, and about four out of five have done so multiple times. More than 2.4 million students have completed the survey, giving researchers a treasure-trove of data about how students spend their time in college. The survey also has provided a road map to help hundreds of campuses around the country pinpoint – and focus efforts on – both potential strengths and trouble spots...

So what does engagement look like? USA TODAY asked Indiana University researchers who administer the National Survey of Student Engagement to look at the performance of 443 schools that participate in USA TODAY's database of NSSE schools to find schools whose scores suggest they do a good job of engaging different kinds of students based on a number of different factors. Then we asked the schools to tell us what they're up to. Here are some examples of what we found...

Not all transfer experiences are created equal. So says the latest National Survey of Student Engagement, which for the first time compared data from students who had made "vertical" transfers, from community colleges to four-year institutions, and students who had made "horizontal" transfers, between four-year colleges...

Members of the Association for the Study of Higher Education this week heard a sharp critique hurled at the influential annual study that many have relied on or used as a model for their own work: the National Survey of Student Engagement, widely known as "Nessie" after the acronym NSSE. In a paper presented at the group's annual conference here on Friday, just three days before the scheduled release of this year's NSSE results, Stephen R. Porter, an associate professor of research and evaluation at Iowa State University, argued that the survey of undergraduates "has very limited validity for its intended purposes and that researchers and institutions must adopt a new approach to surveying college students"...

With student debt rising and more of those enrolled failing to graduate in four years, there is a growing sentiment that college may not be the best option for all students. At the same time, President Obama has called on every American to receive at least one year of higher education or vocational training. Behind the rhetoric lies disagreement over a series of issues: which students are most likely to succeed in college; what kind of college they should attend; whether the individual or society benefits more from postsecondary education; and whether college is worth the high cost and likely long-term debt. The Chronicle Review asked higher-education experts to weigh in...