UW System Clipsheet
November 24, 2009
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On Campus
"UW-P Theatre Arts wins honor for teaching excellence," Kenosha News, Nov. 23.
And the winner is ... the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Theatre Arts Department. The department will be presented the UW System Board of Regents 2009 Regents Teaching Excellence Award Dec. 11 in Madison. It is the first time a fine arts department has won the honor since the inception of the award in 1992...
"UW-River Falls chancellor appointed to national panel," Business Journal of Milwaukee, Nov. 23.
University of Wisconsin-River Falls chancellor Dean Van Galen has been appointed to a three-year term as a member of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Committee on the Undergraduate Experience...
"UW-Stout condemns cover-up charges," Nov. 21, Leader-Telegram.
A state employees union is accusing university and state officials of covering up safety problems at UW-Stout, an allegation the university vigorously denies. At issue is a report released late last month by a state Department of Commerce inspector - and later rescinded by the department - that ordered the university in Menomonie to fix 51 occupational health and safety violations that stemmed from a complaint about asbestos...
"Surveys detail students drinking habits," Leader-Telegram, Nov. 23.
Surveys of UW-Eau Claire and UW-Stout students suggest the universities' efforts to educate about alcohol-related issues are paying off...
"UHS receives 2,000 swine flue vaccines for students; flu cases decrease," Badger Herald, Nov. 24.
Just as University Health Services saw a drop in the number of people reporting swine flu-like symptoms for the second straight week, it announced Monday the H1N1 vaccine is now available to all students. UHS Director Sarah Van Orman said 2,000 doses of the vaccine are currently available and she expects more to arrive in the coming weeks...
"Project will allow UW-Parkside to meet stricter stormwater quality standards," Kenosha News, Nov. 22.
University of Wisconsin-Parkside will keep its athletic fields green while meeting stricter stormwater quality standards with a $617,000 project approved last week by the State Building Commission...
"UWSP dean's wearable art to be on display," Marshfield News-Herald, Nov. 24.
Jewelry designer Joan North will hold a special two-day showing of her wearable art at Q Gallery, 1108 Main St., Stevens Point, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Dec. 6 and Dec. 7. The public is invited to meet the artist and enjoy one -of-a-kind treasures that explore a variety of jewelry making processes...North came to Stevens Point in 1985 as dean of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point College of Professional Studies. She still holds that position...
State
"State reports 3 percent drop in contracts," Associated Press, Nov. 24.
The state spent 3 percent less on contractual services in the fiscal year that ended on June 30. That's according to a report submitted to the state Legislature's budget committee by the Department of Administration...Contracting by the University of Wisconsin System was also down 3 percent...
"FdL facing shortage of nurses," Fond du Lac Reporter, Nov. 24.
...Like the rest of the country, Fond du Lac faces an impending shortfall of nurses. The aging population, the potential for national affordable health care and a push to make digitized medical records accessible to all providers is expected to increase demands on medical providers. The nursing situation is stable at the moment because so many consumers are delaying procedures and preventative care due to the economy. But if things turn around, the nation could face a shortage of 260,000 nurses by 2025, said Dr. Greta Kostac, interim assistant dean for the school of nursing and department chair of graduate nursing studies at Marian University...
"Milwaukee faring well in bid for stimulus funds," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Nov. 23.
Milwaukee's city government is batting .528 in the first few innings of the stimulus game, but the game is far from over. So far, the city has applied for $469.7 million in federal stimulus funding, of which $96.6 million has been granted and $86.2 million has been denied, according to figures compiled by city officials at the Journal Sentinel's request. Federal authorities have yet to decide on the remaining $286.9 million, and the city is likely to apply for still more of the federal cash, said Sharon Robinson, city director of administration...
"Commentary: Putting learning first in Wisconsin," Column, Racine Journal Times, Nov. 23.
The passage of recent school reform legislation in Wisconsin (SB370-SB373) has positioned the state to compete for Race to the Top funds and, more importantly, to address the pernicious achievement gaps in Wisconsin...(Authors: James Shaw, superintendent of the Racine Unified School District, and Carolyn Kelly, professor of educational leadership and policy analysis at UW-Madison)...
"$12K in EdVest College Scholarships available," Stevens Point Journal, Nov. 24.
State Treasurer Dawn Marie Sass announced today she will extend the deadline for students to send in their “Why I Hope to Continue My Education beyond High School," giving more students a chance to win thousands of dollars...
National
"How to do more with less," Inside Higher Ed, Nov. 24.
The underlying thesis of the Lumina Foundation for Education's Making Opportunity Affordable initiative is that as colleges, states and the country strive to get more people into and out of postsecondary education with a meaningful credential (the "big goal" embraced by President Obama), they will have to do so without significant new public funds. As a result, Lumina argues, college leaders, with the help (or at the prodding) of policy makers, must figure out how to do more with less...Wouldn't it be better, Making Opportunity Affordable posits, if states brought together the key people and came up with smarter, more strategic ways of spending their money -- ways that were more aligned with their top agenda item: increasing college completion. It is with that goal in mind that Lumina is today announcing a total of up to $9.1 million in grants to help seven states (Arizona, Indiana, Maryland, Montana, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas) realign their spending on higher education -- through a mix of cost savings, new modes of delivering education, and different state financial incentives for colleges and students -- "to better serve undergraduate students," said Jamie Merisotis, Lumina's president...
"Under the influences," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Nov. 23.
The boasts of teenagers on Facebook about their risky behavior such as drinking may or may not be real. But teens who view them take them for the truth, according to a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Washington...And that belief may lead to problems...
"Sallie Mae fights for student-loan role in a campaign that's all about jobs," Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov. 22.
...The U.S. House of Representatives has already voted to end bank-based student lending, approving a bill in September that would move all federal loans to the Education Department's direct-loan program. The legislation, which largely mirrors President Obama's plan, would use the estimated $87-billion in savings to increase student aid, provide grants to community colleges, and finance other college programs. But the Senate has yet to introduce its version of the legislation, and lenders are seizing on the delay. Sallie Mae, the nation's largest student lender, has lobbied Congress and put forward its own proposal for overhauling the federal student-loan system...
"Assessing NSSE," Column, Inside Higher Ed, Nov. 24.
...The increased use reflects the extent to which NSSE -- with endorsements from Margaret Spellings’ Commission on the Future of Higher Education and widespread citations in publications of all types -- has become a widely embraced element of accreditation and accountability discussions. A prime example is the Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA), where NSSE is one of the assessment instruments participants can use to document the experiences of their undergraduate students -- and it is by far the most widely used...This conference focused on the use of NSSE to identify conditions within a college, but as seen with the example of VSA, NSSE is also used for comparisons across campuses... (Author: Mark Schneider, vice president, American Institutes for Research)...