Government Relations

Legislative Update

August 22, 2008

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In this issue:

STATE UPDATE

In The News

► US News & World Report Releases College Rankings
The U.S. News & World Report’s annual college rankings edition will be released this coming Monday.  Nine UW System institutions were noted in the report.  Read the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel summary of Wisconsin public and private school rankings.

► Council of Graduate Schools Report Released
The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) on August 21 released a report on international graduate student application, admission, and enrollment trends.  According to CGS, the rate of increase for applications and admission of international students is declining.   While the overall applications for studies in the U.S. by international graduate students increased six percent in 2008, the rate of increase was slower than the nine-percent increase reported in 2007.  Read the full CGS Report online.

► Reilly and Lyall Editorial: UW a National Leader in Accountability
On August 13th, UW System President Kevin P. Reilly and President Emeritus Katharine C. Lyall authored an editorial highlighting the UW System’s 15-year history of publishing an annual accountability report.  Read the column in the Wisconsin State Journal.

State Legislation Update

► President Reilly Testifies Before Assembly Committee on Building Wisconsin’s Workforce
On August 18th, President Reilly testified before the Special Committee on Building Wisconsin's Workforce.  Read his full remarks.

► UW System Leadership Budget Briefings with the Governor and Legislative Leaders
In recent weeks, Regent President Mark Bradley, UW System President Kevin Reilly, and Regent Vice President Charles Pruitt met with Governor Doyle regarding the UW System biennial budget request.  Bradley and Reilly also met with legislative leadership from both parties, including Senators Decker, Fitzgerald, Miller and Vinehout, and Representatives Huebsch, Nass and Shillings.

FEDERAL UPDATE

► UW Regent President and UW System President to meet with Wisconsin Delegation
UW Regent President Mark Bradley and UW System President Kevin Reilly have scheduled visits to Washington on September 10-11 to meet with the Wisconsin Congressional delegation.

► The President Signs HEA Reauthorization
President Bush on August 14 signed into law the Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization bill (H.R. 4137), which Congress approved on July 31.  An updated cost estimate for the bill has been published by the Congressional Budget Office.

► Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Provisions Analyzed
A group of higher education associations has developed an analysis of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing provisions and report language in the just-passed Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization bill (H.R. 4137).  The document seeks to answer campus information-technology administrators’ most pressing questions about their new responsibilities for addressing unauthorized P2P file sharing on campus networks.  Your campus information technology officers may be interested in the analysis.

► Comments Requested on NSF Cost-Sharing
As part of a continuing review of cost-sharing policies at the National Science Foundation (NSF), a committee of the National Science Board (NSB) has issued a request for public comment on the use of cost-sharing in NSF-funded activities, with a focus on a list of specific topics.  The NSB will use this information in developing the second of two reports on NSF cost-sharing, which will be more comprehensive than the first report and which the NSB plans to issue in early 2009.  The deadline for comments is October 1, 2008.  

AROUND WISCONSIN

► “Around Wisconsin” features items relating to exciting progress on campus or examples of strong relations with the community and policy makers. Please send items of interest to externalrelations@uwsa.edu.

  • UW-Eau Claire:  This September, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire will offer free career counseling services to Eau Claire area residents seeking or pursuing, a college degree for the first time.
  • UW-Marshfield:  For the first time this fall, the University of Wisconsin-Marshfield will offer the FastTrack degree program, which cuts in half the traditional amount of time required to earn an associate degree with a business emphasis while taking advantage of the flexibility of hybrid online-onsite classes.
  • UW-Platteville:  The University of Wisconsin-Platteville and Carroll University recently announced an articulation agreement to give Carroll University students a clear pathway to earn an undergraduate degree in mechanical or electrical engineering.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Aug  
28 Second annual "Resource Rendezvous:  Connecting Wisconsin to Classified Research." sponsored byWisconsin Security Research Consortium  Speakers include Michael Smith, Senior Advisor to the Undersecretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Dave Busigo, Special Assistant for Innovative Research and Technology Transfer, U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).  Resource Rendezvous is being held at the Marshfield Clinic in Marshfield.
Sept  
19 Fall meeting for the Inclusivity Initiative hosted in Madison
Oct  
2-3 Board of Regents meeting at UW-Stevens Point
Nov  
12-13 Synergy Conference 08 hosted by UW-River Falls
Mar 2009

Watch for further details regarding the NSF Regional Grants Conference hosted by UW-Milwaukee and the UW System Office of Federal Relations on March 6, 2009, in Milwaukee.  Key NSF representatives will present information on NSF, the review process, cross-disciplinary and international programs.  There will be breakout sessions with program officers from the NSF directorates and a session on proposal writing.

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