Bearing Fruit
UW System strengthens its federal relations

The University of Wisconsin System's newly formed federal relations effort is already bearing fruit in a number of ways.

Academic Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Co-Laboratory

TRIO student Saed Mohamed of New Berlin is a freshman at UW-Waukesha. He is pursuing a major in psychology as he works toward a medical degree. (UW-Waukesha)

The defense appropriations bill President George W. Bush signed into law in October includes $1 million for a UW System initiative designed to help colleges and universities nationwide better share learning materials electronically.

Headed by the UW System and the Wisconsin Technical College System, the Academic Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Co-Laboratory serves as the focal point for the nation's colleges and universities in promoting high-quality content for distributed learning that can be shared and used across systems.

In addition to the $1 million from the defense bill, the Co-Lab recently received a three-year grant totaling $517,565 from the U.S. Department of Education to improve online education.

UW System President Katharine C. Lyall thanked the Wisconsin congressional delegation for its support and added that U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., and U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, were particularly instrumental in securing the Co-Lab funding.

"I am pleased that Wisconsin is part of this world-class learning Co-Lab and will have a prominent role in supporting national research and assessment of learning effectiveness," said Kohl, who sits on the influential Senate Appropriations Committee.

"This project will be a great benefit to society and ensure that American institutions of higher learning will continue to lead the world in educational opportunity and research," added Baldwin, who represents the congressional district that houses the Co-Lab.

TRIO

Working in a bipartisan fashion, U.S. Rep. Tom Petri, R-Fond du Lac, and U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, introduced legislation this year to make the 13 UW Colleges campuses eligible for federal TRIO funds.

These funds are used to expand educational opportunities for disadvantaged students. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Middleton, introduced similar legislation in the U.S. Senate.

The legislation sought to change a federal provision that prevents the UW Colleges institutions from being considered independent campuses because they have a single chancellor and centralized financial aid. Because of this interpretation, the UW Colleges is eligible only for one TRIO grant.

Speaking on the floor of the House, Petri urged his colleagues "to support the provision of the bill and end the unfair disadvantages faced by the University of Wisconsin's two-year colleges in applying for student support services grants." Kind asked his colleagues to support the legislation, allowing UW campuses to serve more students in need.

Although the legislation was defeated for partisan reasons unrelated to the UW provision, good was still accomplished, said Kris Andrews, UW System federal relations coordinator. "We have been able to identify the issue, engage enthusiastic support for the UW Colleges, and we have laid the groundwork for what we hope will be real progress next year when the Higher Education Act is reauthorized," she said.

Higher Education Act Reauthorization

As Congress prepares for next year's reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, the UW System Federal Relations Council is organizing a task force to develop a set of UW recommendations.

The task force will be co-chaired by Andrews and Cora Marrett, UW System senior vice president for academic affairs. Staff of the House and Senate committees have requested recommendations from the higher education community by Dec. 31, 2002.

Overall, the UW System benefits from the efforts of all of its congressional representatives in Washington, Lyall and Andrews stressed.

"The UW System is privileged to have representatives who are active on issues that are important to Wisconsin," Andrews said. "By sharing good news about important programs and research at UW campuses, we give our delegation the tools they need to help campuses compete for federal dollars and support federal education initiatives important to Wisconsin."