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Samantha Brown arrived at UW-La Crosse as a proud first-generation student, but without a clear roadmap for what college life would look like.   That sense of uncertainty transformed into confidence when she found her place at the Recreational Eagle Center (REC).  Through her role in Rec Sports, Brown not only found a job, but also a community that helped her […]

Language learning is often stereotyped as memorizing vocabulary and completing grammar worksheets. But at UW-La Crosse language learning is designed to be far more immersive.   Students in the Department of Global Cultures and Languages practice real conversations with partners across the globe, travel abroad with faculty mentors, work with local communities, and even teach younger students […]

It had been a rough day. They were burned out. They needed someone to listen.  At Logan High School, freshmen knew Ms. Brunkow’s classroom was a place where they could exhale.  As a student teacher in physical education and health, Jada Brunkow spoke candidly about her own past struggles with anxiety, depression and an eating […]

Not many students get the chance to travel to class by airboat, but a group of UWL students are among the few who can say they have.  Students in Professor Laurie Harmon’s Environmental Interpretation course got that once-in-a-lifetime experience through a Community Engaged Learning (CEL) partnership with the Upper Mississippi River Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America.  The class is […]

While about 20% of Americans live in rural areas, only about 9% of the nation’s physicians practice in those regions, according to the National Rural Health Association.  At UW-La Crosse, programs and partnerships through Graduate & Extended Learning (GEL) are helping address rural healthcare challenges like these. From promoting scholarship opportunities that create workforce pathways in rural communities, […]

It started, as many good ideas do, with a fresh perspective.  In the mid-1990s, a new generation of faculty arrived at UW–La Crosse. They were energetic, innovative and not especially interested in teaching the way it had always been done — a lecture hall, a piece of chalk and rows of students watching.   They […]

Instructor Natalia Roberts cheers for her students like a coach on the sidelines. In her classroom, encouragement sounds a lot like game-day advice:  Be brave. It’s not about perfection. With progress comes proficiency. Would a coach let you play if you hadn’t practiced?  Roberts’ encouragement hasn’t fallen on deaf ears. Her students in the Russian Studies Certificate program have taken […]

Five years ago, a handful of courses at UW-La Crosse tried something different. Instead of focusing learning within the walls of a classroom, instructors built assignments around real questions from real organizations in the community.  Today, that experiment — under the umbrella of UWL’s Community Engaged Learning Program — has become a defining characteristics of the academic experience at UWL.  For the 2025–26 academic year, 41 courses have already received the Community Engaged Learning (CEL) designation. Sixteen of […]

On a frigid February day, Alumnus Ben Patschull steps across the frozen backwaters of the Mississippi River, his ice cleats scraping against a sheet of ice that forms a roof over a hidden world below.  Beneath the surface, more than 140 species of fish inhabit the Upper Mississippi River. For Patschull, the river isn’t just […]

For UW-La Crosse senior Megan Coughlin, a moment of courage during a networking event turned into a life-changing career opportunity.   Set to graduate in May, Coughlin says the College of Business Administration (CBA) played a major role in helping her build the confidence to connect with professionals and pursue opportunities beyond campus.  “The CBA has always emphasized how beneficial conversations and […]