On Tuesday, November 19, the Senate Committee on Education held a public hearing on SB 496– requiring that student identification cards include contact information for suicide prevention hotlines. The Assembly companion bill has already passed the Assembly with Amendment 1, and we expect the Senate version to continue to move through the Senate with the same amendment. The next step will be the Senate Committee holding an executive session to vote on the bill in committee.

The Associated Press- NORC Center of Public Affairs Research recently released the report Young Americans’ Views On The Value of Higher Education, which explores young adult and teen views on the value and cost of higher education and how prepared students feel going into their post-secondary pathway. The study also highlights concerns about college affordability and how teens view legislative proposals to deal with this issue.

President Ray Cross and Missy Hughes, Secretary and CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC),  met on Tuesday, November 12 in Eau Claire. They unveiled a new online resource to help businesses establish internship programs. The online toolkit will help businesses that may want to set up an internship program, but lack the resources to do so. See the news release for a full recap of the event and the link to the online resource.

Event Photos

The Assembly held a floor session on Tuesday, November 12, and considered AB 38-University of Wisconsin Research Contracts including  Senate Amendment 1. The bill has been enrolled and goes to the Governor for his signature. This will be a positive change to make the process for approving certain research contracts on all campuses more efficient, while maintaining strong accountability standards for their approval.

Are you interested in learning what the return on investment is for a student attending your institution? Georgetown University released a report that attempts to captures the return on investment for all higher education intuitions in the Unites States. Using data from the expanded College Scorecard, A First Try at ROI: Ranking 4,500 Colleges report ranks 4,500 colleges and universities by return on investment. Visit the Georgetown University website to see how your institution stacks up to a range of metrics.  Overall, this report demonstrates the excellent value our institutions deliver.

The Senate Floor session was held on Tuesday, November 5, 2019. The Senate confirmed the appointments of Regents:

• Edmund Manydeeds III–to serve for the term ending May 1, 2026
• Karen Walsh– to serve for the term ending May 1, 2026
• Olivia Woodmansee– to serve for the term ending May 1, 2021

The Senate also passed the following bills relating to UW System:

• SB 117-Athlete Agents including Senate Amendment 1– voice vote
• SB 205-Military Transfer Credit- voice vote
• SB 334-Requirements for students called into active duty- voice vote
• AB 38– Research Contracts including Senate Amendment 1– voice vote
• AB 189– Credit Transfer- voice vote

For a full recap of the Senate Floor session, a recording can be viewed online on WisconsinEye.