The UW Missing in Action Recovery and Identification project hosted an open house on Thursday, September 19, 2019. Regent Torrey Tiedeman is involved with this project, which focuses on advancing the recovery of MIA service members by involving an academic blend of knowledge and research. Learn more about the project by visiting the UW Missing in Action Recovery and Identification Project webpage.

In addition, Assembly Bill 452/ Senate Bill 446 relating to the UW Missing-in-Action Recovery and Identification Project was introduced on Friday, September 20. This bill received wide bipartisan support, and it provides funding to support this project. Follow this link to learn more about the bill.

President Cross spent the day on Wednesday, September 18, visiting several UW-Superior campus facilities and meeting with campus students and staff. He also attended the Swenson Scholars Dinner to pay tribute to Jim and Sue Swenson of the Swenson Family Foundation.  A full recap of the event can be found here.

Thank you to all campuses for providing us with their respective Spring 2019 graduate lists. The lists have been updated to include Assembly District, Senate District, and Congressional District for each student and we shared the list entire legislature on Monday, September 23.

The  Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities held a public hearing on Thursday, September 12, 2019 for the following bills:

• AB 161– Tuition Payments
  • Submitted written testimony from President Cross for information only
  • Submitted bill analysis document
• AB 189– Transfer of Courses
  • Submitted written testimony from President Cross for information only
  • Submitted bill analysis document
  • Jeff Buhrandt, Carleen Vande Zande, and Tracy Davidson gave verbal testimony on behalf of UW System.
• AB 361– Active Duty Service
  • Submitted written testimony from President Cross for information only
  • Submitted bill analysis document
• AB 371– Universal Course Numbering and Mission Change
  • Submitted bill analysis document
  • Jeff Buhrandt gave verbal testimony on behalf of President Cross.
  • UW-Green Bay Provost, Mike Alexander, UW-Milwaukee Assistant Director of Transfer Services, Chris Head, and UW-Madison’s Vice Provost for Enrollment Management, Steve Hahn, and University Registrar, Scott Owczarek, all provided verbal testimony.

See below for attachments of testimony/documents provided on all the bills.

AB 161:

AB 189:

AB 361:

AB 371:

The Joint Legislative Audit Committee held a public hearing on Tuesday, September 10, 2019 on the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau’s audit of the University of Wisconsin System (report 19-5) and related follow-up information. The Joint Legislative Audit Committee also held a public hearing and executive session to consider a proposed audit of information technology needs assessment and procurement. President Cross provided testimony on report 19-5 (attached below) and UW System staff members responded to questions from committee members.

A full recap of the hearing can be found here.

• Follow-up Written Response

The Committee on Universities, Technical Colleges, Children and Families held a public hearing on Tuesday, August 27, 2019. Items discussed included:

• AB 117/AB 82- Athlete Agents Act
• SB 142/AB 161- Tuition Benefits for Student Veterans (see below for PDF of written testimony provided by UW System)
• SB 55/AB 51- Minority teacher loan program

The Committee also held an Executive Session on SB 42/AB 38- UW research contracts, which was previously passed by the Assembly. The bill will head to the Senate Floor next.

In addition, a public hearing was held for Board of Regents Karen Walsh, Olivia Woodmansee, and Edmund Manydeeds III. A confirmation date for these position has not yet been set.

See video link for full recap of both the public hearing and executive session.