Board of Regents show support for Wisconsin Covenant

FOND DU LAC – The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents gave unanimous approval Friday to a resolution supporting the UW System Wisconsin Covenant Scholars Package.

“Clearly, the Covenant dovetails with the UW System’s Growth Agenda for Wisconsin, and its goal to increase the number of baccalaureate degree-holders in the state. The Wisconsin Covenant will be instrumental in achieving our objective to better serve students from traditionally underrepresented populations, which we know we need to do to meet our Growth Agenda goals,” said Regent President Chuck Pruitt, who asked board members to show their strong and official support.

Regent David Walsh added that the Covenant rises above partisanship. “This is about helping young people and raising expectations,” he said.

Wisconsin Public Television to air Wisconsin Vietnam War Stories

Representatives of Wisconsin Public Television, a service of the Educational Communications Board and UW-Extension, offered a sneak preview to Regents of its upcoming “Wisconsin Vietnam War Stories” documentary. The Board viewed a brief video clip excerpt focused on the 1968 Tet offensive.

The three-hour production, which tells the stories of many of Wisconsin’s Vietnam-era veterans, is a special feature of the LZ Lambeau event on May 21-23 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay to welcome home and thank those veterans and their families.

“Telling these stories is a solemn responsibility and we take that on with great pride. We feel fortunate to capture these stories and to tell these stories of a generation’s most memorable and often most harrowing days,” said Malcolm Barrett, Director of Broadcasting and Media Innovations at UW-Extension.

James Steinbach, director of television at Wisconsin Public Television, said the project “lies at the intersection of where we’ve been and where we hope to go, between heritage and hope.”

Don Jones, Madison, a Vietnam veteran and LZ Lambeau event director, told the Board that LZ Lambeau and the WPT production fill a great need. “It’s been a long time … but it’s never too late to say thank you,” Jones said.

UW System President Kevin Reilly added, “I am gratified that through LZ Lambeau and the “Wisconsin Vietnam War Stories” TV series, we can further recognize the significant contributions our veterans have made – and continue to make – to our campuses and our country.”

Differential tuition

The Board unanimously approved the proposed revised Systemwide policy on differential tuition initiatives. The approved policy included an amendment providing a mechanism for periodic review by students of expenditures from the differential tuition.

Report from the Regent President

Regent President Chuck Pruitt acknowledged Gov. Jim Doyle’s recent reappointment of Regent Mark Bradley to an additional term on the Board until 2017, and the new appointment of Edmund Manydeeds to succeed Regent Eileen Connolly-Keesler, whose term ends in May.

Pruitt also shared with the Board the recent news that Regent Aaron Wingad, a senior at UW-Eau Claire, has been named one of 60 Truman Scholars for 2010. Truman Scholars are selected on the basis of leadership potential, intellectual ability, and the likelihood of ‘making a difference.’

Pruitt congratulated President Reilly and UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin for their recent appointments to the board of directors of the American Council on Education. He noted that it’s an honor – and relatively unusual – to have two representatives from one higher education system serving on that board simultaneously. “In recent years, this Board has made it a priority for the UW System to have a voice on the national higher education scene, and these appointments are one very real way we can have an impact,” he said.

Board confirms new UW-Platteville Chancellor

In closed session, the Board of Regents confirmed the appointment of Dennis Shields as the next Chancellor of UW-Platteville. Shields is the Acting Vice President for Student Affairs at the City College of New York-City University of New York. He will start at UW-Platteville on July 1.

In other business, the Board:

Approved the proposed B.F.A. in Interior Architecture at UW-Stevens Point;
Approved the annual request to the Trustees of the William F. Vilas Trust Estate in support of scholarships, fellowships, professorships and special programs in arts and humanities, social sciences, and music at UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee;
Approved items presented by UW-Milwaukee’s Office of Charter Schools, including a contract extension for the YMCA Young Leaders Academy and a new charter contract for the Urban Day School;
Formally accepted four bequests with a total value of $1,062,000, which included funding from the following donors: Norma Benninger Trust, $550,000, UW-Madison; James Nelson Humphrey Trust, $62,000, UW-Madison; Cecil H. Royce Family Trust, $400,000, UW-Madison; William D. Wiener Trusts, $50,000, UW-Madison;
Approved the non-routine shareholder proxy proposals; the dominant social issues for the 2010 season include the environment and sustainability, health care issues, human rights, and corporate political contributions;
Approved UW-Eau Claire’s request for the New Student Union Project and authority to seek a waiver to allow single prime contractor bidding;
Approved a request by UW-Green Bay to construct the Rose Hall/Wood Hall Remodeling project;
Approved a request by UW-Platteville to purchase a 0.19 acre parcel of land with improvements in the city of Platteville to develop an expanded parking area;
Authorized a request from UW-Stout to increase the scope and budget of the Hovlid Hall Renovation and Addition project to cover additional construction costs that resulted from unanticipated site conditions and a decision to do more extensive improvements than originally planned;
Approved the construction of five All Agency Maintenance and Repair Projects, including improving energy conservation in five UW-Madison buildings (Atmospheric Oceanic and Space Sciences, Biochemistry Addition, Engineering Centers Building, Genetics-Biotechnology, and Rennebohm Hall);
Authorized the allocation of the 2009-11 Classroom Renovation/Instructional Technology Improvement funds and grant authority to construct various Classroom Renovation/IT projects; the total for these projects is $5.3 million, a portion of which will be distributed to each UW System institution; and
Approved a resolution of appreciation for UW Colleges and UW-Extension, hosts of the April 2010 Board of Regents meetings.

The UW System Board of Regents will hold its next meeting May 6, 2010, in Madison