MADISON, Wis.— University of Wisconsin System President Ray Cross, Regent President Andrew S. Petersen, and Regents Cris Peterson, Jason Plante, and Olivia Woodmansee joined UW-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow for a series of events at UW-La Crosse today in the third stop of UW System’s All In Wisconsin tour, aimed at demonstrating the value the UW System brings to Wisconsin.
“The UW System is the very best magnet for attracting talent to Wisconsin, developing talent, and helping to retain that talent,” President Cross said. “Our All In Wisconsin tour will help us determine how best to work with our business and community leaders to do even more.”
The day started off with a conversation with business and community leaders from the region about ways the UW System can help their organizations.
“As a person whose company relies on a skilled workforce, I know how critical it is to grow talent here in Wisconsin,” Regent Petersen said. “Supporting the UW System will help us continue these successes and generate more graduates – especially in high-need areas like nursing, engineering, business, computer science, IT, and data science.”
Chancellor Gow led a tour of UW-La Crosse’s Health Science Center and highlighted the Health Science Academy, a two-year program preparing high school juniors and seniors for education and careers in health science. The program is a collaborative effort between Gundersen Health System, Mayo Clinic Health System – Franciscan Healthcare, UW-La Crosse, Viterbo University, and Western Technical College.
“Courses in this collaborative program incorporate faculty and students from the academic institutions in La Crosse through team teaching, guest faculty, class shadowing, and student and faculty mentors,” Chancellor Gow said. “We are excited about the opportunities that this program can bring to our region.”
The final event of the day was a visit to the La Crosse Promise Future Center at Logan High School to hear from administrators as well as students about the benefits of the La Crosse Promise Program. La Crosse Promise is a nonprofit organization working to economically transform La Crosse and improve the quality of life for all citizens through a strong commitment to education. The center makes students “future ready” by providing advising for high school students on college and career-related initiatives.
The All In Wisconsin tour is intended to demonstrate how the UW System meets the needs of Wisconsin and to generate additional ideas about how the System can continue to do so.
The next stop on the All In Wisconsin tour is UW-Superior on October 11.
The University of Wisconsin System serves more than 170,000 students. Awarding nearly 37,000 degrees annually, the UW System is Wisconsin’s talent pipeline, putting graduates in position to increase their earning power, contribute to their communities, and make Wisconsin a better place to live. More than 80 percent of in-state UW System graduates stay in Wisconsin five years after earning a degree. The UW System provides a 23:1 return on state investment. UW System institutions also contribute to the richness of Wisconsin’s culture and economy with groundbreaking research, new companies and patents, and boundless creative intellectual energy.