MADISON- The University of Wisconsin System works to communicate the needs of its campuses to Wisconsin’s congressional delegation, and at the same time, shares national priorities with campuses so they can position themselves to more successfully compete for federal dollars, according to a report given Thursday to the UW System Board of Regents.
As part of an update to the board’s Business and Finance committee, UW System federal relations coordinator Kris Andrews reported that UW System campuses have had recent success in competing for federal dollars. Highlights include:
- A five-year, $35 million grant to UW-Madison from the National Science Foundation to improve science and math education;
- More than $3 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Education to UW-Eau Claire, UW-Green Bay, UW-La Crosse and UW-Marinette to train history teachers;
- More than $500,000 for the Academic Advanced Distributed Learning Co-Lab, headquartered in Madison, which works to improve technology for anywhere, anytime learning; and
- Nearly $600,000 for aerospace and engineering research from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium. The consortium is headquartered at UW-Green Bay and includes member campuses UW-La Crosse, UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Parkside and UW-Whitewater.
Andrews told the regents that the UW System benefits from the efforts of its representatives in Washington, notably Rep. David Obey, D- Wausau, the senior Democrat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee; Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee; and Rep. Tom Petri, R-Fond du Lac, and Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, who sit on the Committee on Education and the Workforce.
“The UW System is privileged to have representatives who are active on issues that are important to Wisconsin,” Andrews said. “By sharing good news about important programs and research at UW campuses, we give our delegation the tools they need to help campuses compete for federal dollars.”
Last month, the board heard a report that during the fiscal year that ended June 30, UW System institutions received $55.4 million more in federal research awards than the previous year, with UW-Madison accounting for all but $1 million of that increase.
The Business and Finance Committee session was part of two days of meetings being held Oct. 10-11 on the UW-Whitewater campus.
Contact:
Kris Andrews, UW System
(608) 263-3362
kandrews@uwsa.edu