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Regents approve measures
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by Sundeep Malladi
Monday, December 13, 2004
The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents met Friday to discuss several important topics affecting the university network and also the Madison school district.
The Board approved several resolutions affecting the UW-Madison campus.
Those resolutions included creating a Master of Public Health academic program, granting authority to modify the Marshfield Farm Land Agreement and increasing the budgets of the Microbial Science Project and the Central Campus Utility Improvements Project.
The Board also approved the 2005-07 Capital Budget Revision and Additions, which includes removing the university-owned resident hall component of the University Square development project.
UW System President Kevin Reilly addressed the Board about some of the major endeavors the UW System has taken on.
Reilly congratulated UW-Eau Claire student Chauncy Harris, Jr., who was the only UW System student out of the 160,000 to be named a 2005 Rhodes Scholar.
“All of us at UW System are proud of Chauncy’s individual accomplishment,” Reilly said. “We take pride knowing that Chauncy credits UW-Eau Claire for preparing him for the Rhodes program.”
Reilly also commented on several endeavors that would help bring funding to the UW System.
“Holiday cheer came early for us this year for many of our UW campuses after Congress passed its FY ‘05 Omnibus bill,” Reilly said.
Reilly added he is pleased to report that the FY ‘05 Omnibus bill, a spending bill, includes $22 million for university projects.
He said the bill includes funding for “advance programs in nursing, manufacturing and workforce development, teaching and youth services, aging and health care, agriculture and the environment.”
Reilly also announced the recent creation of the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs Network.
According to Reilly, the Wisconsin Department of Commerce has pledged $1 million in support of the partnership among the UW System and UW-Extension’s Small Business Development Centers, the Wisconsin Technical College System, the WiSys Technology Foundation and the Agricultural Innovation Center.
Reilly finished his speech to the Board on an optimistic note.
“The University of Wisconsin has done good, is doing good and will do good in the new year,” he said. “Our fervent hope is that we do well in the state budget process that begins in earnest early in 2005 in the interest of the common good.”
The Regents also discussed at length the Madison school district and UW’s association with System-wide Change for All Learners and Educators, a research group challenging educators and students to improve math and science teaching methods at the elementary, middle and high school levels.
SCALE, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, works with not only the Madison school district, but also school districts in Denver and Los Angeles.
According to Charles Read, UW Dean of Education, SCALE encourages strong educational research studies on the UW campus and it also furthers national efforts like the No Child Left Behind Act.
“All of [these research studies] are really aimed at making a difference in schools,” Read said. “We’re focused on what works, too, but in a somewhat broader sense.”
One of SCALE’s major goals is to give students “immersion experiences,” in which students conduct scientific studies, Terry Millar, principal investigator of SCALE, said. This way, teachers gain more in-depth knowledge about the content of the material they teach, according to Millar.
Art Rainwater, superintendent of the Madison Metropolitan School District, said the project aims to make math and science more accessible for K-12 students. This program especially aids students of color, those living in poverty and those who are unlikely to continue in the field.
“For the first time, we begin to see hope that every child will have access to these disciplines,” Rainwater said. “Our only mission is to see that every child who graduates from high school has the maximum number of opportunities for a successful life.”
