With the third round of the University of Wisconsin’s Madison Initiative for Undergraduates one month from beginning, the proposals that received funding during the first two rounds are already having a significant effect on campus, officials said.

The three goals of the MIU are to increase need-based aid, increase access to high demand areas and increase access through innovation, said Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning Aaron Brower.

After two rounds of proposal submissions, Brower said the impacts of MIU are already noticeable around campus.

More than 6,000 students are receiving more need-based financial aid than before MIU, Brower said, satisfying the first goal.

Additional courses have been added in high demand areas thanks to 55 new faculty positions, which in tough economic times will benefit UW in the long run, Brower said.

“Other universities have hiring freezes,” Brower said. “Being able to be in a growth period…is going to position us into the future in such a strong way.”

Through two rounds of MIU, UW awarded $11.8 million worth of funds to departments across the university, with $3.8 distributed in round one and $8 million in round two.

Cathy Trueba, director of the McBurney Disability Resource Center said in an e-mail to The Badger Herald the proposals the McBurney Center received funds for during round two are progressing smoothly.

The McBurney Center received funding to hire a pre-doctoral intern, and to develop an online request scheduling system for deaf and hard of hearing students.

Trueba said a pre-doctoral intern has been hired and will be on staff through August 2011.

Software for the online scheduling system is currently being tested, but Trueba said they hope to have it ready for student use by spring 2011.

Brower said $3.8 million will be awarded in the third round, and he looks forward to proposals for more “high impact innovations” such as internships, capstone courses and study abroad opportunities, among others.

Proposals utilizing technology are also something Brower said he hopes to see more of.

The final round of proposals are due at the end of November, with review sessions scheduled for January or early February, Brower said. Chancellor Biddy Martin will then take the Oversight Committee’s recommendations and make her final decisions in mid-March.