University of Wisconsin System President Kevin Reilly announced ten ?action steps? Friday to expand the System?s Growth Agenda for Wisconsin.

At the UW System Board of Regents? monthly meeting at Van Hise Hall, Reilly identified several initiatives, including creating a UW dual transcript, expanding the UW-Madison Connections Program and creating a more collaborative effort between the UW System and Wisconsin?s pre-kindergarten-12th grade education.

The board quickly and unanimously voted to endorse Reilly?s plan.

?What the board?s role and my role is, is to set that broad directional framework,? Reilly said, adding implementation teams will help set plans into place at all of the UW System?s 26 campuses.

The new dual transcript would offer two versions of a student transcript: the current one with strictly classes and grades and another that also includes documentation of out-of-classroom learning, experience and personal development.

Among the information on the dual transcript would be what Reilly called ?credible? experience, including internship and work experiences, undergraduate research, service learning, volunteer work and student government service.

Reilly said UW would be ahead of the curve in turning a transcript into a r?sum?-looking document.

Regent Eileen Connolly-Keesler asked what level of new resources would be needed to put many of the action steps into place.

?The next step is to quickly pull together the people who know how to do this and say, ?What is it precisely we need to do ? and how much will it cost or not cost” Reilly said.

Connecting Madison, other four-year campuses

In expanding the UW-Madison Connections Program, Reilly proposed allowing students who begin their bachelor?s degree at another UW four-year school to transfer to UW-Madison to finish after their first two years.

Currently, the program allows selected students who apply and are not accepted as UW-Madison freshmen to begin at two-year schools and then finish their degree at Madison. UW-Green Bay will be the first four-year school to pilot the program, allowing students to engage in dorm life and other new student programs at a four-year school before moving onto the Madison campus.

In order to transfer to Madison in their junior year, students must have 54 transferable credits, satisfy general education requirements and earn a 2.0 grade point average.

UW-Green Bay Provost Sue Hammersmith, who said the expansion will begin in the fall, said the standards would remain the same for UW-Green Bay students as those at two-year schools.

?I think it?s a wonderful opportunity for us to serve the students of the state of Wisconsin,? Hammersmith said, calling the program a ?win-win? situation for both UW-Green Bay and UW-Madison.

This year, UW admitted 1,500 students into its Connections program, but Hammersmith said only about 80 officially enrolled in it. UW System spokesperson David Giroux did not call it a failure but said expanding it provides new opportunities.

Giroux said many students already attend a four-year school and then transfer to UW-Madison, and expanding the Connections program would give them an opportunity to enroll in a definitive program.

The new market for this program includes students who might decide to attend an out-of-state school because UW-Madison does not admit them, as the new initiative would allow students to experience the rewards of a four-year school?s residential experience but a final degree from UW-Madison.

Hammersmith said UW-Green Bay is fully prepared to handle additional students who wish to enroll in the expanded Connections program.

Bringing together PK-12, higher education

Another action step would create a ?Wisconsin KnowHow2Go Network,? calling on UW undergraduates to serve as ambassadors of the system and mentors to students looking to go to college.

?We need people out there sending this message with our credibility to dedicate some real time and persistently pound that message home to kids in middle school and early high school,? Reilly said.

The University of Washington created a similar program that students run, and Reilly said the University of Wisconsin System needs to encourage its own undergraduates to step up to the plate and run a similar program here.

Reilly called the initiative an expansion of the Wisconsin Covenant, which allows state 8th-graders to pledge to earn good grades and stay on the right track in exchange for a guaranteed spot somewhere in the UW System.

A separate action step would create a collaborative effort between UW and the pre-kindergarten-12th grade education system to expand college offerings in high school and ?enrich college preparation.?

State Superintendent and Regent Elizabeth Burmaster likes the idea of integrating the UW System and state pre-kindergarten-12th grade education, Reilly said.

Aiming for higher graduation, retention rates

A fifth action step involves creating and committing to a specific set of learning outcomes for all UW baccalaureate graduates, which Reilly said would list what, overall, the UW System believes each graduate needs to go out into the world knowing.

?Somewhere within this rich, diverse system, people are working on these things,? Reilly said. ?These are not brand new ideas. But what we?re trying to do today is try to find some to give new importance to.?

The remaining action steps include accelerating the transformation of knowledge capacity into high-paying jobs, model inclusive excellence with the goal of closing the state?s achievement gap, offer new degrees for adult students, establish new forums to bring together university research and identify business practices to keep administrative costs low.

Reilly said with limited resources at the university?s disposal, that final action step will allow the UW System to maximize its funding.

?The Growth Agenda remains our focus and top priority,? Reilly said.

Reilly said the three main goals of the Growth Agenda as a whole are to increase graduation rates, keep graduates in Wisconsin communities and create high-paying jobs to offer these graduates. All 10 action steps aim to expand the three goals.

Big steps for the UW System

Regent President Mark Bradley called the initiatives ?an important milestone? in the history of the UW System.

Bradley said economic conditions in the state and nation could have an effect on the implementation of Reilly?s plan.

?This is no time, however, to take our foot off the gas,? Bradley said. ?I think it?s clear ? if Wisconsin is going to prosper in this knowledge economy, it?s going to be through a healthy, vibrant system of higher education.?

Reilly echoed Bradley?s sentiments, adding the UW System in general and the new plans need to remain as cost-efficient as possible.

The remainder of the board and UW System chancellors at the meeting supported the plan, in general.

?I think you?re going to be able to bring this back, and we?ll be able to measure if this is accomplished,? Connolly-Keesler said.

Regent Jeffrey Bartell echoed the importance of being able to measure the results of the plan.

As a businessman, Regent Michael Falbo said the action steps encourage him as well.

?I like the document from my simple business mind because it?s action-oriented,? Falbo said.

Reilly said several think tanks, business surveys, a statewide listening session and consultation with groups inside and out of the UW System brought the plan together.

With the positive reaction from the board, the UW System will move ahead with the plans in the coming weeks and months.