With a new director on board, the University of Wisconsin La Follette School of Public Affairs is headed toward program expansions and the possibility of building a new home by 2013.

UW public affairs and economics professor Carolyn Heinrich is replacing Barbara Wolfe as director of the school. She said her top priority is to raise private funds to support current graduate students and attract top students to the school and find the school a new home with more space for students and staff.

“Our historic building can’t be modified, and we don’t have enough office space,” Heinrich said of the school’s current Observatory Drive location.

One proposal suggests constructing an addition to Ingraham Hall in the grassy area on Observatory Drive and North Charter Street to house the La Follette School. The new facility could open by 2013 at the earliest.

Karen Holden, public affairs and consumer science professor, said Heinrich’s promotion was “terrific” news.

“She’s a very highly respected scholar in public administration and policy analysis, and schools of public affairs are ranked in part on the quality of their faculty and director,” Holden said. 

Holden added Heinrich’s involvement with other projects — like UW’s Institute for Research on Poverty — and her administrative skills will benefit the school.

“I think we expect her to continue to develop a high-quality program as our previous director had done,” Holden said.

In Wisconsin, Heinrich is working with Milwaukee Public Schools officials to assess the effectiveness of the No Child Left Behind Act, which requires low-scoring schools to provide extra assistance to students outside the classroom. Heinrich and MPS are evaluating whether this assistance positively affects students’ performance.

On a federal level, Heinrich is examining the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, which provides the basics to industry on how to train workers.

And internationally, Heinrich is working on poverty reduction programs with the governments of Brazil, Argentina, South Africa and Honduras.

As director of the La Follette School, Heinrich said she will embrace the Wisconsin Idea by extending the advancements of UW research to Wisconsinites statewide.

“We’re here to serve the public at a public university,” Heinrich said. “Our research should both reach out to and respond to the needs of people in Wisconsin primarily, but also beyond that, nationally and globally.”

The La Follette School of Public Affairs offers two primary degree programs: Master of Public Affairs and master of International Public Affairs.