In a speaker panel as part of an outreach symposium addressing the challenges facing the Wisconsin Idea, interim Chancellor David Ward and former Chancellor John Wiley spoke about the future of the program and the university.
At the discussion Thursday, Wiley said he first underestimated the value of the Wisconsin Idea and that he used to see its efforts to engage with communities as a mission of any university.
However, he said he later learned the Wisconsin Idea is essential to the University of Wisconsin’s reputation. Wiley said because of the initiative, the Association of American Universities recognizes UW as an elite research and liberal arts institution.
He said he thinks the university should promote it more effectively.
“We are notoriously modest about what we do well. We need to do a better job at promoting the excellence of this institution,” Wiley said.
With this in mind, he said the Wisconsin Idea should promote UW’s achievements that are unknown to Madison residents and the rest of the world.
Wiley added although the public has criticized UW for abandoning advocacy of the Wisconsin Idea, he disagrees with critics.
“The UW is fulfilling the mission of the Wisconsin Idea well,” he said. “But [UW] is not marketing it well.”
Wiley went on to say that marketing the program is challenging in Wisconsin’s politically polarized environment.
He said citizens’ perception of the Wisconsin Idea is affected by UW’s reputation as a liberal university and that people outside of Madison view UW as “an overly liberal institution that indoctrinates its students.”
Because of the university’s politicized reputation, he said it is difficult to reestablish the legitimacy of impartial research in public policy-making.
Ward agreed the university must work to increase its visibility locally and globally. He said UW’s greatest challenge is to convince local communities of the Wisconsin Idea’s value and work with community policymakers.
Ward explained the university’s disconnect with local institutions is a failure on behalf of the Wisconsin Idea’s marketing efforts and the result of larger problems within higher education.
Ward said UW can convince Wisconsin citizens of the value of the Wisconsin Idea by cooperating with other UW System schools and by emphasizing the role undergraduates play in the program.
He added Wisconsin citizens know UW is ranked highly in world research but do not see how UW’s research benefits the state.
In the future, the Wisconsin Idea should market its efforts directly to constituents rather than through the Legislature, he said.
“Public policy is not the only way that the Wisconsin Idea is affected,” Wiley added. “The political sector is no longer a neutral space in which to implement the Wisconsin Idea’s efforts.”
Jim Armstrong, member on the Wisconsin Idea Scholars Program, said he felt the Wisconsin Idea should serve Madison as well as validate the university’s purpose to serve the community.
Cindy Werkheiser, also a member of the Wisconsin Idea Scholars Program, said she agreed with the points made.
“I feel like sometimes the work we do in our research worlds lose touch with what is going on in the community,” Werkheiser said. “Staying connected to real people is what the idea program is.”
