The University of Wisconsin should adapt with the changing workplace and increasingly competitive economy both globally and nationally, UW Chancellor Rebecca Blank said Thursday.

“[You] have to be nimble, have to have new ideas and have to be innovative in terms of products, processes and technology,” Blank told the UW System Board of Regents. “You have to be ready to adapt and ready to change.”

 A skilled workforce and leadership that understands how to deal with change are important to accomplishing their goals, she said.

The demand for skilled workers has changed based on skill set, increasing steadily since the late 1970s, Blank said.

“This requires staying on the cutting edge of what those new ideas mean for your industry,”  she said. “This is something that our institutions provide.”

Blank stood by the university and its reputation to produce the leaders that create jobs and lead businesses.

The regents’ meeting Thursday also focused on the growing demand for science, technology, engineering and mathematics degrees, which Blank stressed needed additional funding since student interest is growing rapidly.

Interest in STEM programs has grown from 31 percent to 42 percent over the past few years, which is more than the university can admit, Blank said.

Since the university is unable to increase the programs and faculty at this time, it is experiencing deterioration in quality of the program with larger class sizes and less attention and advising, she said.

“This is absolutely the wrong thing to be doing in the fields that are most important to this economy and to some of our students,”  Blank said. “This is not one time money, we need base funding available in the long-run to offer new enrichment opportunities.”

Blank said she is not concerned about students being job-ready, and highlighted a career initiative that will describe what students do with a liberal arts degree.

With this initiative, the university will be able to advise students better on possible career paths and bring in alumni to speak to students, Blank said.

Blank also said it was foolish for other UW campuses to build STEM programs that have extremely high initial costs when UW-Madison already has these programs.

“We already have programs here [in Madison] that we just need to work to expand,” she said. “We need to partner statewide to accomplish this.”