In addition to approving a financial transparency policy as required by the state Legislature, the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents also approved the expansion of the newly launched Flexible Option program to five more UW schools, including UW-Madison.

Pressure from the Wisconsin Legislature on the UW System last spring to develop and agree upon a comprehensive new policy to ensure the university’s financial transparency and accountability has been mounting since nearly $650 million of UW reserve funds surfaced last spring. The committee unanimously put the new financial transparency policy into action Friday.

The UW System Board of Regents and other UW administrators also spent time discussing the timely expansion of the new UW Flexible Option program, which allows non-traditional students the opportunity to earn a college degree based on their knowledge, as opposed to traditional class credits.

The program gives individuals who are unable to attend a traditional university the opportunity to prove their mastery of a subject through online exams, essays and evaluations, and eventually earn a college degree.

The expansions to the program announced Friday include five new online certificate programs at UW-Madison, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Stout and UW-Parkside. After extensive studies aimed at determining the market demand for varying degrees, the UW system has introduced new degree opportunities in sales, project management, global skills, geographic information systems, as well as alcohol and drug abuse counseling, Chancellor of UW Colleges Raymond Cross said.

Currently 26 percent of Wisconsinites hold a college degree and an additional 40 percent have earned some college credit, according to the U.S. Census from 2010. UW officials say that if even a fraction of that 40 percent were given the opportunity to obtain a degree, it would have very positive implications for the state’s economy.

“It is a big new idea in a system like ours, and it is part of the way the ground is shifting under us in higher education,” Kevin Reilly, president of the University of Wisconsin System, said. 

At Friday’s discussion of the Flex Option expansion, there was a resounding insistence among UW officials that despite the program being available to individuals sitting at their computers across the world, Wisconsin residents should be the first to benefit from the new “visionary” program, as Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education, described the program.

“I want this to be ours,” Regent Margaret Farrow said at the meeting Friday. “And if you admit out-of-state students, I want to double tuition on them. What we are doing is so forward thinking. This should be Wisconsin-centered.”

The program, which will be fully launched next fall, has received acclaim from educators and policy makers across the country, including President Barack Obama and Gov. Scott Walker.

“Offering additional programs for competency-based learning is great news for the UW System and prospective students across Wisconsin,” Walker said.

As the meeting came to a close, the committee took the time to thank, and say goodbye to Reilly, who will be leaving his job this January. Candidates to replace Reilly will be announced in late December.