Dual admissions expand

A newly expanded program that offers students dual admission to UW–Madison and a UW Colleges campus will welcome 62 new students during orientation activities Wednesday, Aug. 21.

The UW–Madison Connections program, a pilot program unveiled in 2001, allows a select number of students to finish their undergraduate degrees at UW–Madison after completing two years at one of the UW Colleges campuses, which are the 13 campuses of the UW System that specialize in freshman/sophomore teaching.

A successful test of the UW–Madison Connections program with four UW Colleges campuses during 2001-02 academic year — when 25 students enrolled in the program — prompted its expansion to all 13 UW Colleges campuses this fall.

Orientation for new and continuing UW–Madison Connections students and their parents is scheduled 9 a.m.-2 p.m. in 240 Union South, 227 N. Randall Ave. An optional campus walking tour will follow.

The orientation will be hosted by UW–Madison Chancellor John Wiley, UW Colleges Chancellor William Messner and UW–Madison Connections coordinator Noel Radomski, and will include academic advising, an opportunity to obtain a UW–Madison photo identification card and activate a campus e-mail account through the “My UW–Madison” portal, and a special session for parents.

“We want these students to realize that they are members of the UW–Madison campus community, just as they are members of their respective UW Colleges campuses,” Radomski says. “That’s why we want to involve them in activities on this campus from the beginning of their college careers.”

While attending classes at one of the UW Colleges, students are granted many of the privileges afforded new freshmen enrolled on the Madison campus, including access to UW–Madison’s libraries, recreational facilities and student unions, and the opportunity to purchase tickets for athletic events at student rates.

The UW–Madison Connections program was developed to help address the growing number of academically qualified students seeking admission to UW–Madison. The total number of applicants at UW–Madison has risen about 55 percent over the last decade, while capacity has remained the same. For this fall, the admissions office received more than 21,000 applications for about 5,700 spots in the freshman class.

“By boosting enrollments in UW–Madison Connections and including all 13 UW Colleges campuses, we are able to make a UW–Madison undergraduate degree available to a larger group of qualified students,” Radomski says.

Admission into the program is offered to a select number of UW–Madison applicants who have the qualifications to succeed at UW–Madison, but were not immediately offered a spot in the freshman class.

“These are students who are more than capable of excelling at UW–Madison, but were not admitted because of limitations on the size of the freshman class,” Radomski says.

UW Colleges campuses selected by incoming UW–Madison Connections students include: UW-Waukesha (14), UW-Rock County in Janesville (10), UW-Fox Valley in Menasha (6), UW-Manitowoc (4), UW-Marathon County in Wausau (6), UW-Washington County in West Bend (5), UW-Fond du Lac (3), UW-Sheboygan (5), UW-Marshfield (2), UW-Richland (4), UW-Baraboo/Sauk County. (2) and UW-Barron County in Rice Lake (1).