Elsewhere

Elsewhere summarizes developments on other UW System campuses and in the system administration.

Whitewater: Tuition plan to expand academic advising
The UW System Board of Regents has approved a 3.5 percent tuition increase for UW-Whitewater undergraduates as part of a student-initiated plan to enhance advising and the first-year experience.

Developed by Whitewater Student Government, the tuition plan would begin in fall 2002 and increase full-time undergraduate tuition by about $100 per year. Students currently pay $3,337 in tuition annually. Differential tuition is made possible under a Board of Regents vote in 1996 that gives System campuses flexibility in setting their own tuition levels.

A new advising initiative will target the needs of students at different levels. In addition, a series of new academic and support programs will be geared toward giving freshmen a more well-rounded introduction to academic life.

Superior: Intermodal grant funds study of Twin Ports
The Transportation and Logistics Research Center of UW-Superior’s Department of Business and Economics has been awarded a $167,000 grant to lead a yearlong study on the potential of establishing intermodal service in the Twin Ports of Duluth-Superior. The majority of the funding for the research has been awarded through the Midwest Regional University Transportation Center at UW–Madison. MRUTC, a consortium of eight universities, administers federal funds for transportation research, education and outreach in six states. The goal of intermodal freight transportation is coordinated, seamless, flexible and continuous door-to-door service on two or more transportation modes.

Stout: Campus receives Baldrige quality award
UW-Stout has received the Macolm Baldrige National Quality Award for academic organizations. UW-Stout was recognized for achievements leadership, strategic planning, market focus, information and analysis, process management and performance results. Now considered America’s highest honor for performance excellence and quality achievement, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was established by Congress in 1987. It was designed to promote quality awareness, to recognize quality and business achievements of U.S. organizations, and to publicize these organizations’ successful performance strategies.

System: Olien honored
David W. Olien, senior vice president for administration with the UW System, has been named the 2001 recipient of the national Marvin D. “Swede” Johnson Achievement Award. The Johnson Award recognizes higher education state relations officers for their dedication to advancing the needs of colleges and universities. Olien has served as senior vice president for administration in the UW System since 1997. From 1993 to 1997, he was vice president for university relations, with responsibility for government relations and public affairs.

Milwaukee: Laptops issued
Fifteen freshmen in the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at UW-Milwaukee are testing a new policy that will require all sophomores in the program to lease a laptop computer from the university beginning next fall. The policy, called e3 — electronic educational environment — marks the first time a school at UW-Milwaukee has required that students get their educational computer hardware and software from the university. Along with the state-of-the-art equipment, students will be connected to the wireless networking server. The student cost is $525 per semester.