The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents approved $20 million in additional funding requests for new system-wide initiatives at its August meeting, which includes a program aimed at helping non-traditional students and working adults earn an online UW degree.
The new initiatives are part of the 2013-2015 UW System biennial budget request, which is due to be turned in to the Department of Administration in September and will be subject to approval by Gov. Scott Walker and the state legislature next year.
The new UW Flexible Degree program, created in conjunction with the governor’s office earlier this summer, will allow working adults and other non-traditional students to use previous college credit and work experience to earn a new online UW degree.
Aaron Brower, UW System President Kevin Reilly’s special assistant for new educational strategies, said he believes the program will be the future of higher education and the UW System must work to implement it now to stay relevant.
“I think the flexible degree can literally be the Wisconsin Idea into the next 100 years and that’s a very exciting prospect,” Brower said.
Regent Tracy Hribar, the current non-traditional student representative, said many of her contemporaries, who are state taxpayers and volunteers, need the program.
“I personally could have gone back to school 10 years sooner if something like this had been available,” Hribar said.
Hribar added it is “crucial” for the UW System to develop the online degree so it is meaningful and maintains the same high standards as traditional UW degrees.
Also at the meeting, the board approved the 2013-2015 biennial capital budget request, which includes UW-Madison construction projects on chemistry and agriculture related buildings.
According to Reilly, there were “welcome differences” between the previous biennial budget and the preparation of the new budget, including a recent announcement from Walker that the UW System should not plan for further budget reductions and lapses.
“The Governor is committed to positioning the state of Wisconsin for economic recovery and so are we,” Reilly said.
Reilly said Wisconsin’s universities play a significant role in helping to power the economy by creating jobs and preparing people to fill those jobs and participate in Wisconsin’s communities.
“In a very real sense when we ask the state to reinvest in the University of Wisconsin, that is investing in Wisconsin,” Reilly said.
