Wisconsin Advocacy and Campus Action Pilot Initiative

Wisconsin is the first official pilot state in the LEAP campaign. In collaboration with AAC&U, leaders in Wisconsin are piloting a series of campus action and advocacy efforts that champion the value of a liberal education for all college students. Through the advocacy and campus-action activities described below, LEAP Forward Wisconsin is advancing a strategic dialogue on the future of higher education and the importance of liberal education in the state. 

AAC&U has partnered with the University of Wisconsin System through its initiative, The Currency of the Liberal Arts and Sciences: Rethinking Liberal Education in Wisconsin. Keep an eye on this Web site as we add links to new resources and descriptions of the activities as they develop. Activities planned or already underway in Wisconsin include:

Speeches, Announcements, and Press Coverage

• Press release announcing University of Wisconsin System and AAC&U partnership
• AAC&U Annual Meeting podcasts including speech by Wisconsin Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton
• Wisconsin public radio program, The West Side, on Liberal Education and UW-Eau Claire Campus-Community Dialogue (March 6, 2006)
• UW-Oshkosh LEAP activities featured in UW-Oshkosh Magazine and ACE's Solutions for Our Future Web Site.

Advocacy and Campus Action Activities

• The UW System Liberal Arts Scholarship Competition, established to support and promote liberal arts and science education throughout the state’s public university system.  The competition is one of many activities of the UW System’s Currency of the Liberal Arts and Sciences Initiative, which seeks to make the goals and outcomes of liberal arts education accessible and valuable to all UW students, regardless of major or degree program. 
• Public opinion research—including focus groups with high school and college students regarding their own goals for college learning. See Memo on Wisconsin Focus Groups as well as earlier Findings from Focus Groups with Current College Students and Rising High School Seniors (Indiana, Oregon, Virginia). WI campuses involved in the initiative will also be conducting and analyzing the findings from student focus groups that assess their own students’ college learning goals and their awareness of important liberal education outcomes.
• The Syllabus Project, in which the outcomes of a liberal education are placed on the syllabi faculty develop for their courses as part of their learning goals for students.  Begun at UW-Oshkosh, this practice has been adopted at several other UW institutions, with more to follow.
• Campus-Community Dialogues—a series of campus-community meetings that will bring together key constituents and feature the voices of business leaders and recent graduates discussing key outcomes and educational practices that lead to success in life and work. These dialogues will focus on what outcomes of college are most important; how students need to be prepared to achieve these outcomes; and what avenues for change exist in the state to advance these goals.  Seven campus-community dialogues on the topic of Literacy and Civic Life are taking place at UW institutions throughout 2005-2006.  These particular dialogues are designed to promote reflection and exchange between the academy and the public on defining the kinds of literacy necessary for engagement in civic life in today's Wisconsin. 
• A state-wide leadership council for liberal education is being formed that will include members from politics, business, industry, arts, the non-profit sector, and all levels of education.
• Innovative Campus Programs and Stories of Student Success will be gathered and will form the basis for future outreach activities. 
• Leaders in Wisconsin are also beginning conversations about a possible statewide college learning summit in 2007. 

The following campuses are all part of the University of Wisconsin System. All private and public accredited colleges and universities in the state of Wisconsin, however, are welcome to get involved in the campaign.

For specific information about how to get involved in the WI initiative, please contact Rebecca Karoff at 608-263-2728 or rkaroff@uwsa.edu or Debra Humphreys at Humphreys@aacu.org.

University of Wisconsin Campuses:

UW-Eau Claire
UW-Green Bay
UW-La Crosse
UW-Madison
UW-Milwaukee
UW-Oshkosh
UW-Parkside
UW-Platteville
UW-River Falls
UW-Stevens Point
UW-Stout
UW-Superior
UW-Whitewater
UW-Extension
UW Colleges
UW-Baraboo/Sauk County
UW-Barron County
UW-Fond du Lac
UW-Fox Valley
UW-Manitowoc
UW-Marathon County
UW-Marinette
UW-Marshfield/Wood County
UW-Richland
UW-Rock County
UW-Sheboygan
UW-Washington County
UW-Waukesha