Initiative raises profile of ‘Wisconsin Idea’

A new university initiative will provide a forward-looking boost to one of the university’s most cherished principles, the century-old Wisconsin Idea.

The initiative begins this month with three related developments designed to promote the university’s mission of statewide service. The effort includes:

• A realignment of the university’s outreach administration and the creation of an associate vice chancellor’s position to steer university-wide service efforts. Howard Martin, dean of the Division of Continuing Studies, will lead the effort as the new associate vice chancellor for extended programs.
• The creation of a Wisconsin Idea Endowed Professorship, a faculty position supported with a $1.25 million endowment from the Evjue Foundation. The professorship will be named in honor of William T. Evjue and will recognize outstanding contributions to outreach and service. The person will further the legacy of the Wisconsin Idea, which holds that the boundaries of the university are the boundaries of the state and beyond.
• The creation of the Wisconsin Idea Fellowships, funded by an endowment through the UW Foundation with an ultimate goal of raising $20 million. Earnings from the endowment, roughly $1 million per year, will be used to support dozens of student-directed service projects across the state.

Provost John Wiley said the increased attention to service is timely. Enhancing the Wisconsin Idea emerged as one of the priorities in the university’s strategic plan developed in the late 1990s, but until now had not received a concerted boost.

“Following our successes in the past decade in improving undergraduate education, we wanted to devote renewed attention to the Wisconsin Idea,” Wiley said. “Public service is a core priority that touches every academic unit at the university. This initiative will help us take a stronger, more visible approach to our service mission.”

The cornerstone of the administrative change is to move staff from the Office of Outreach Development to connect more directly with campus-wide outreach activities. Wiley said the 10 staff members from the office will now work “closer to the action” in distinct units on campus rather than being housed in a central administrative office.

Former outreach development staff positions have been reassigned to the Division of Continuing Studies; the Graduate School; the College of Letters and Sciences, and the School of Education.

Peyton Smith, director of marketing for University Communications, will work directly with Martin as an assistant vice chancellor for extended programs. Smith will work to enhance the university’s outreach function and visibility, and in developing continuing education and extended programs. Previously, he developed a series of statewide programs as the institution’s sesquicentennial coordinator and worked in continuing education and outreach development.

“This realignment will create the opportunity to enhance and expand the nationally recognized concept of the Wisconsin Idea,” said Martin. “And it will help us continue to serve the changing needs of citizens of this state and alumni throughout the country.”

Martin added that the change will encourage more collaboration among campus professionals and make it easier for the general public to tap into campus resources.

Wiley said the endowed professorship will be a valued addition to the list of endowed chair competitions on campus, most of which are awarded strictly on the basis of scholarly accomplishments. “This one will be given to directly recognize service, through applying the results of research to the important needs of society,” he said.

The student service endowment will likely be modeled after the highly successful Hilldale Undergraduate Research Awards, which provide stipends of up to $4,000 for more than 100 student projects annually. Wiley said this program would be open to undergraduates at any grade level.

Service is a basic expectation of faculty and staff on campus. It comes in myriad forms, from solving problems on farms or in small businesses, to applying new learning principles in Wisconsin public schools, and to continuing education in its many forms.