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Teacher training tops regent agenda

June 7, 2001

Strengthening the way teachers are trained is one of the key strategies of a proposed UW System plan to further improve the state public education system from pre-kindergarten through college.

The UW System Board of Regents is scheduled to vote at its meeting this Thursday and Friday on the proposed PK-16 Principles. The principles call for the UW System chancellors to collaborate with elementary and secondary educators and other postsecondary education leaders “to develop a well-articulated plan for achieving local quality PK-16 education.”

The Board of Regents has reviewed several critical issues related to PK-16 education over the past year, including teacher supply and demand, the impact of PK-12 standards on higher education, technology and teacher education, and local and state PK-16 councils. And the regents’ education committee established PK-16 initiatives and partnerships as a top priority for the 2000-01 academic year.

“The regents’ focus acknowledges the UW System’s responsibility for a vested interest in PK-16 reforms, including ensuring teacher quality and setting clear and consistent expectations for student learning,” says the executive summary to the PK-16 Principles.

The board’s education committee will vote on the principles at its meeting Thursday, June 7, at UW-Milwaukee. The full board will consider the measure at its meeting Friday, June 8, at Miller Park in Milwaukee.

The regents will meet today and Friday, June 7-8, at UW-Milwaukee and Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers. Other items on the board’s agenda:

  • Presentations to the full board include a status report on UW System/Wisconsin Technical College System collaborations, including announcement of a new nursing transfer program; a follow-up presentation on student access, with results from a UW System study on access by family income; and an outline of the UW’s 2001-03 Information Technology plan.
  • The Education Committee agenda includes a UW-Milwaukee presentation on “Meeting the Needs of the Community Through the Use of Technology”; approval to search for a new director of Learning Innovations, the UW System’s e-learning support organization; and approval of a new masters’ programs in creative writing at UW–Madison.
  • The Business and Finance Committee agenda includes requests from UW–Madison to contract with Adidas for shoes, equipment and apparel for its athletic teams, and renew its contract with the Collegiate Licensing Company, which administers trademark licensing for approximately 180 colleges and universities.
  • Physical Planning and Funding Committee agenda includes an update of the UW System capital budget and consideration of construction projects on the Madison, Milwaukee, Parkside, Stevens Point, Superior and Whitewater campuses, and the two-year UW-Fox Valley campus.
  • The full board meeting Friday, Miller will include reports from Regent President Jay Smith and UW System President Katharine Lyall. They are expected to brief the board on recent legislative action concerning the proposed 2001-03 state budget. Lyall is also expected to provide an update on a recent UW System alumni retention survey. UWM will also make a presentation on campus design solutions.