New academic year ushers in changes
From improved Camp Randall Stadium scoreboards and new trash cans to higher tuition, a variety of changes will greet more than 41,000 UW–Madison students as classes begin for the 2004-05 school year.
Here are some of the more notable changes that students, faculty and staff will encounter as the year gets under way:
Keeping score
New scoreboards are a highlight of the ongoing renovation at Camp Randall Stadium, and also at the Kohl Center. The main stadium scoreboard — with video display — towers over the north end at 50 feet high and 170 feet wide, making it one of the largest football scoreboards in the nation. And the Kohl Center’s new scoreboard sports 9-by-14-foot video boards on all four sides.
New digs
City and state officials approved construction of a 425-bed residence hall, plus a UW office building, visitor center and parking garage on Park Street, just north of Regent Street.
The first new campus residence hall to be built since 1986 is part of a drive to ensure sufficient on-campus housing to meet freshman demand and allow demolition of Ogg Hall in 2007.
Tuition hike
For the second straight year, annual tuition increased $700 — the result of the effort to close a budget deficit in the 2003-05 state budget. Despite the increase, UW–Madison resident tuition remains second lowest among Big Ten universities.
Smooth ride
Crews last month finished rebuilding the stretch of Observatory Drive between Park and Charter streets.
Pitching in
More than 350 new black steel trash cans were installed across the campus this summer, replacing aging wood and metal receptacles.
MBA makeover
The School of Business is ready to begin its new, innovative MBA program, one that allows students to focus their graduate school experience in one of 14 career specializations, which include areas such as applied corporate finance, supply chain management, and brand and product management.
That great street
Construction work began this summer on the new, improved State Street, starting in the 100 block, at the state Capitol end of the street. Also on the construction side, work on the next phase of the soon-to-open Overture Center has begun in the 200 block.
Sullivan shines
An upgrade of the Sullivan Hall university residence hall gave every room new loft system furniture, as well as new tile, windows, drapes, lighting, and a fresh coat of paint. Bathrooms were also reconfigured so there are two separate bathrooms on each floor, allowing each floor to be co-ed by wing.
SPAM busters
Earlier this month, WiscMail’s spam filter was turned on by default and set to “medium.” Increasing volumes of spam led the campus to change its policy of enabling users to opt in to the filtering service. Now, they must opt out if they choose not to use the service.
That’s Italian
An Italian language residential program called Piazza Italia has been created in UW Housing’s Adams Hall, allowing students to immerse themselves in the language. A native speaker of Italian also will be living with the students to assist with language skills and help coordinate special programming. Piazza Italia joins Spanish and German programs in the International Learning Community.
On the shore
Most of the construction work that closed parts of the Howard Temin Lakeshore Path during the spring and summer is finished, including a stretch from Oxford Road in Shorewood Hills to the Willow Creek bridge behind the Natatorium. That stretch, which was rebuilt to improve safety and prevent erosion, opened in early August. The last phases of construction of the new Crew House at the end of November will mean that part of the path will not open until late this fall.
