UW–Madison, College of Menominee Nation renew student transfer partnership

Liberal Studies students attending the College of Menominee Nation (CMN) will continue to have an easy path to transfer to the University of Wisconsin–Madison thanks to a renewed agreement between the two institutions.

In June, leaders from across UW–Madison traveled to CMN to meet with President Christopher Caldwell, interim Dean of Letters & Science Lucy Fenzl and other CMN leadership, and tour the college located on the Menominee Indian Reservation. During the visit, interim Chancellor Karl Scholz joined President Caldwell for the signing of the latest iteration of the transfer agreement.

“We look forward to a robust partnership at CMN. I wish to extend my gratitude to President Caldwell and his colleagues for their outstanding work at CMN and for our partnership to create mutually beneficial opportunities for the students we serve,” says Scholz.

The contract allows a qualified student to begin postsecondary education as a freshman at CMN and be guaranteed admission as a transfer student at UW–Madison after completing three academic years, or 60 transferable credits.

“We strive to make sure that our students are set up for success. Articulation agreements like this are one way we can give our students a pathway to a fulfilling educational experience that aligns with their true goals and passions.” says CMN President Caldwell, a UW–Madison alumnus, who was one of the first transfer students from CMN on the first articulation agreement with the university in 2002. “We expect to see many students taking advantage of our agreement with UW–Madison.”

The renewal marks the third time the historic contract has been signed between CMN and UW–Madison, with the first campus-to-campus agreement taking place in 2007.

CMN is one of 32 tribally controlled community colleges in the United States and is known as a national leader in sustainable development. In 2020 and 2021, UW–Madison and CMN also partnered together alongside Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe College on a first-ever triple partnership between the three institutions for a USDA NIFA New Beginnings for Tribal Students grant to create educational pathways to the three land grant institutions.

The Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies has played an instrumental role in building the collaborative partnership with CMN. Leaders used the visit as an opportunity to discuss how the two institutions can work together to build sustained collaborative programming for both Madison and CMN students and, in the future, to provide steady pathways for Native American students to UW–Madison, where they will feel included and welcome.

The visit also included stops at the CMN Sustainable Development Institute, weekly Farmer’s Market, and the library’s special collections, which houses original papers for the Determination of Rights and Unity for Menominee Stockholders (DRUMS) organization that worked to successfully end Termination and Assimilation as federal Indian Policy in the U.S. and re-established the Menominee Nation as a federally recognized American Indian Nation.