As UW-Whitewater prepares for the fall semester, Chancellor Corey King addressed the university at the annual Chancellor’s Opening Celebration Tuesday, Sept. 27. King discussed some of the university’s priorities, as well as put the spotlight on some Warhawks.

While the address covered plenty of business, the chancellor also reminded attendees about the Warhawk family. The twelfth chancellor in UWW’s history, David Greenhill, was in attendance along with his wife. Both were highly involved in the Whitewater community for decades.

“Thank you for your bold leadership and commitment to our great university,” Chancellor Corey King said. “We see you, and we love you.”

Whitewater’s 2024-25 budget was a major talking point as the chancellor announced that the university’s structural deficit, which was originally expected to be $8.9 million, will be just over $500,000. This major improvement to the deficit is a point that King called an incredible achievement and he took two separate pauses to applaud the efforts of those who made that possible.

“We are confident that we will completely eliminate the structural budget deficit by 2025-26, which is two years ahead of the Universities of Wisconsin mandate,” King said.

In addition to the structural deficit increase, King also shared Whitewater’s enrollment and retention numbers. According to the chancellor there is an expected increase in enrollment by roughly 200 students. He also shared that the university is “holding strong” with a retention rate of about 77.5%, consistent with 2023-24 numbers.

“While this is encouraging, our strategic goal is to reach 82% by 2028,” King said. 

The news the chancellor shared went beyond just students, he shared updates on employee compensation and benefits. King said that as part of UW-wide pay plan there was a 4% increase that was joined by another 2% increase over the summer. He said that the university will continue to advocate for compensation. The University Compensation and Benefits Committee is working on this.

“Meetings in this space are ongoing, and based on our enrollment and current budget allocations, we expect to move the needle,” King said. “Looking at the overall priorities, we will focus our efforts on addressing compression.”

Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman is looking to get more public funding for the universities, the Board of Regents has approved the 2025-27 budget and the deal awaits Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers’ approval. Once signed by the governor there will be more increases in pay in 2025 and 2026. 

Over the summer a new policy on paid parental leave went into effect. This allows eligible employees to have up to six weeks of paid time off after a qualifying birth or adoption. This was done so that parents are able to adjust to their new family and bond with their children.

Dean of the College of Education & Professional Studies Lana Collet-Klingenberg, along with other deans, also shared updates about their own colleges. Collet-Klingenberg highlighted the emphasis her college has put on recruitment of non-traditional students by creating new pathways.

“Examples of this include our Communication Sciences and Disorders Post BAC with second degree option,” Collet-Klingenberg said. “Kinesiology’s Undergraduate Human Performance online, counselor educations, Educator to School Counselor Hybrid program, and a Master’s in Reading and Dyslexia.”

Paul Ambrose, dean of the College of Business & Economics, also described how the largest business school in the state has grown and evolved. He highlighted that this year his college will look to take an initiative at looking towards the future and how the landscape is changing.

“All of this came because there were at different points in time, courageous people taking that bold, being Warhawk bold and taking those decisions,” Ambrose said.

Not all of the news shared was business, Chancellor King shouted out the many Warhawks who are in Paris competing in the Paralympic Games as part of Team USA’s men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball team.

“Our Warhawk family, we see you at the Paralympic, we root for you, we are there with you in Paris spiritually and we are cheering you on,” King said as the crowd cheered with him for the paralympians. 

Chancellor King closed the event by taking a moment to remind Warhawks to celebrate where we came from, where we are and where we are going.

“We are Warhawk bold and we do it strong and we do it together.”