UW-Whitewater had a special guest on Wednesday, Sept. 18, when Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers made a visit to speak with students and hear about what is going on at the campus. Evers toured parts of Upham Hall and spent time in the University Center, even stopping at Roberta’s Art Gallery.
Evers’s tour began with a conversation with student researchers about their geology research. Evers, a former educator, talked with both the students and their faculty advisor about their work, including a trip to Iceland. He also met members of various student organizations inside the Warhawk Connection Center.
“I am really impressed with this campus,” Evers said. “It’s been lots of struggles over the years, and the people that are here are really working hard, and I really love what they’re doing with the student services they have here.”
The diversity and connections that students are able to make in the space of the Connection Center was something that caught Evers’s eye as he met members of the campus’s Pride Center and the Black Student Union.
“Having different groups of students being able to hang out together…is really important,” Evers said. “Whitewater is just the right size to make that happen on a good scale.”
The tour took the governor to the new One Stop office, a space where students can seek help with a wide range of issues from classes to finances. The addition of this space came in part because of the feedback that students gave the university in previous years’ surveys.
“It is unbelievable [how UWW gets students in on decisions],” Evers said. “Thousands of students here and being able to use the students as a way to help make decisions is perfect.”
“I can see just from my vantage point as a former educator anytime you involve students in the decision making you’re doing the right thing.”
The number of students at Whitewater was also a subject of conversation.
During the tour, Chancellor Corey King and the governor were able to discuss the state of the university, including retention and enrollment.
Enrollment at Whitewater has gone up by 262 students compared to last year, while retention is holding strong. The current enrollment is the highest the university has seen since the fall of 2020. Something that Evers hopes to see across all University of Wisconsin campuses. He also is working on getting more funding for the universities around the state.
Across the board, the UW schools are ranked 43 out of 50 in how much state funding they receive. The goal, as King pointed out before classes began weeks ago, is to bring the UW schools up to the middle of those state funding rankings.
“[43rd is] not a good place to be,” Evers said. “It’s going to be in my budget
and they’ve approved it in their budget so we’ll have a good conversation with the legislature this year. Hopefully, we can make it happen.”
The governor highlighted that with the elections this year, there are some candidates who are supportive of the Universities of Wisconsin and could help with that conversation, as he and the state government work on providing more funding for the schools. Currently, there is potential for the 2025-27 biennial budget to give $800 million more to the universities to get them out of that 43rd ranking.
Some of that new budget may go to increasing pay for staff, something Evers acknowledged is an issue on campuses other than UW-Madison.
Evers’ campus visit was part of his back-to-school tour around the state as he advocates for the proposed budget.
