UW-Whitewater’s continued success as an institution comes as no surprise to Chancellor Corey King. He eagerly highlighted its academic progress, strong financial position and many achievements of both students and employees at the annual State of the University Address held Tuesday, March 18 in the James R. Connor University Center Hamilton Room. The chancellor addressed the challenges of education in the current federal climate, promising strength in university leadership for the year ahead.
“I want, as chancellor of this university, to affirm academic freedom,” King said. “In teaching and research or creative activities, our faculty and instructors retain the right to design courses, select materials, determine pedagogical approaches and evaluate student performance.”
The university aims to achieve an enrollment of 13,000 students and a retention rate of 82 percent. Fall 2024 showed tenth-day enrollment at 11,752 with a 78 percent retention rate from the prior year.
King expressed his excitement for the year ahead and acknowledged the contributions of faculty, staff and students across the Whitewater and Rock County campuses.
The Chancellor’s Committees reported about work on planned initiatives of focus in areas such as disabilities, inclusion, veteran services, student success and mental health.
King introduced Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administrative Affairs Brenda Jones, who gave an update about the university’s financial position. Jones went into detail about the progress due to contributing factors such as enrollment growth, tuition increases, salary and fringe savings. The university’s goal is to eliminate the budget structural deficit by year 25-26.
Vice Chancellor of University Relations Katie Kuznacic shared the future fundraiser campaign that will launch in a few months, “Our Stories Our Future.” It reflects the heart of the fundraising effort of UW-Whitewater.
“Every donor’s generosity shapes the future of our students, our campuses, and our community,” Kuznacic said. “uniting alumni and supporters in a shared vision for UW-Whitewater’s future.”
The goal is to gain a minimum of $50 million and the campaign will officially be launched to the public on June 12.
Director of Institutional Research, Assessment and Planning Katy Casey, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Enrollment and Retention Jackie Briggs and professor Kris Curran presented the state of the 2023-2028 Strategic Plan.
“Our relationship-rich education campaign, created to deliver a simple but powerful message. Students succeed when they are seen, supported and connected,” Casey said. “Relationship-rich education serves as a backbone of student success, ensuring that every student is supported as they develop knowledge, find belonging, prepare for their careers and persist to graduation.”
Briggs addressed the progress of the new One Stop. It was launched in August 2024, aiming to provide streamlined and holistic services and support to assist with student progress towards academic attainment.
The ceremony concluded with a celebration of all the employees on campus who have been working for many years and got recognition for their hard work within UW-Whitewater.
King also recognized three students for the Student Awards in Leadership: Alumni entrepreneurship and innovation major Jaelyne White, junior environmental science major Maren McDonnell and freshman accounting major Arber Misini.
“Academic freedom permits the discussion of challenging and controversial ideas if they are relevant to the subject matter of the course, and I ask that you do need one important favor as faculty, staff and students remain focused,” King said. “Stay the course and be true to our mission, our vision and core values. I want you to know the university leadership will continue to do all we can to ensure that this institution is strong and we will continue to move together. We are Warhawks.”
