| MESSAGE FROM THE CHANCELLOR AND VICE CHANCELLOR & PROVOST | |
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• Message • Broadcasting and Media Innovations • Business and Manufacturing Extension • Cooperative Extension • Outreach and E-Learning Extension • FY 2003 expenditures • FY 2003 contacts and enrollments • Partners |
To fulfill
our promise to the American people, public universities must attend to the
greater needs of the publics we serve and the significant changes taking
place around us. Through the University of Wisconsin-Extension, all Wisconsin people have unparalleled access to university resources and opportunities to benefit from learning experiences throughout their lifetime. In this Annual Report 2003, we present a brief overview of UW-Extension and our major educational programs, and a few significant accomplishments from the past year.
Through the conference and other venues, UW-Extension showcases many successful efforts to serve its increasingly diverse statewide clientele. For example, a recent statewide Hmong Educational Needs Assessment identified ways that UW-Extension can meet the educational needs of this important population segment. Similar efforts have focused on the growing number of Spanish-speaking people across Wisconsin and funding campus-based programs that increase participation in UW educational programs by all people of color. Like the ways that we respond to cultural changes, we are also working to address urgent economic challenges. Efforts to support Wisconsin’s development and growth serve many clients, from small businesses and farmers, to community leaders and policymakers. New efforts last year focused on specialized training for entrepreneurs to increase their chances of success, and showing dairy farmers how to adopt proven strategies that increase profitability. Working on a regional level with community- and campus-based educators, UW-Extension undertook a targeted effort to help create better job opportunities for people in northern Wisconsin. In business and education alike, one common challenge today is the rapid evolution of new technologies and the need to deliver services to an increasingly technology-savvy population. At UW-Extension, we have a proud tradition of embracing new ideas and instructional delivery methods and helping others to do the same. In the past year, we’ve seen dramatic growth in the use of distance conferencing among public- and private-sector clients looking for cost-effective ways to facilitate training sessions, staff meetings and conferences. At the same time, we continue working with colleagues at all 26 UW campuses to develop and launch new online courses and degree programs and to expand educational offerings for working adults and others who can’t enroll in traditional, classroom-based programs. Enrollments in these online offerings continue to grow at an impressive pace, along with steady increases in the number of people who apply to UW campuses electronically.
In 2004, achieving that ideal remains our happy challenge. It requires that we leverage resources across the UW System in ways that directly address the most critical human, social, economic and environmental challenges of our state and society. It may also require that university faculty and staff members use their educational expertise to engage in potentially controversial issues. If we are effectively organized and sufficiently motivated, our public university can be a major catalyst for positive change across the state. By providing access to education in the places where people live and work, UW-Extension can help individuals, families, businesses and communities grow and succeed in a changing world. Utilizing a new array of communications and instructional technologies, we can further expand the impact of our educational programs. In doing so, we can also help the university achieve greater efficiencies at a time when the opposing forces of constrained financial resources and increased educational demand are placing increased pressures on our statewide system of higher education. The positive outcomes of this work will extend far beyond better employment prospects of our college graduates. As a public university that is productively involved with citizens and communities, we can help make businesses more profitable, natural resources more sustainable, and families more cohesive. In doing so, we can make our communities more attractive to high-skilled workers and the businesses that will hire them. We can bring light and opportunity to so many people, and illuminate the path toward a brighter future for all of Wisconsin. In doing so, we will inevitably answer the question, “What’s ‘public’ about our public university?” annual report home |
 Kevin P. Reilly |
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 Marv Van Kekerix |
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financial contributions help enhance and extend our educational programs
and services to the people of Wisconsin. Information about giving options
is available by calling (608) 262-3786, or at http://www.uwex.edu/give.
Thank you! |
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