The Milwaukee Post

10 • Milwaukee County Post • January 26, 2018 Advertise in the Milwaukee Post's DINING OUT GUIDE. • Reach over 10,000 homes in Milwaukee County. • Feature specials, unique menu items, coupons, new staff or anything that will enhance the diner's experience in your restaurant. • Make your ad eye-catching, add color. Ask your sales representative about this low additional rate. • Your ad will run alongside a monthly reader contest, creating high readership. Deadline: Tuesday prior to publication Publishes: Weekly in the Milwaukee Post Reserve your ad space today! Call: 414-744-6370. Connect with customers looking for a great place to eat. By JOHN TORINUS When I see someone in the Milwaukee region from the University of Wisconsin-Madison -— other than its best export, its wonderful graduates — I call it a "sighting." It's like the visit from a rare bird. Our flagship university dominates the scene in Dane County and its nearby environs, but its economic impact on the rest of the state, beyond its graduates, is hard to see. It does conduct wonder- ful R&D and that does bene- fit mankind in general. It does field terrific sports teams that provide enter- tainment for many across the state. How about that Badgers win at the Orange Bowl? Yet, despite its economic muscle (more than $8 billion in foundation support), its outreach efforts across the state are limited and mostly invisible. Wisconsin's economic growth and prosperity con- tinue to lag the nation, despite a higher-than-aver- age investment in educa- tion. The obvious point is that state leaders need to figure out ways to increase the bang for the buck from the University of Wisconsin System. Unfortunately, some of the moves by the UWS and GOP leaders are not helping. The abrupt reorganiza- tion of the University of Wisconsin Extension, which goes into effect July 1, is a case in point. The Extension, which goes back to the 1800s, was created to spread the knowledge of UW-Madison to the corners of the state. It has had an office in almost all our 72 counties. Its county farm agents played a big role back then when big chunks of the population were involved in farming and agribusi- ness. Not so m u c h a n y - m o r e . W e b - b a s e d f a r m i n g informa- tion is m o r e available. So are vendor experts. The extension still runs 4-H programs, but it has lost much of its main mission and needs to be repurposed. In a reorganization pushed by UWS President Ray Cross, the UW Regents made the decision to put part of Extension under the central UWS office and part under UW-Madison. Why there? The same Board of Regents dismantled the UW Colleges by assigning the 13 campuses to the 12 four-year colleges across the sate. That makes sense, because the economy of the state breaks down into regions and their related industrial clusters. The UW Extension has more than 1,600 employees in combined programs who could be used on the 25 cam- puses outside of Madison to fill depleted professor and staff ranks. UW-Madison blessedly has lost almost no positions during the univer- sity budget crunches of the last decade, but the other campuses have been slammed. Some UWS retrenchment may have been in order, but muscle has been cut, too, such as the loss of the deans at the 13 colleges. The deans need to be restored as the colleges become satellite campuses to prevent further enrollment losses. Deans were major recruiters. The extension positions and dollars could be the resources to allow the 25 campuses to do the outreach that UW-Madison has aban- doned. Further, the regional con- solidation could allow some savings that are unlikely to happen with Madison in charge. One prime example is the four Small Business Development Centers that operate under the exten- sion. They have become orphans, but could be nicely reassigned to the business schools at the statewide campuses. Another example: The extension offices in almost all 72 counties offices could be assigned to recruit. UW- Madison doesn't need to recruit; it has more appli- cants than it can handle. The other 25 campuses need students. Another possibility: If integrated with the campus- es, those county offices could be guidance centers to help students find the right path though the complicat- ed UWS network and/or the Wisconsin Technical College System. That is especially true with the growing complexity of mix- ing online classes with tra- ditional classrooms. Could a start at a techni- cal college of two-year cam- pus cut the total four-year bill? All these issues could be addressed in the context of a much-needed blue ribbon commission on higher edu- cation in the state. That's how UWS reorgan- ization would have been dealt with back before Governors Doyle and Walker dispensed with the Wisconsin Idea of pulling together the best minds in the state to solve complex challenges. (John Torinus is chair- man of the board of Serigraph Inc. in West Bend and blogs regularly at www.johntorinus.com. His column runs in the Post.) Better bang for UW buck needed Torinus OPINION

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