Academic & Student Services

Supporting Wisconsin's School-to-Work System

2000 Bulletin

Partners in Wisconsin's Educational System

The University of Wisconsin System is pleased to be a partner in Skills for the Future, an initiative that raises expectations and standards for all students. Skills for the Future, Wisconsin's School-to-Work system, is a partnership, centering on students that involves parents, educators, employers, labor and local, state and federal governments. It is based on changes in what, how and where students learn.

Wisconsin's School-to-Work (STW) system shows students how to make the connection between the classroom and the world of work. By combining rigorous school and work-based learning opportunities with enhanced career exploration and guidance, Wisconsin's educational system is developing students with stronger skills so they are better prepared to enroll in a college or university, a technical college or go directly into the workforce. More information about Skills for the Future is available on-line at http://www.dwd.state.wi.us/cew/ .

Support Extends Across UW System

The UW System, through Academic and Student Services (ACSS), has undertaken a number of initiatives that demonstrate its support for and involvement in STW. These initiatives include:

  • The UW System Board of Regents approved a new measure to enhance credit transfer by authorizing UW institutions to develop "2+2" degree completion programs. These programs will enable Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) students with two-year associate degrees to transfer as third-year students into related bachelor of science or applied science degree programs, or into broad based bachelor of applied arts or sciences degree programs. Link to more information

  • UW institutions have established more than 350 program transfer agreements to enable WTCS students to transfer credit into UW programs.

  • The STW initiative is supported by the work of the research centers at UW-Stout and UW-Madison. Their research provides UW System and its STW partners with the background, data and consulting support that assists in STW planning, implementation and evaluation efforts.

  • The UW System STW Coordination Group that includes representatives from every UW institution meets each semester to help coordinate overall UW System involvement in Tech Prep and STW and to help the UW institutions become more aware of these initiatives and their role in them.

  • UW System has adopted a competency-based-admission process in response to high school reform efforts that utilize a performance-based assessment approach. UW faculty has developed competencies in several disciplinary areas and a standardized reporting profile that high schools use to indicate competency level attainment. Link to more information

  • UW institutions completed an evaluation of four nationally developed Tech Prep courses recommended by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to determine the program's application to UW System admission requirements. the outcome was positive and an effective process is now in place to evaluate future courses.

  • Four Youth Apprenticeship (YA) programs were evaluated by UW institutions to determine the alignment of YA curricula and UW institutions' admissions requirements. The four programs recommended by the Department of Workforce Development were biotechnology, finance, engineering and printing. These YA curricula were determined to satisfy elective unit requirements at nearly all UW institutions with some variation by program. Apprenticeships were determined to satisfy some core academic unit requirements, with the Biotechnology program satisfying core units in natural science at every UW institution.

  • The overall STW initiative is supported by the work of the research centers at UW-Stout and UW-Madison. Their research provides UW System and its STW partners with the background, data and consulting support that assists in STW planning, implementation and evaluation efforts.

UW Institutions Make Important Contributions

Individual UW institutions are engaged in a variety of initiatives related to STW. Selected examples include:

  • Green Bay - The Office of Outreach and Extension offers a course for teachers to provide a guided business/industry experience in order to enhance their knowledge of the STW transition and to develop networking opportunities with area businesses for future curriculum enrichment. Link to more information

  • UW-Milwaukee - UW-Milwaukee's Employment and Training Institute in cooperation with Milwaukee Area Technical College and Milwaukee Public Schools teachers and students has prepared online curriculum materials and three published booklets for middle and high school students. The booklets and teacher curriculum guides focus on understanding the local labor market and exploring careers in high demand. Information is available on-line at: http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/ETI/schooltw.htm .

  • UW-Oshkosh - Supported by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the College of Education and Human Services engaged in a project called "Infusing Technology into Secondary English Classrooms." By combining technology with STW initiatives and Wisconsin Academic Standards for English Language Arts, instructional units were developed that incorporated technology usage in two high school English courses.

  • UW-Parkside - UW-Parkside's STW Externships provide K-12 teachers with the opportunity to experience business and industry first-hand while earning college credits. Teachers spend from 15 to 50 hours at a job site each summer and are required to develop plans on how their new knowledge can be used in the classroom.

  • UW-Stevens Point - A course focusing on STW concepts is taught each summer for in-service K-12 teachers. Forty-five teachers enrolled in June 1999. In addition, the director of the Center for Economics Education is a regular guest lecturer in undergraduate education classes at UW-Stevens Point. The lectures familiarize students with STW programs before they begin teaching in Wisconsin schools.

  • UW-Stout - UW-Stout and Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC) have "2+2" articulation agreements that allow graduates of two WCTC associate's degree programs to enter UW-Stout with guaranteed junior-level standing. The "2+2" articulation agreements are formal signed contracts for WCTC's programs in Hospitality & Tourism and Printing & Publishing. Technical college graduates can enter UW-Stout's Bachelor's degree programs in Hospitality & Tourism or Industrial Technology respectively. In addition, UW-Stout currently enrolls 25 youth apprentice graduates who completed their associate's degree at one of three technical colleges; Milwaukee Area Technical College, Madison Area Technical College, and Fox Valley Technical College.

  • UW-Whitewater - A partnership between Watertown High School, Generac Portable Products and the UW-Whitewater College of Education, is providing an alternative for some high school students to earn a diploma. In the Youth Apprenticeship Program, high school juniors and seniors spend part of the day at the Generac training center. Upon completing the program, they receive their high school diploma as well as a list of competency skills they have acquired. University courses for teachers have also been offered at Generac to better equip teachers in alternative education techniques and in ways of educating youth for industry.

For more information about these and other School-to-Work related activities contact Sal Carranza, Office of Academic Affairs, University of Wisconsin System, 1220 Linden Drive, 1630 Van Hise Hall, Madison, WI, 53706, (608) 265-9177, scarranza@uswa.edu


June 2000 end





Next UW System STW Coordinators Meeting
TO: UW System School-to-Work Coordinators
FROM: Louise Root-Robbins
RE: Spring 2001 Meeting

Please mark your calendars for the Spring School-to-Work Coordinators meeting. It will be held April 27th from 1:00pm-4:00pm in room 1820 of Van Hise Hall, UW-Madison Campus. Please email Holly Loomis (hloomis@uwsa.edu) if you require a parking permit; and please notify her if there is any change at your institution regarding the STW Coordinator and/or contact information. The featured speaker will be John Pawasarat, Director of the Employment and Training Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. John will discuss the recently released study that was done by the Employment and Training Institute at UWM. This new wage study of graduates from Milwaukee Public Schools working full-time shows increased earning potential after graduating from Milwaukee Area Technical College or the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. This first-of-a-kind study underscores the time-honored advise of school guidance counselors: Get an education! Please join us.