At a committee meeting aimed to increase employment for graduates, members of the Legislature and higher education groups recommended expanding the number of degree programs in the University of Wisconsin System and getting more students to apply to college directly after high school...Kevin Reilly, president of the UW System, said the UW System intends to put together a statewide plan to create more degrees at state institutions in order to ensure more job opportunities after graduation. This includes moving specific degree programs to campuses where they may be more effective...

Milwaukee is developing a reputation as a leader in freshwater research and technology...The Chronicle article adds that "at least a dozen new or retooled academic programs now emphasize water. Marquette University offers options like a program in water law, and the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater, about 50 miles to the west, now has a water-resources concentration. The School of Freshwater Sciences at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, established in 2009, prepares graduate students for jobs in research, government and business"...

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point are working with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in an attempt to estimate the bobcat population in central Wisconsin...

UW-Whitewater is recognizing veterans with numerous events in upcoming weeks in honor of Veteran's Day...

It's no secret Richard Nixon was a secretive man. Among the records of the disgraced former president under lock and key is Nixon's grand jury testimony in 1975, given less than a year after he resigned because of the Watergate scandal. On Thursday, a transcript of his testimony will be released through the efforts of Stanley Kutler, University of Wisconsin-Madison emeritus professor of law and history and a top expert on Watergate...

The earth's population hit the 7 billion mark last week..."We need to start thinking proactively about energy use and other sustainability issues, or we'll be forced to face the consequences of having to be reactive," says Craig Benson, who this summer was named UW-Madison's first director for sustainability research and education...

Don't be fooled by the name e-Chug. In fact, it's the opposite of a college hazing ritual. The University of Wisconsin-Stout is requiring freshmen to take e-Chug — a confidential online survey designed to gauge the drinking habits or nondrinking habits of students who are entering the university...Our campuses are doing the right thing to help students under the risks of alcohol.

University of Wisconsin men's basketball coach Bo Ryan has received a raise that will push his annual compensation package past the $2 million mark. UW interim chancellor David Ward and UW Foundation president Michael Knetter signed off on an additional compensation agreement for Ryan last month. The UW Board of Regents had approved the compensation adjustment earlier in October...

University of Wisconsin-Stout will be honored Thursday for its efforts to help racial and ethnic minority students remain in school. The State Council on Affirmative Action and the Office of State Employment Relations will present UW-Stout with a Program Achievement Diversity Award during a ceremony in the state Capitol...

Use it or lose it. That's the message about Millennial entrepreneurial talent that underpins the mission of Gen Y Capital Partners. The start-up accelerator that bills itself as for Gen Y by Gen Y began accepting applications last week and has already been lauded in a speech by President Obama and received coverage in major tech outlets such as Mashable and TechCrunch...Mehul Kar, a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, intends to apply to  the accelerator as a funding source for CollegeDesis, his planned online portal for college students of South Asian descent...

...So much emphasis is put on business planning for start-up businesses. Obviously, it is significantly important to lay out your strategies, finances, and goals prior to opening your doors. But what about after you open? A well-thought-out plan is a living, breathing document designed to improve your business success over the long haul. The power is in how you will use your plan... (Author: Christine Trombley, directof of UW-Green Bay Small Business Development Center) 

Cary Nelson, president of the American Association of University Professors, had likened the threat to faculty unions in Ohio from Senate Bill 5 to the Sword of Damocles. By late Tuesday night that sword seemed to be back in its sheath, as voters repealed the bill -- with more than 60 percent voting against it. It was a resounding victory for organized labor, including public college and university faculty unions, whose very existence was threatened by the bill...

A year after Republicans swept legislatures across the country, voters in Ohio delivered their verdict Tuesday on a centerpiece of the conservative legislative agenda, striking down a law that restricted public workers’ rights to bargain collectively. The landslide vote to repeal the bill — 62 percent to 38 percent, according to preliminary results from Ohio's secretary of state — was a slap to Gov. John R. Kasich, a Republican who had championed the law as a tool for cities to cut costs. The bill passed in March on a wave of enthusiasm among Republicans fresh from victories. A similar bill also passed in Wisconsin...

...Time will tell if the poor job market persuaded more students to push into disciplines such as engineering and science. Although the number of college graduates increased about 29% between 2001 and 2009, the number graduating with engineering degrees only increased 19%, according to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Dept. of Education. The number with computer and information-sciences degrees decreased 14%...Research has shown that graduating with these majors provides a good foundation not just for so-called STEM jobs, or those in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields, but a whole range of industries where earnings expectations are high...

Despite theories that online enrollments might be approaching a plateau, the number of students taking at least one online course grew substantially for the ninth straight year, according to a new survey from the Babson Survey Research Group. However, belief among academic deans and faculty that the quality of online education is at least as good as the face-to-face alternative continues to grow in grudgingly small increments, says the survey...

Enrollment in online courses grew by more than 10 percent between fall 2009 and fall 2010, continuing a steady climb that dates back years, according to the Babson Survey Research Group's annual survey of more than 2,500 higher-education institutions...

When technology-company executives talk about how they want to connect worldwide with universities, they don't sound very techno-centric. The companies, such as Microsoft and Cisco Systems, say they are putting education first, and then letting technology follow, often using a few universities as laboratories to see what technologies might be needed, and in which environments...