Kenosha News. June 11, 2023.
Editorial: Support new UW engineering building
State Republicans have a long-standing tradition of supporting economic development in Wisconsin, but – bafflingly—they missed the boat recently when the powerful GOP-controlled state-budget-writing committee axed a proposal for a much-needed new engineering building on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
Frankly, we were stunned at the committee’s action, since the UW-Madison and the UW System had made the new $347 million engineering school its top priority for the capital budget.
UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said, “Today is certainly a sad day for UW-Madison, but the real tragedy is for the state of Wisconsin. This building would promote the state’s economic development. It would create significant workforce opportunities. It would propel innovation. And without it, we harm businesses all across Wisconsin.”
Without the new engineering building, enrollment – and graduation – of engineering students at UW-Madison can only stagnate and that will drive prospective students to other campuses – including those in the Big Ten like Illinois and Purdue – that have kept up with demand and built their enrollment capacity.
Consider that, currently, the UW College of Engineering receives more than 8,000 applications for enrollment each year. With its older engineering building, it can only accept 1,200 of those students due to space and power supply limitations.
With a new building, the UW could beef the graduate rate up to more than 2,200 students annually, vastly improving the work pool for state businesses and industries anxious to hire new engineers.
That is why the UW engineering building addition drew support from one of the broadest collections of manufacturing, business and building groups ever in the state – ranging from Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce to Associated General Contractors of Wisconsin and the Council of Engineering Companies of Wisconsin and others.
It’s not like UW leaders came to the Legislature rattling a tin cup and begging for a handout. The UW-Madison has already lined up $35 million in support from private donors and has committed to raising $150 million for the new engineering building – almost half the total cost of the project.
If state GOP leaders are serious about supporting economic development in the state, keeping our UW System competitive with other college campuses and providing engineers to the many businesses in the state that are clamoring for highly-educated workers, it will reverse this bone-headed decision before taking final action on the state budget by July 1.
