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Those
closest to UW-Green Bay appreciate that, already stretched thin and efficient
to a fault with one of the highest student/faculty ratios in the state,
the University can’t reallocate its way to a bigger and brighter future. This is a fairness issue for our region. Over the years, the people of Northeast Wisconsin have gone to great lengths to support UW-Green Bay’s success — Exhibit A is our current Capital Campaign — but comes a time when it is unrealistic to expect more without a matching commitment from our public partners. The need is now. This region of 18 counties, newly named the “New North” and long an economic powerhouse, needs a competitive tune-up, and UWGB and its partners must be hands-on with the solutions. Why? The best research nationally shows that regions flourishing in the new economy typically have a growing, vital public university at the core. &nsp; For Green Bay, such heavy reliance on the higher-education engine will be new. Candidly, when agriculture, papermaking and mass manufacturing were at their peak here, success was little dependent on the widespread availability of public baccalaureate education. Looking back, how much money was earned — not just for people here, but for investors across Wisconsin, for tax revenue in Madison — from a thriving Northeastern Wisconsin economy that required relatively little state investment in education? What a bargain! Arguably, however, that bargain has had a downside and helped put “the powerhouse” at a current disadvantage in the race to adapt to the new Knowledge Age economy. Today, only 18.8 percent of local adults hold a bachelor’s degree. If we were a state, we would rank 49th in the nation. No surprise, the comparatively low college-participation rate is a holdover from the days a comfortable life could be had with a paper-mill job straight out of high school. Back then, regional wealth could flow from a good location, proximity to rich natural resources and local workers with exemplary work habits and a solid level of basic education. Now, our big manufacturers are leaner, in many cases no longer locally owned, and in all cases fully engaged in international competition with producers from regions where labor costs are much lower. The shop floor of today requires more advanced technological skills. In both blue- and white-collar settings, in professional fields and entrepreneurial arenas alike, the real value-added is more likely to arrive via fresh thinking, process engineering, niche marketing and creative design... all sorts of things that higher education promotes. If Northeastern Wisconsin is to thrive in the 21st century, therefore, it is evident our traditional excellence in basic education must be supplemented by excellence in post-secondary education that is widely accessible to all... especially diverse populations, those traditionally under-served by American higher education. |
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Diversity
is the third main issue, then, that we and our community partners will stress
with the Regents, in addition to the regional nature of the initiative,
and the necessity of state investment. Paul Linzmeyer, CEO of Bay Towel and a UW-Green Bay graduate, is one of those who will put a personal face to all this. Paul is a leader statewide in workforce training and outreach to diverse communities. He knows that, over the last decade, the number of people of color in this community has tripled, to more than 25,000. He knows that Green Bay Public Schools are forecasting a majority “minority” district by 2015. He knows the benefits of diversifying his own company’s workforce. He is also a realist, well aware that the low- and mid-range skills sufficient today probably won’t get the job done tomorrow. He tells me many of his employees share that view, too, eager to pursue advancement themselves through work-related training. They hold even higher educational aspirations for their children, college included. I suspect Paul, an enthusiastic supporter of Phuture Phoenix, will also share with the Regents his optimism for that program. We can all be proud that Phuture Phoenix is regarded as a model, statewide, an inspiration in some respects for Gov. Doyle’s widely praised Wisconsin Covenant proposal. The good news here is that the Green Bay area is uniquely positioned for success, should new investment follow. We have excellent K-12 schools and a wonderful working relationship with them. There is a dynamic pipeline in Phuture Phoenix inspiring students as early as fifth grade. Best of all, there is solid evidence our region’s students of color are faring well at UW-Green Bay. First-semester grades for students with roughly comparable entrance qualifications (ACTs and high-school GPAs) show no difference by ethnicity. If anything, students of color score slightly higher. I think those attending the Regents presentation will be impressed. Our panelists include award-winning UW-Green Bay alumni William Gollnick and Diane Ford in addition to Paul Linzmeyer. Additional community voices are Paul Jadin, Jeff Rafn, Susan Finco and Larry Ferguson. They’ll not make demands of anyone but, rather, simply point out what is demanded by local circumstance and a wise approach to investing state resources. The full Board of Regents meets at 9 a.m. Friday, April 7, in the Phoenix Room on the second level of our University Union. I know many of you will be there, and many more will be there in spirit. As always, thank you for your support of Green Bay’s University of Wisconsin, and “Connecting learning to life.”
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