UW System Board of Regents visits UWRF

The UW System Board of Regents will be paying UW-River Falls a visit April 9 and April 11, an occasion that only happens once every seven years.

The Board of Regents, which governs the UW System, visits a UW campus every two months; UWRF is often lost in the rotation. While the visit will be almost all about business, it also presents a chance to exhibit the campus and highlight its best attributes.

“It’s a very good opportunity to showcase the university and its strengths,” said Blake Fry, special assistant to the chancellor. “They rarely get up to this part of the state.”

Fry also said that most board members seldom visit the region because of busy schedules, and the fact that most board meetings are often on the other side of the state in Madison, Milwaukee or Green Bay.

“It’s an opportunity for them to learn more about what happens at each of the universities,” Fry said. “And to learn what makes each campus and university great.”

All but one board meeting is open to the public, making it easy for students or faculty members to attend and possibly voice an opinion. Two sessions will even be broadcasted statewide via a live-streaming webcast, which will be available for all eyes and ears across the state at www.uwex.edu.

The webcast will be organized and filmed by current UWRF film students. The webcasts are set to be filmed on Thursday, April 10 from 1:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., and on April 11 from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

All 18 Board of Regents members and a select number of committees will be making the trip to River Falls, and a lot of planning has gone into this visit. The Board of Regents Education Committee has gone as far as providing a lengthy 184-page agenda to be discussed Thursday morning.

“Expect the visit to feel like a small political convention,” Fry said.

According to the UW System Board of Regents website, a presentation will be made to the Capital Planning and Budget Committee regarding a potential reformation to the UWRF Campus and Mann Valley Farms. The Education Committee will also be deciding on the approval of a computer science major at UWRF.

At 1:15 p.m. on Thursday in the Riverview Ballroom of the University Center, Chancellor Dean Van Galen will lead an hour-long informational presentation called “The University of Wisconsin- River Falls: Pursuing a Pathway to Distinction in the St. Croix Valley.” The presentation will highlight many of UWRF’s best attributes.

Current UWRF students will be heavily involved in the chancellor’s presentation, as student-made videos have been prepared for the event. A discussion about the University’s strategic direction will follow the presentation.

The UC will be paraded often as the majority of the activities will take place in the Riverview Ballroom and St. Croix Room, putting the modern facility on display. The Board of Regents will have their lunches in the Falcon’s Nest.

According to Jane Radue, Board of Regents executive director and corporate secretary, Friday morning’s board meeting will cover an update on recent events and news from around the UW System, a student spotlight and a multitude of reports from five different committees.

The next campus-hosted Board of Regents meeting will take place on June 5 and 6 at UW-Milwaukee.