Madison Initiative for Undergraduates Makes Progress
The Madison Initiative for Undergraduates (MIU), a campuswide effort to boost the value, quality, and affordability of an undergraduate education, is making measurable progress.
Now in its second year, the initiative uses a supplemental tuition charge to invest in the undergraduate experience while also expanding need-based aid. Altogether, 35 projects were funded in the first two rounds of the initiative. Proposals for funding are reviewed by a student board appointed by the Associated Students of Madison and an oversight committee composed of students, faculty, staff, and administrators.
“We have been successful in targeting specific needs and addressing them creatively through the initiative,” says Chancellor Biddy Martin.
Among the MIU outcomes so far:
- To date, 54.5 new faculty positions have been authorized for hiring, and 11 new faculty were in the classroom as the fall semester began, opening up new seats in high-demand classes.
- Steps are under way to advance student-advising services, improve the curriculum, and expand high-impact learning programs. For example, MIU funding helped expand First-Year Interest Groups, or FIGS, to 900 students in 45 groups, an increase of 50 percent compared with fall 2009. A FIG is a learning community of about 20 students enrolled in a cluster of three classes linked by a common theme. “Students told us they valued the FIG experience and urged us to expand them,” says Aaron Brower, UW–Madison’s vice provost for teaching and learning. “This approach helps students academically and socially, while it also helps them develop a new world view.”
- About $5.1 million in need-based financial aid from MIU lifted the total amount of institutional need-based aid to $12.9 million in the initiative’s first year. Additionally, more than 6,000 undergraduates were held harmless from the added tuition charge in 2009-10, based on their families’ income levels. Susan Fischer, the university’s director of student financial aid, says the initiative has built a steadier foundation of need-based aid—an area in which UW–Madison has trailed among Big Ten schools for years. “This initiative is making all the difference by building a strong, more reliable pool of funds with which to provide access to students to a life-changing university education,” she says.
For more information and news about the initiative, visit madisoninitiative.wisc.edu.