Morgridge Center for Public Service
Strategic Plan 2002-2005
Table of Contents

Appendix G: The Wisconsin Idea

The following excerpts from two websites provide background on the Wisconsin Idea:

The Wisconsin Idea is most often associated with University president Charles R. Van Hise and his onetime classmate Robert M. La Follette, the famous Progressive Wisconsin governor. Together with Charles McCarthy, who was the first to use the term "The Wisconsin Idea" in 1912, they instituted the concept that "the boundaries of the University are the boundaries of the state." In essence, this entailed making the resources of the University available to people all across the state, not just those within the walls of the University. The Wisconsin Idea began as an endeavor to use the knowledge of the University faculty to assist the state legislature in shaping government policies, but it soon expanded to helping teachers, farmers, and people of all ages and levels of education. Wisconsin became the first state in the nation to create a university extension unit, which to this day provides adult education and job-training programs as well as enables young people to receive college credit without leaving home. UW-Madison is proud of this tradition and looks to carry it into the 21st century.

Source: http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~psohandbook/beyond/idea.htm; Copyright © 1998 William Cronon

The Wisconsin Idea was voiced by President Charles Van Hise, who said the idea sought to make "the beneficent influence of the University available to every home in the State." Think of UW-Madison, the idea says, as a cornucopia of ideas and services that pours its bounty into Wisconsin and the world. Here's a plainer way to put it: UW-Madison is a library, a public pool of knowledgeÑexcept there's no due date.

The Wisconsin Idea shows the concept of a preeminent research university functioning as an ivory tower to be hopelessly outdated and wildly inaccurate. In reality, UW-Madison has forged an intricate matrix of real-world connections, including the far-flung benefits of research. But another side of outreach is continuing education.

To inject some life into this abstraction, we should mention just a few of the people on the receiving end of the Wisconsin Idea:

• a business manager in Madison attending the new executive MBA program through the School of Business on Fridays and Saturdays;
• an elementary teacher from Verona, Wis., who works with faculty in the School of Education to conduct mini-research projects designed to answer practical questions;
• a pharmacist in Maine enrolled in a continuing education program at UW-Madison, which is the largest provider of continuing education to pharmacists in the nation; and
• a minority high-school student in Chicago participating in a seven-week summer program offered by the Center for Biology Education.

Source: http://www.news.wisc.edu/welcome/odyssey/Outreach/wiscidea.html; Copyright © 1997 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

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