Wingspread Conference

In September of 2008, WIPPS convened a statewide conference hosted at the historic Wingspread Conference Center in Racine, Wisconsin, on “Rethinking the Civic Mission of Public Higher Education in Wisconsin.” Co-sponsors included the Johnson Foundation, the Wisconsin Academy of Post-Secondary Education, and the Wisconsin Humanities Council. Bringing together business, non-profit, education, media, and political leaders, the two-day event produced recommendations regarding the civic responsibility and mission for public higher education. UW Colleges and UW-Extension Chancellor David Wilson charged Wingspread conference participants to come up with a set of key principles regarding the public university’s role in engaging the public in the state of Wisconsin—principles that seek to answer the question, “What is the university’s civic responsibility?” A report was issued and presented to Chancellor Wilson for consideration by the Board of Regents.


CONFERENCE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


BACKGROUND - Public universities are uniquely positioned to help enhance the civic life of communities served. Past Wingspread conferences supported by The Johnson Foundation have recognized this potential, creating, for example, The Presidents’ Declaration on the Civic Responsibilities of Higher Education, now endorsed by over 800 college and university presidents. Recently, efforts have been made in Wisconsin to ensure that the mission and resources of the University of Wisconsin will “revitalize the state’s economy, better educate its residents, and strengthen its communities.” The Advantage Wisconsin initiative of the UW System, for example, suggests that the UW “address Wisconsin’s greatest challenges and priorities through intensified engagement, research, and learning.”


PURPOSE - This conference complemented these initiatives by assessing current efforts within the UW to connect our public universities to communities served and to create a set of enduring principles defining the civic responsibilities of the public university in Wisconsin. Building upon past success, the conference participants sought to recast the civic mission of the University of Wisconsin for the 21st century for the purpose of improving campus-community partnerships in Wisconsin.


OBJECTIVES -

  1. Clarify the meaning of civic engagement and its importance in historical and contemporary contexts both nationally and statewide
  2. Identify existing strengths in public higher education that link the university to community needs
  3. Deliberate on and adopt a vision for the civic engagement responsibility and mission of public higher education in Wisconsin
  4. Recommend a set of principles for civic engagement and responsibility for the UW System that will serve as a launching point for state-wide discussion and adoption

Wingspread Conference Report (DOCX)