“There is plenty of room for two research institutions.”

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor Carlos Santiago and University of Wisconsin Chancellor John Wiley met Monday in Milwaukee to discuss the importance of two research universities in the state.

While it has been debated whether Wisconsin can afford two research institutions, Santiago said without a pause, “I don’t think Wisconsin can afford not to have it.”

Santiago continued calling research and development the region’s “weak link” and desired to strengthen the university, as well as the community, through research.

Wiley fully supported Santiago and said, “There is plenty of room for two research institutions.”

And both Wiley and Santiago agree the two research institutions will be working together rather than against each other.

“The vast majority of it is conflict free,” Wiley said.

During the luncheon held at the Milwaukee Hyatt Regency, Wiley also offered advice to help UWM saying that a couple little changes could make a big difference, primarily the renaming of broad doctorates.

Currently, there are 50 programs where students can receive doctorates, but only 20 authorized doctorate programs that serve as umbrella programs. For example, someone specializing in philosophy will receive an urban studies degree.

But the main problem currently is how far UWM is behind Madison in terms of age and time invested in the programs.

Santiago brought up how the University of Wisconsin was one of few research institutions in 1900 and UWM started as an outpost for Madison.

Currently Madison with 2,200 faculty members has two times the faculty of Milwaukee at less than 1,000.

“We’ve got to build our critical mass,” Santiago stressed several times throughout the luncheon.

But the first step to promoting UWM is to ask for help financially. Through the UWM Foundation, the university is working to create a public-private partnership that will bring funding to new research.

“For this region to succeed in this knowledge-based society, UWM needs to contribute over $100 million,” Santiago said.

However, as Milwaukee advances in research and development they will have another impediment in their way: space. With 11 times the Madison campus’ population density, Santiago said there is currently no place to put new labs for research or additional offices.

Santiago also recognizes that currently the primary problem at UWM is the student to faculty ratio, which is the worst in the state.

Santiago said, however, his new initiative can help with the problem by bringing in more revenue for the school so they can afford more faculty members. He says that their research will in no way conflict with their requirements to teach classes.

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