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UWM request for $10 million earns Regent support
Additional funding needed primarily for faculty cluster hires
By Kevin Lessmiller
“The money would be used primarily to hire additional faculty who would both be engaged in research and teaching.” – Tom Luljak, UWM Vice Chancellor of University Relations and Communications
The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents approved The University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee’s request for $10 million in additional funds Friday Aug. 22. The funds are intended to support UWM Chancellor Carlos Santiago’s vision to make UWM a top research university.
A large portion of the money will be spent on faculty and administrative infrastructure for an accredited School of Public Health and the nation’s first School of Freshwater Sciences.
“The money would be used primarily to hire additional faculty who would both be engaged in research and teaching,” said Tom Luljak, UWM Vice Chancellor of University Relations.
According to a formal budget request issued by UWM, the school is “the only institution in this region that can take the lead as a catalyst for economic development.”
$9 million of the requested amount will be used for cluster hires and advanced workforce development. Cluster hires are faculty-forming “interdisciplinary research groups” expected to achieve national recognition.
Each of the 25 faculty clusters is expected to bring in between $2 and $5 million per year in external research funding. It is “strongly encouraged” by the university that clusters establish collaborations with private firms and/or other academic bodies.
As for advanced workforce development, $2 of the $10 million will go to the undergraduate research experience and graduate student support. This basically involves the hiring of seven faculty members and funding for 100 more undergraduate internships, as well as $1 million to “attract and retain outstanding graduate students.”
The budget request emphasizes that UWM graduate students are in high demand across the nation and in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. It also adds that such graduate students often remain in the Milwaukee region and help fuel innovation and “regional regeneration”.
In addition to cluster hires and advanced workforce development, $1 of the requested $10 million will go to seed funding and research support. Seed funding aims to win UWM federal funding by providing money for “competitive research projects”.
The $1 million for seed funding is part of UWM’s Research Growth Initiative, or RGI. RGI is one aspect of Santiago’s Master Plan for UWM becoming a top ranked research university.
“This is a continuation of the Chancellor’s plan to have the state continue to invest in UWM so that we may be able to meet our mission as a major research university in the state,” Luljak said.
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