As UW College administration grapples with “thousands” of decisions in merging the state’s two-year colleges with four-year schools, UW Colleges and Extension Chancellor Cathy Sandeen said this week she is pushing to help her students get the help they need during this turbulent time.
The UW System merger was slated to start July 1, 2018, but it will likely not be completed until the end of next year, Sandeen told the Board of Regents Friday. Instead, the 2018-'19 academic year will be a transition period for the consolidation of UW Colleges and the overall restructuring of the UW System.
The restructuring plan leaked in October moves 13 UW Colleges under the management of seven four-year System schools. After the plan was put into action, three decisions triggered the need for a transition year, Sandeen said.
Once the merger plan was in place, Sandeen said the UW College administration did not want to “disrupt” student financial aid. After contacting the the state Department of Education they determined UW Colleges should award financial aid for the 2018-'19 school year.
Last November, UW System President Ray Cross also determined that UW Colleges would keep curriculum for the associate of arts and sciences degrees for 2018-'19, Sandeen said.
A third factor that led to the need for a transition year happened when the UW System submitted the application for the planned restructuring to the accrediting agency, the Higher Learning Commision, and it became clear there were issues, Sandeen said.
“It became very clear that there were many things [UW Colleges] needed continue to do as we’re doing now,” Sandeen told The Daily Cardinal. “It also gave us time to plan and transition more fully for 2018-'19.”
Sandeen said the main focus in needing the transition year is ensuring the students have a smooth transition as the 13 colleges become “branch campuses” of the four-year colleges.
“The main goal is to make sure students aren’t disrupted or disturbed during this process,” Sandeen said. “That would be a shame if a student had to delay completion of their degree or transfer because of some sort of confusion.”
It’s likely the transition will take until at least next December, considering the need for transparency of everything that will happen with finances, including UW Colleges’ contracts.
Most of the concrete changes likely will happen during the 2019-'20 school year, according to the Hub City Times.
Maggie Chandler contributed to this report.
