WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Officials with UW-Platteville made the drive to Wausau on Friday to sign an extension of their engineering degree partnership with UWSP.
“This opportunity will help ensure that thousands of students will have the chance to get the education that they need,” said UWSP Chancellor Thomas Gibson. “[In our current environment] there is a great need for more engineers.”
UWSP Wausau/UW Platteville announce engineering partnership. MWC photo by Mike Leischner
Two local employers praised the continuation of the partnership including Greenheck corporation and Wausau Window Systems. Both employ dozens of engineering graduates from the program, which they say gives them an advantage thanks to the critical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork skills brought on by a liberal arts education combined with the engineering curriculum.
Gibson adds that the partnership fulfills the University’s obligation to be “stewards of place,” which he says means helping both residents and employers. “Not only are we meeting a workforce need in the region; we are changing the lives of students, families, and communities. That is precisely what a University exists to do.
“We have an obligation to serve the communities in the region in which we reside,” added Gibson. “This particular part of Wisconsin is a hub for manufacturing and engineering that serves every industry across the country.”
The partnership allows students to finish their mechanical or electrical engineering degree through UWP without leaving Central Wisconsin. Platteville has similar partnerships in place with a handful of other schools statewide including UW-Oshkosh at the Fox Valley and Edgewood in Madison.
Gibson says the reputation behind a UWP engineering degree makes the offering a valuable addition to the UWSP catalog. Add in the convenience of proximity and the partnership becomes a no-brainer. “We are peer comprehensive institutions within the same system. We enjoy a great relationship among our faculty, and we are well-positioned to deliver the associates degree in pre-engineering [with] Platteville well-positioned to deliver a full bachelor’s degree program in engineering.”
As with all programs in the UWSP system, students enrolled at any of the three campuses will have access to courses in the UWP engineering program. Some will be delivered online, while others will happen in person at the Wausau campus.
