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Madison, Wis. (AP) — Richland County leaders say staff at the University of Wisconsin-Plattville will transition to online teaching at the Richland Chapter campus after in-person instruction has fully ended after the spring semester. I am outraged by the plan.
In November, UW System President Jay Rothman ordered UW-Platteville to cease offering degree programs at its Richland campus after the end of the semester, citing economic pressure and declining enrollment. About 60 students are currently taking classes there.
Rothman has tasked Platteville Chancellor Tammy Evetovich with January 15th to create a transition plan. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Friday that plans call for a move to online education in Richland and to allow Richland students without a degree to earn up to 40 credits. Located in Platteville or his Baraboo-Sauk County campus at the university. The plan also seeks to provide these students with her $1,500 housing allowance and free parking on the Prattville campus.
Many members of the Richland community believe that the plan will effectively close the Richland campus, leaving the county to pay for the mostly empty building.
The Regent of the University of Washington and Richland County entered into a 75-year lease that the county would cover the utilities and maintenance of the Richland campus and that the University of Washington would be required to adequately staff and maintain the branch campus. Journal Sentinel reports. The deal expires in 2042, but could end at the end of each fiscal year if state legislators don’t provide enough funding and the way the branch operates changes. It was unclear whether both or either of the conditions would have to be met to terminate the deal early, the newspaper reported.
Sean Murphy-Lopez, deputy chairman of the Richland County Commission, told the Journal Sentinel that the transition plan was “disappointing but not surprising.” He said they had met and discussed legal options, but no vote had taken place.
UW System spokesperson Mark Pitch said system officials don’t believe the lease has ended and that the system plans to continue to reside on the Richland campus.
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