The President of the University of Wisconsin System stopped in Rhinelander Friday to reach out amidst a changing education climate in Wisconsin.
President Ray Cross says he is touring state K-12 schools. Cross says the reality is the UW-System no longer can operate as an individual entity and must collaborate more with local schools and business in the future....
"....the primary driver for that is the demographics that face particularly rural and upstate Wisconsin. It's a big challenge for us as the number of individuals between the ages of 18 and 64 decline...."
He says one way to attract students is to offer college-level courses in high school...
".....part of our framework is to look at ways to bring the first year of college(to high schools) and partner more closely with high school faculty so students could attend college with the first year already completed. It would really only take them three more years...."
Cross says they are also looking at connecting employers with study areas such as I.T. and engineering so students get jobs as soon as they graduate.
