Contact: Linda Reid
(262) 472-1326
reidl@uww.edu
WHITEWATER A new program designed to help University of Wisconsin-Whitewater freshmen learn research techniques and to partner with business and government in improving water quality in southeastern Wisconsin has received a $40,000 grant from the Regional Workforce Alliance of Southeastern Wisconsin.
Freshmen for Freshwater is a cross-disciplinary program involving area businesses, the Milwaukee 7 Water Council, three UW-Whitewater learning communities, university faculty members and the City of Whitewater, among other entities.
Linda Reid, associate professor of business law and chair of the Finance and Business Law Department at UW-Whitewater, said the project ties in with Milwaukee’s recent designation as a United Nations Global Compact City. Milwaukee and San Francisco are the only two American cities of 13 worldwide so designated. The cities are chosen for their expertise in freshwater technology and science.
Students involved participate in three UW-Whitewater learning communities, the Archimedes, Green Business is Good Business and Conscientious Capitalists. Learning communities of 25 to 35 students are designed for freshmen interested in living and studying together and are centered on themes. Participating students generally live in the same residence halls and take some classes together.
The students will be involved in five interest areas, Reid said.
One group will study aquaculture and will work with Rushing Waters, a fish farm in Palmyra, as well as with state government aquaculture officials.
A second group will work with Tall Grass Restoration in Milton, a company that deals with shoreline restoration, ecological consulting and native plantings.
A third group will work with the Rock River Storm Water Group, an organization that deals with stormwater runoff and river and stream quality.
The fourth group will work with the City of Whitewater to do water testing at the city’s treatment facility. The city has a grant to update its wastewater treatment programs and the students will do testing to determine the difference in water quality between the existing treatment and the improved process.
The fifth group will study the effect of pharmaceutical and personal care products on wastewater systems.
Reid said she learned of the grant only a couple of weeks before submissions were due but quickly surmised that UW-Whitewater already had the elements in place to create a successful program.
“We had the learning communities,” she said. “We had an existing relationship with the Milwaukee 7 Water Council. We had a relationship with the Global Business Resource Center which provided a great deal of assistance in preparing the grant application and in developing relationships with our local business partners. So, we just had to put it together.”
Professor Lois Smith, interim dean of the College of Business and Economics, said the grant is indicative of how UW-Whitewater is working to be responsive to regional needs. “Clean water will be one of the most important issues to both citizens and to business in the coming years and we want to prepare workers who can participate in safeguarding our water and building the technologies to meet the need of our communities and employers,” she said.
The Freshmen for Freshwater program is the latest entry in UW-Whitewater’s ongoing cooperation with clean water programs.
This year, the university began enrolling students in an Integrated Science-Business Major with an emphasis on water quality. The program is a joint effort of UW-Whitewater and the Milwaukee 7 Water Council, an organization of business, academia and government in the seven-county Milwaukee area that is aimed at establishing the Milwaukee region as a global center for freshwater research, economic development and education. It is designed to give students a background in water law, environmental law, natural resources and environmental economics.
