UniverCity Alliance celebrates partnerships across Wisconsin

After a record year of engaging 12 communities across Wisconsin, UniverCity Alliance celebrated the people that make these partnerships and projects possible. 

Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin kicked off the celebration in Tripp Commons on Sept. 13 with encouraging remarks about UniverCity’s impact across the state.  

UniverCity Alliance Managing Director Gavin Luter and Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin shake hands. Photo credit: Hedi Rudd

“I am tremendously excited to welcome you all to this celebration of a program that brings together all the very best things about UW–Madison:  our innovative research, our dedicated faculty and motivated students, and our deep commitment to using our resources to make people’s lives better across the state,” Mnookin said. We call that the Wisconsin Idea, and it’s hard to imagine a better example than UniverCity.” 

Throughout 2023-24, UniverCity partnered with Eau Claire, St. Croix, and Wood counties; the cities of Marinette, Milton, River Falls, and Wausau; and the villages of Cottage Grove and Shorewood. Continuing ongoing relationships, UniverCity facilitated projects with the City of Madison and Dane County. UniverCity also engaged in a rapid response project with the Whitewater Unified School District. 

UCA Managing Director Gavin Luter emphasized that UniverCity partnerships prioritize responding to the needs of communities first and building relationships.  

“We listen. We say, ‘How can we help?’ and we say, ‘We don’t know the answer right now, but we’re going to get it,” Luter said. “This is about engagement. It’s a two-way street. Together we can co-create solutions.” 

[Check out more photos from the 2024 UniverCity Alliance Celebration here.]

Faculty involvement 

On campus, these 2023-24 partnerships engaged 342 students from multiple disciplines and 34 faculty, instructional staff, researchers from nine UW-Madison schools and colleges.  

Jessica Hua, an associate professor in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, was one of those faculty members who worked with UniverCity to partner with Eau Claire County. Hua’s background as a daughter from a refugee family has shaped her commitment to community engagement work.  

“When (my family) came to the States, what was missing was community,” Hua said.  

Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology Associate Professor Jessica Hua speaks at the UCA Celebration. Photo credit: Hedi Rudd

Building community was emphasized growing up and continues to be an emphasis driving Hua’s research and teaching program. Hua’s ecological lab focuses on pollutants in the environment and questions about how environmental change can affect communities that rely on natural resources. 

Hua and her students worked with Eau Claire County staff to figure out how to communicate with the public about the causes of algal blooms in Lake Altoona. They ultimately created educational resources for elementary schools and public libraries and designed a community science kit to support county efforts at measuring lake health. Hua expects to continue this work with future groups of students. 

“This class is just the first step. We don’t want to parachute in and leave,” Hua said. “Subsequent classes are meant to pick up on the development of these resources and go into community help to train and continue that work.” 

Announcing 2024 UniverCity Alliance Scholars 

Also at the event, UniverCity recognized the 2024 scholars, who will be applying their skills to help address local priorities in Wisconsin communities during the Fall 2024 semester.   

The students are matched with five communities across the state – including the cities of Black River Falls and Waupaca, Iowa County, Village of DeForest, and South Madison – and are working on projects address affordable housing, AI, shared services, sustainability, and language inclusivity. 

Several of the 2024 UCA Scholars photographed at the UCA Celebration. Photo credit: Hedi Rudd

Sam Kaufmann, who is now pursuing a master’s degree in public administration at the La Follette School of Public Affairs, participated in the UCA Scholars program during the Fall 2023 semester. He worked with the Village of Shorewood to conduct a survey focused on efforts for continuing historic preservation in the village. 

Former UCA Scholar Sam Kaufmann speaks at the UCA Celebration. Photo credit: Hedi Rudd

“I walked probably every street in town, talking to people, knocking on their doors,” said Kaufmann on the research he did to inform his project. “It’s really been a successful partnership with the community.” 

In addition to being a student, Kaufmann is a trustee on the Waunakee Village Board. UniverCity partnered with Waunakee from 2020-23 on projects that addressed Waunakee’s relationship with the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin, local ordinances, Waunakee’s employment practices, housing, education, and mental health.

“The UCA Scholars program was a perfect fit for me,” Kaufmann said. “Why not pass that gift on that our community received to another community?” 

—Abigail Becker