INSTITUTIONAL PROFILE

ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

The undergraduate curriculum offers a core of liberal studies that supports University degrees in the arts, letters, and sciences as well as specialized professional degrees at the baccalaureate level. Graduate degrees are offered in partnership with each of the four colleges and cooperative programs with other institutions within the state, region, and world. As a border institution, the University promotes interstate cooperation.

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College of Agriculture , Food and Environmental Sciences

Originally dedicated to preparing teachers of agriculture, the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences (CAFES) expanded in the 1960s and 1970s to include programs in food, environmental, and earth sciences. In the mid-1980s, the College of Agriculture became the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences.

CAFES currently serves an undergraduate student population of about 1075 through a variety of academic and co-curricular programs. In addition to several laboratories, CAFES students are supported by specialized facilities such as food processing plants (dairy, meats, and general processing), an 8000 square foot greenhouse, and two laboratory farms, one located on campus (120 acres dedicated to equine and fruit research) and one located about three miles from campus (390 acres dedicated to beef, dairy, swine, sheep, and crop research).

The College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences at UW-River Falls ranks among the top four colleges of agriculture in non-land grant universities in the United States. The College has a job placement rate of over 95 percent for its graduates; employers report a high degree of satisfaction with graduates, frequently citing hands-on experiences, internships, leadership abilities, and communication skills acquired at UW-River Falls. Reflecting its emphasis on experiential learning, the College has an active internship program through which students participate in high quality professional work experiences.

Among the many things of which CAFES is justifiably proud, alumni account for about 60 percent of the high school agriculture teachers in Wisconsin. CAFES faculty are active grant writers and regularly attract the most grant dollars to the University of all the colleges on campus. One of the largest departments on campus is Animal and Food Science with over 450 students, which includes about 240 with an equine emphasis. The equine program and the dairy science major are among the largest in the United States.

The College has nine faculty members with Cooperative Extension appointments, evidence of its firm commitment to providing outreach to the community and the region. For example, a Regional Development initiative is underway to provide research and education for regions, such as the St. Croix Valley, that are experiencing rapid urbanization. Key topics range from the environmental consequences of this transformation process, to finding sustainable agricultural niches, to the sociological dimensions of change.

College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) provides degree programs in the Humanities and Fine Arts, Sciences and Mathematics, and Social and Behavioral Sciences. The mission of the College is to provide for the education of the complete person, for citizenship and leadership, for a productive life, and for the love of learning.

Programs in the humanities and social sciences have distinguished themselves across the state and nationally. For example, the journalism program, which has had excellent professional placement of its graduates, is the smallest accredited program in the country. The English department is home to the Literary Magazine Review, a nationally circulated literary journal. The College has achieved national recognition for its programs in the fine arts. The oldest continuous commissioned composer program in the country has attracted such prominent composers as John Cage, Morton Feldman, and Libby Larsen to create compositions that have been performed around the world. The Art Department, with its state-of-the art facilities, has award-winning faculty who have exhibited internationally. Attesting to the excellence of the theatre program, a student in theatre won first place for costume and makeup at the 2003 and 2004 American College Theatre Festival held annually at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC an honor that rarely goes to an undergraduate.

In the sciences and mathematics, the UWRF chapter of the Society of Physics Students has been recognized as an “Outstanding Chapter” since 1997, while the faculty advisor received the 2004 Outstanding Chapter Advisor Award; UWRF is the only undergraduate institution that is a partner in the South Pole AMANDA and IceCube projects that are exploring the universe; the chemistry program, which is accredited by the American Chemical Society has one of only two approved polymer programs in the country; the biology program is a leader in biology education with its NSF-funded CASE-IT project.

The College of Arts and Sciences provides many opportunities for student involvement. In addition to a variety of internship opportunities with companies in such fields as biotechnology, chemistry, geographic information systems (GIS), and marketing communication, the College also has an active program of undergraduate research and creative activity that is supported by a student grants process funded by alumni contributions.

The collaboration between the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Education and Professional Studies serves as a model for the University of Wisconsin System. CAS programs are strongly committed to interacting with K-12 school systems to provide current and varied content knowledge for students and teachers as well as providing the foundation for training future teachers. The College provides master's programs designed specifically to meet the needs of returning teachers by offering courses in summer institutes and in special settings like the Pigeon Lake Field Station. Departments sponsor a variety of activities that involve thousands of students and their teachers from this region throughout the school year including Advanced Placement Review Days, disciplinary workshops, speech and debate contests, science exploration days, and art and music events.

In recent years, the College has fulfilled its commitment to serve the community through a variety of outreach efforts that have brought the expertise of the College to meet the needs of the region. In collaboration with the Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson, Wisconsin, the College has sponsored forums on topics of interest to the region, such as land use development or strategies for building community. The College also sponsors a community lecture series in which faculty speak at the local public library about topics of general interest to the community, from understanding Alzheimer’s disease to voting in a battleground state.

 College of Business and Economics

The College of Business and Economics (CBE) is a newly founded college (2001) with nearly 1200 students studying in its four undergraduate programs – Accounting, Computer Science/Information Systems, Economics, and Business Administration with options in Finance, Management, Marketing, and Management Information Systems, and the Master of Management program. This new college makes its home in the oldest building on campus – South Hall, and continues to grow in student enrollments and program offerings. The Small Business Development Center, the Center for Economic Education, and the Center for Economic Research are all located within the College, and work with CBE students and faculty to serve the needs of regional businesses and educational communities. The College achieved AACSB accreditation in April of 2007.

The College seeks to prepare future business leaders for the dynamic and fast-changing business environment ahead. The College values high quality teaching combined with a high level of student/faculty interaction. The College and its faculty are continually striving to create excellence in the business student’s learning environment. An Alumni Advisory Board and a Business Advisory Board work with the Dean and faculty of the College in offering programs that integrate the business classroom and the business community. Outreach activities of the College are of two types: professional training programs for business professionals, and service training for the small - to medium - sized businesses of the surrounding area. The College and its staff are actively involved in the economic development activities of the region. Faculty of the College regularly receive recognition for their excellence in areas such as teaching and community service. During the academic year 2003-2004, a CBE faculty member was named one of two Outstanding Teachers in the UW System, a Economics Department faculty member was UW-River Falls 2005 Distinguished Teacher, and another was named a UW System Wisconsin Idea Fellow (outstanding service in economic development).

College of Education and Professional Studies

 

The College of Education and Professional Studies has four departments (Counseling and School Psychology, Communicative Disorders, Teacher Education, and Health and Human Performance) and one program (Social Work). Programs are offered at the graduate and undergraduate level to prepare professionals for a variety of educational and service settings. The College also includes the Child Care Center, the University Preschool, Athletics, the Educational Technology Center , and an Upward Bound program. The College is located in the newest academic building on campus, the Wyman Education Building. Dedicated in 1999, the building is a technologically-advanced, student-centered facility, open to students, faculty, and the community for teaching, research, and outreach.

The College is noted for its award-winning Elementary Education program, its preparation of teachers and others in the area of educational technology, and its strong partnerships with practitioners. The Technology Leadership Cadre of undergraduate and graduate students assists teachers and fellow students in mastering technology. A PK16 Partnership allows the College to collaborate with school districts in multiple ways, including shared, grant-funded in-service programs. Other partnerships include those with schools in St. Paul and Stillwater, Minnesota, with many social service agencies and health care facilities, and with a group of remote districts in Northern Wisconsin, served through a federally-funded distance grant. The Western Wisconsin Partnership brings in nearly $1 million per year in federal funds to train child abuse prevention workers in 25 counties and 5 Indian tribes.

Graduate Studies and Outreach Programs

Graduate Studies Office at UW-River Falls, in collaboration with the academic colleges, offers selected graduate degree and certificate programs in a variety of formats designed to meet the needs of specific audiences. These include summer workshop programs, evening and weekend courses and online options.
The Master of Science in Education (MSE) is offered for certified secondary teachers, for those seeking initial certification in Elementary Education and in Reading. Both the MSE and MS are offered in Counseling and the MSE and an Education Specialist degree are offered in School Psychology. The MSE-Professional Development provides an opportunity to create new and innovative degree programs such as the Shared Inquiry Community and the Principal Licensure Program. The MS in Agricultural Education is offered in options designed for certified teachers, for those seeking certification and in Sustainable Community Development. The College of Business and Economics offers a Master of Management degree.

An increasing number of certificate programs provide professional development for educators and others. These include certificates in Community Education, Service Learning, Technology for Teachers and Wildlife, Recreation and nature Tourism. In some cases, courses in a certificate program can be applied to a subsequent graduate degree.

The Outreach office offers credit programs at both the graduate and undergraduate level, a variety of noncredit programs including those for youth and seniors, manages the University Summer Session and January Term, the Pigeon Lake Field Station, and the Survey Research Center. All credit generating outreach programs are coordinated with and approved by the relevant colleges, using Program Managers as liaisons between the Colleges and the Outreach office. Outreach is primarily a full cost recovery unit, which contributes overhead to UWRF and shares substantial end-of-year carry forward funds with the Colleges based on level of activity and success. The Outreach office offers a large credit portfolio primarily for educators and a number of online programs. The Outreach office’s numerous UWRF internal partners are critically important to its successes, and it has partnerships with sister UW campuses, technical colleges, a variety of nonprofit organizations and communities in and around the St. Croix River Valley.