UWM

Recently, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor Carlos Santiago announced his resignation from UWM to become the Chief Executive Officer of the Hispanic College Fund in Washington, D.C. I imagine our long time readers would expect us to be dancing a jig or throwing quite the party at the possibility that his departure could derail the Wauwatosa expansion, but believe it or not, we’re disappointed he’s leaving UWM. Despite our long disagreement with Chancellor Santiago over the expansion in Wauwatosa, his vision of growth and research, as well as many of the initiatives put forward under his leadership are commendable, worthy, and should move forward.

During his time at UWM, the university has seen more development than under many of the previous administrations. The recent acquisition of the Columbia St Mary’s site literally expands UWM’s main campus, will alleviate some of the parking ‘problem’, could allow for more on-campus housing, and provides for more classroom space. UWM has also been pursuing the construction of new student housing on the East Side, which now will provide university housing for over a thousand students that previously had to be denied because of a bed shortage. The Kenilworth Square Apartments, RiverView Hall, and the soon to be open Cambridge Commons have all made UWM a bigger part of Milwaukee and the community, quite literally.

His vision of turning UWM into a first-rate research university is vital for UWM and for Milwaukee. This vision has lead directly to the creation the School of Public Health and the School of Freshwater Sciences, while also driving the desire to expand the Engineering School. In the short run, it has lead to formation of the Southeastern Wisconsin Energy Technology Research Center, which for the first time brings the colleges of engineering from UWM, MSOE, and Marquette together to collaborate on a significant research initiatives. These universities are already working together on cutting-edge research in areas such as wind turbines, Li-Ion Batteries, and CO2 recycling and sequestration via algae.

The School of Public Health will play a role in improving the health of Milwaukee’s inner-city population, while at the same time helping to revitalize downtown Milwaukee. The choice of locating the program at The Brewery will allow UWM to serve the needs of Milwaukee residents, while keeping the program  within a short bike ride or bus trip to the main campus.

A vastly expanded Engineering School is certainly a key part of helping UWM raise its level of research and will allow it to better collaborate with other institutions and industry partners. Our issue is how and where this expansion should occur, not that it shouldn’t occur. It simply would serve Milwaukee and our region better to build on relationships with MSOE and Marquette as that would create a strong engineering core within the region, while building a stronger urban core. Further, this alignment would allow UWM to stake out more of a niche, possibly within advanced manufacturing, energy technology, or possibly nanotechnology, rather than becoming one of hundreds of schools chasing the biotech dream. That said, the goal of increasing the role, size, and scope of the Engineering School is a laudable one that needs to be successful.

Finally, the proposed School of Freshwater Sciences is truly visionary. The School of Freshwater Sciences has a chance to put Milwaukee back on the map as a world leader. This school is a key part of the M7 Water Council’s goals, which despite detractors claims, might be an area where UWM and Milwaukee could differentiate themselves from their peers. The Water Council is already spurring collaboration between UWM and Marquette, and has received funding by area companies including Badger Meter Inc. and A.O. Smith Corp. Although the idea of splitting the school in to two facilities isn’t ideal, the Reed Street Yards location has already gained interest from American Micro Detection Systems Inc., a water industry company, to possibly locate a facility with up to 300 jobs near the school.

Chancellor Santiago brought about many great changes and set a grand vision for UWM. We can only hope that his efforts to establish the School of Freshwater Sciences, his most game-changing initiative, continue to move forward in his absence.

To meet this need and potentially house some or part of these initiatives UWM’s acquisition of the former Columbia Hospital site is without a doubt a key piece of the expansion puzzle. It is likely that East Side residents will find this distressing and likely oppose any effort by UWM to purchase and develop this site, but expanding on this site makes the most sense for UWM, East Side residents, and the City of Milwaukee.

This site would provide space for the thousands of additional beds that UWM desperately needs, benefit students, alleviate pressures on the neighborhood, and help Milwaukee to thrive. Students living on campus is good for students because they generally receive higher GPA’s, and often graduate in a shorter period of time. Students that live under UWM’s managed housing have more constraints and rules regarding their behavior which should be of benefit to neighbors concerned about student behavior. Another issue that faces East Side residents is a real or perceived lack of parking brought on by commuter students parking on city streets. This issue would be alleviated if UWM could purchase the Columbia Hospital site as it includes a parking garage that would provide students and staff additional parking. Finally, a growing UWM moves Milwaukee forward because it will help to create the critical mass of talent, that is key to growth in today’s economy.

What are the alternatives? Now that private development plans have fallen through it is possible that this site might sit vacant for years, or worse yet being demolished for a surface parking lot. Hopefully neither of these alternatives will play out and UWM will be able to move forward on plans to acquire the former Columbia Hospital.

The UWM Real Estate Foundation is withdrawing its proposal to use the former Pieces of Eight restaurant site on Milwaukee’s lakefront as alocation for the headquarters for the newly created University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences.  David Gilbert, President of the UWM Foundation, announced that rather than pursuing the Pieces of Eight site, the Real Estate Foundation would begin a search for other suitable locations in the region that could meet the needs of UWM and its water industry partners.  “Transforming Southeastern Wisconsin into the water technology capital of the world is an initiative that has the potential to unite this region in what could be the largest economic development initiative we have ever seen.  We cannot risk the success of this initiative over siting issues,” Gilbert said.

Assisting UWM in the site search will be community and water industry leaders including Julia Taylor, President of the Greater Milwaukee Committee and Richard Meeusen, CEO of Badger Meter.

UWM Chancellor Carlos Santiago said he fully supported the decision to explore new options for housing the headquarters for the university’s School of Freshwater Sciences, the first school of its kind in the United States.  According to Santiago, the university is committed to building the broadest public support possible for the Freshwater Sciences program.  “While there is near unanimous support for expanding our region’s investment in freshwater research, the Pieces of Eight site was limiting in terms of space and the university’s control over the design of the facility.  It has become clear that the proposal to showcase freshwater research and industries at the Pieces of Eight site could end up being divisive.  Too much is at stake for us to risk losing the momentum we have established for  UWM’s Growth Agenda and for making Southeast Wisconsin the world headquarters for freshwater research and related industrial development”.

Meeusen, who is co-chair of the Milwaukee 7 Water Council, agreed. “Although many, many people endorsed the idea of building a new freshwater facility at the Pieces of Eight site,  a prolonged fight over that location is not in the best interests of our region.  We should be united in our efforts to capitalize on the tremendous advantage we enjoy with our freshwater resources and the businesses built around those resources”.

The process of identifying potential locations for UW-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences will begin immediately.

For those who said this was a done deal, this decision by the UWM Real Estate Foundation is a clear indicator that rational debate gets you much further than ranting without all the facts.  A more civil and well-informed public debate on issues from opponents in the future would be welcome.

To UWM, godspeed in finding an iconic home for a school too important to fail.

Already the world is watching, just recently the U.N. named Milwaukee a Global Compact City, making Milwaukee one of thirteen cities in the world with this designation.  This designation depends on Milwaukee’s commitment to water quality and water research.  Clearly the race is on, and the economic future of Milwaukee will be deeply impacted by the decisions we make today.  The next step for Milwaukee is to build the headquarters for the School of Freshwater Sciences.  Currently, UWM and the M7 Water Council are looking into the former Pieces of Eight site to locate the landmark facility, the window on Milwaukee, the cornerstone of the capital.  Could this facility be located somewhere else as some suggest?  Yes, it could, but this time UWM has picked the right site.  Because image matters.  In the real estate world the phrase “location, location, location,” is an often repeated mantra and when corporate, educational, or political leaders visit Milwaukee to learn about our research efforts the location of this landmark facility will help sell Milwaukee as the water capital.  When potential graduate students visit Milwaukee, this location will help sell them on our city and our university.

We’ve all heard the talk about how Miller Park should have been downtown, and how Milwaukee always seems to not get it “just right”.  Well this is a chance to get the right idea, in the right place, at the right time.

To learn more about the proposal and lend your support, the Harbor Commission will be meeting Friday May 8th, at 8:00 am at the Port Authority, 2323 S. Lincoln Memorial Drive, to hear presentations from UWM and the M7 Water Council.