University of Wisconsin System says it needs more state money to help meet Foxconn's workforce needs

The University of Wisconsin System says with more state money, it can boost engineering enrollments and training for other workers needed by a Taiwanese electronics company that has big plans to build a factory in southeastern Wisconsin.

With the state budget still in flux, and the UW System's funding along with it, the clock is ticking for the public university system to detail what it would need to quickly help fill workforce demands for Foxconn's planned investment of $10 billion in a massive display panel plant in Kenosha County or Racine County that could eventually employ 13,000 people.

The project is contingent on the Republican-controlled Legislature passing a tax break bill that could mean $3 billion in incentives for Foxconn.

At a hearing on the package Thursday, UW System President Ray Cross and several UW campus leaders made it clear that state support — i.e. funding for additional faculty and facility renovations — would be needed to fill such a tall order.

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Campuses are experiencing constraints in mechanical, industrial and electrical engineering programs, which means limited access to courses, more students per lab station and limited access to professional advisers and faculty, according to UW officials.

But Cross and campus leaders said they're excited by the prospects and confident they could deliver what Foxconn needs with state support. Foxconn plans to be operational by 2020, and it would take at least four years for universities to graduate additional engineers.

A key element of UW System's strategic plan is building stronger relationships with businesses and effectively changing along with businesses to better meet their needs, Cross said. That will require working more closely with K-12 schools and technical and private colleges, he said.

Before Foxconn even entered the picture, the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee earmarked a $5 million innovation fund in its preliminary budget package for UW campuses to turn out more graduates in high demand fields such as engineering and computer sciences.

Cross wants to see that fund grow, but so far hasn't said how much is needed.

UW-Madison's College of Engineering has the capacity to enroll an additional 500 to 600 students, according to its dean, Ian Robertson.

The number of engineering applicants to the flagship university's College of Engineering grew from 2,530 to 6,133 between 2006 and 2015, and the total number of undergraduates increased from 3,180 to 4,974.

To further expand, the college would need state funds to hire more faculty and staff, Robertson said.

Similarly, UW-Madison’s business and computer science programs could help address long-term workforce needs if the state invests in expanding those programs, Robertson said.

Foxconn and other companies have told UW-Madison leaders they want engineers with some background in business so they can advance into leadership roles, Robertson said.

The Wisconsin School of Business currently offers a certificate in business program to give non-business students an understanding of business to apply to a specific field, such as engineering, he said.

UW-Madison could develop a new cross-training program — likely also launched as a certificate program — between the College of Engineering and the School of Business to teach engineering skills to business majors and business skills to engineers, Robertson said.

UW-Milwaukee has 1,510 undergraduate students in its seven engineering degree programs and has graduated an average of 245 engineering students per year over the past five years.

Several collaborations between campuses are improving access to engineering programs around the state and are boosting enrollments, UWM Chancellor Mark Mone and UW-Parkside Chancellor Deborah Ford said.

UW-Parkside and UWM have a "Technology Pathway Partnership" through which students complete their first two years at Parkside, then go to UWM, where they finish mechanical, industrial, electrical or other engineering and computer science degrees.

UW System has requested state funding for a new engineering building at UW-Platteville — which graduated 433 engineers in 2015-'16 — and for improvements to engineering facilities at UWM.

UW-Madison’s College of Engineering also is working on a proposal for facility and equipment improvements.

Last year, the Board of Regents approved a Chippewa Valley engineering consortium that includes UW-Stout, UW-Eau Claire and UW-River Falls.