Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin of the University of Wisconsin-Madison has announced a series of organizational changes aimed at enhancing student success and belonging on campus. The changes follow recommendations from a working group led by former Provost Charles Isbell, which conducted a review over the past academic year.
Mnookin emphasized the importance of creating a welcoming community to support students, faculty, and staff. “To remain a world-class institution, and to meet our full potential for excellence, we must also work to create and maintain a welcoming community that supports student, faculty and staff success,” she stated.
The working group developed six guiding principles for their review: advancing success for all students, connecting every student with the best support for them, ensuring pathways to belonging for all students, strategically organizing campus-level student support work, engaging in continuous assessment and improvement, and responsibly stewarding university resources.
Three major recommendations emerged from the group’s report:
1. Repositioning campuswide student assistance along three functional lines: academic support, well-being and community support, and financial support.
2. Enhancing support particularly for students with financial need and first-generation students.
3. Developing mechanisms for providing data-driven student support across the undergraduate population.
Mnookin accepted these recommendations and outlined plans to consolidate campus-level support into specific functional areas. Student well-being efforts will be centered within Student Affairs; academic support will be housed within the Division for Teaching and Learning; financial initiatives will focus within the Office of Student Financial Aid.
As part of these changes, the Division of Diversity, Equity & Educational Achievement (DDEEA) will no longer exist as a standalone division. Its scholarship-linked activities will move to the Division for Teaching and Learning. Additionally, University Housing will adopt a dual reporting structure involving both Student Affairs and Finance and Administration.
Mnookin assured that several important program areas would continue receiving university support despite these organizational shifts. She also expressed gratitude towards DDEEA’s staff for their contributions in reducing barriers to success at UW-Madison.
“I want to express my deep gratitude to the staff and leaders of DDEEA for their tremendous institutional contributions,” Mnookin said.
The reorganization aims to improve information flow supporting student success while maintaining areas of excellence in diversity programs previously housed under DDEEA.
