Six years after the conclusion of its inaugural partnership with the city of Monona, UniverCity Year has partnered with 29 Wisconsin communities, connecting local governments with UW–Madison resources.
These partnerships are yielding tangible results across the state — from a digital public art inventory in Wisconsin Rapids to a public health navigator position in Green County to strategies to improve emergency medical services staffing in Marathon and Columbia Counties.
“We know local governments crave thought partners, and universities can be a natural fit, but UW can sometimes be tough to access as such a large university,” says Gavin Luter, managing director of UniverCity Alliance (UCA), UCY’s umbrella program. “UCA is trying to organize the UW to be more accessible and responsive to these communities across Wisconsin. “We make the Wisconsin Idea come to life and make it a two-way street.”
UCY is a three-year program that works with local government partners to identify meaningful issues that could benefit from UW–Madison expertise. Staff match projects with courses, independent research, and internships on campus and at other partner institutions. Then, students research those issues and questions and deliver implementable recommendations to local governments.
Since working with Monona, UCY evolved from a one-year partnership to its current three-year model and accommodates more than one local government partner at a time. During the 2022–23 academic year, UCY worked with six community partners and 28 community project leads, pairing 61 projects with 35 courses, 359 students, and 54 faculty, instructional staff, and researchers. These courses fell within eight UW–Madison schools and colleges, and one of them took place through UW–Milwaukee.
UCY’s growth means that the cumulative impact of the program is expanding across the state.
Over the history of UCY, the program has engaged 2,453 students, 101 unique faculty, instruction staff, and researchers, and 142 community project leads in 29 Wisconsin communities.
Paul Robbins, dean of the Nelson Institute and a cochair of the UniverCity Alliance Advisory Board, said the real cumulative impact is about trust building. “An individual project will have an impact, but the trust won’t go away,” Robbins said. “The community will know that it’s got the university as a partner.”
Applications for the 2023-26 UCY cohort were due Aug. 1, and the new community partners will be announced in the coming months.