University of Wisconsin-Platteville is one of 13 publicly supported comprehensive universities in the University of Wisconsin System. Founded in 1866, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville is the oldest public institution in the State of Wisconsin, and is considered one of the safest campuses in the nation. We are proud of our students’ contribution to the safety record, their pursuit of academic excellence, and the leadership they continually demonstrate throughout the state, region, and nation. As our nickname implies, our UWP “Pioneers” have created the very foundation for which we are known.

We encourage you to visit our home page at http://www.uwplatt.edu/.

UW-Platteville’s Mission

The fundamental mission of UW-Platteville and the entire UW System is to serve the people of Wisconsin. This basic goal is expressed in detail in the mission statement adopted in 1988 and revised in 2002. In those statements, UW-Platteville pledges itself to:

1. Enable each student to become broader in perspective, more literate, intellectually more astute, ethically more sensitive, and to participate wisely in society as a competent professional and knowledgeable citizen.
2. Provide baccalaureate degree programs which meet primarily regional needs in arts and sciences, teacher education, business, and information technology.
3. Provide baccalaureate degree programs and specialized programs in middle school education, engineering, technology management, agriculture, and criminal justice which have been identified as institutional areas of emphasis.
4. Provide graduate programs in areas clearly associated with its undergraduate emphases in education, agriculture, technology management, engineering and criminal justice.
5. Provide undergraduate distance learning programs in business administration and graduate online programs in project management, criminal justice, and engineering.
6. Provide agricultural systems research programs utilizing the Pioneer Farm in partnership with businesses, universities and agencies.
7. Expect scholarly activity, including applied research, scholarship and creative endeavor, that supports its programs at the baccalaureate degree level, its selected graduate programs, and its special mission.
8. Seek to serve the needs of all students and in particular the needs of women, minority, disadvantaged and nontraditional students. Furthermore, the University seeks diversification of the student body, faculty and staff.
9. Serve as an educational, cultural and economic development resource to southwestern Wisconsin.

These statements, along with the UW System and University Cluster mission statements, provide a guide to UW-Platteville in what it attempts and does not attempt to accomplish as an institution of higher education.

Mission of the School of Graduate Studies

The purpose of the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville is to coordinate and oversee high quality, practitioner-oriented graduate programs whose goal is to provide degree-seeking and nondegree-seeking students with advanced educational preparation for careers in criminal justice, computer science, counseling, education, engineering, industry, and project management. This purpose reflects the University of Wisconsin-Platteville’s mission to “provide graduate programs in areas clearly associated with its undergraduate emphases…,” along with other selected graduate programs.

Safety and Health Policy

The University of Wisconsin System is committed to maintaining adequate facilities for a safe and healthy learning environment. The university works with faculty and staff so that they are equipped to educate their students on practices and procedures that ensure health and safety in their institutional areas.

Certain courses and research projects require that the student work with hazardous materials while engaging in academic studies. Instructors of these courses and research projects must inform and train students on procedures that will maintain the students’ personal health and safety and provide them with information on the hazards of specific chemicals that will be used during their course of study. Furthermore, instructors must enforce and follow safety policies. Before using hazardous materials and equipment, students shall review the procedures and information, and discuss any associated concerns with the instructor.

Research Involving Human Subjects

All research that involves humans as subjects, or data or materials derived from humans, must be reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board for Human Subject Research (IRB) before the research is initiated.

Students must prepare a research protocol, describing their project and addressing human subject issues, and then submit the protocol to the IRB for review. Students may obtain a manual of policies and procedures to review research involving human subjects from the Office of Sponsored Programs, 321 Brigham Hall, (608) 342-1456. IRB information is online at http://www.uwplatt.edu/sponprog.

History

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville was established in 1866 with the primary goal of training teachers. It has grown and expanded steadily into a university consisting of the Colleges of Business, Industry, Life Science, and Agriculture; Engineering, Mathematics, and Science; Liberal Arts and Education; and the School of Graduate Studies.

Graduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville had its inception in 1956 when the Coordinating Committee on Higher Education in Wisconsin formed the Joint Standing Committee on Graduate Education, which was composed of representatives of the University of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin State Universities. As a result of the committee’s efforts, the cooperative graduate program was launched in 1960. The program that was developed allowed students to take one half of their required graduate work on the state university campus and the other half at the University of Wisconsin.

In 1961 the committee recommended that the state universities begin plans for independent graduate programs. In the summer session of 1962, the first graduate work under the independent program was offered, modeled on the cooperative graduate program.

Concurrent with the North Central Association preliminary accreditation approval in 1964, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville inaugurated a master’s degree program whereby all the work leading to the master’s degree could be taken on the Platteville campus, with the University of Wisconsin-Platteville granting the degree. During the fall semester of 1964, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville began offering on-campus graduate courses in the evening and on Saturday mornings. Graduate offerings that enabled students to pursue full-time graduate study were inaugurated in September 1966.

In 1999, University of Wisconsin-Platteville first began offering master’s degrees online. In May 2001 the first online master’s degree was awarded.

The University Seal and School Colors

The university seal contains two symbols representing the origin of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. The bell reminds us of the Platteville Normal School where it woke the students each morning, calling them to daily assembly, sounded study hours, and signaled the day’s end. The Normal School bell can still be heard on campus today. The “M” originates from the Wisconsin Mining School and symbolizes the engineering programs and their roots in the mining industry of the Platteville area.

The school colors represent the two academic disciplines, which were the foundation of our university: orange symbolizes engineering, and blue symbolizes education.