October 17, 2016 at 3:47 p.m.
President of UW System tours RHS Cross: 'It's an impressive school'
President of UW System tours RHS Cross: 'It's an impressive school'
By Kayla Thomason-
Principal David Ditzler led the group through the Fab Lab, the Aspirus Community Fitness Center and a few classrooms.
"It's a impressive school," said Cross.
This was his first time in the school and he was quite excited to see the fledgling Fab Lab.
"The Fab Lab, of course, is something that I personally think is outstanding and I especially like the way they are attempting to connect it to the arts and also to historical manufacturing, and that increasingly is part of what is going to make America very successful in the future," Cross said.
While touring the school, Cross talked to students about their future plans.
"I was impressed with some of the questions, what they want to do, where they're going," he said. "When I visit these schools and I interact with students like that, I think America's future is going to be in good hands if those are the kids that are going to end up leading us."
Some students who are planning to become teachers are already getting some hands-on experience at the elementary and middle schools.
Cross was especially pleased to learn there are a number of students planning to pursue a degree in education, a job field that has taken a hit of late.
"The numbers are much higher which is really encouraging and I'm trying to figure out a way to leverage that," Cross said.
Something he repeatedly mentioned throughout the tour was dual-credits.
"One of the things we are trying to do is increase the number of students that are enrolled in college courses while they're in high school," he said.
Dual-credits are more common in Minnesota, but Cross love for it to be more common in Wisconsin.
"I would love to triple the enrollment and dual enrollment concurrent," Cross said. "It's going to take us a little while to do that. In Minnesota they pay for that, that is the state pays for that. We can't do that here, we have to find creative ways to accomplish the same thing and expose students to these opportunities."
Given the high cost of higher education, dual-credits could ease future students' back-breaking debt, he said.
"If we can complete the first year of college while they're in high school - for those students that are capable - we have reduced their costs enormously and also opened up other options because dual-enrollment students don't always complete in shorter period of time but they double major or they have a study abroad experience, they expand their educational experience," Cross said.
Ditzler was ecstatic to hear that Cross was hoping to add more dual-credit classes.
"I know many of my faculty really hang their hat on the rigor of the AP curriculum (as) it prepares students for that test that they can show and get credit," Ditzler said.
He also knows that some students aren't great test takers but do well in the classroom. The dual-credit system could be very beneficial to them, he said.
"If our staff are approved by Dr. Cross' system and our students can get an A or a B which would be an A or a B at Stevens Point, at Green Bay, at La Crosse, that's a no-brainer and that's what I want to do," he said. "I don't want a high school program that is pushy though."
Ditzler is very proud of his school, the students and staff.
"I'm grateful that Dr. Cross was in town with Representative Swearingen and that he made a decision to seek out Rhinelander High School," he said.
Cross said he was pleased to meet so many students reaching for a higher education and he hopes to make college more affordable.
"One of the reasons it's important to us is because the affordability of the college experience is exasperated by the length of time you have to spend in college," Cross said. "If we can shorten that time to (get a) degree (that's) really important - maybe the single most important - I caution everybody: don't get so focused on tuition that you have tuition tunnel vision and you don't realize there are a lot of other things here that have a bigger impact on the price of a college education and affordability of families than tuition, so time to degree is enormous."
Cross said he thought the tuition freeze for the 2017-2018 year was wise and that he supported it and helped the board develop it.
"I think it's really important that the governor and the legislature let the board set tuition," he said. "I believe in the past when we were increasing tuition at 5.5 percent every time every year while our tuition fund balance was increasing, that was a mistake on our part. That was not wise and I believe we are now trying to behave responsibly and this action repositions the board as the controlling entity for tuition and as long as they act responsibly I think that's where it should be."
"Part of my challenge and I think the challenge of all higher education is we have to operate efficiently and effectively but we also have to explain in a more effective way, not just that we are operating responsibly and good stewards of these resources, but also that the importance of education in the state of Wisconsin has never been greater," he added.
According to Cross, there are about 178,000 students in the UW system, which is down by about 2,700 students.
"What's interesting about that is high school graduation numbers have peaked at about 74,000 five or six, seven years ago and dropped down to about to 64,000 now," Cross said. "They're going to go up a little bit, stay flat perhaps for three or four years and then they decline again to below 60,000. That's a reflection of the demographics challenging this state. Fewer and fewer 18 to 64-year-old people (are) living in this state. That is an enormous challenge particularly in rural communities we're seeing a decline in the younger population."
Cross said he believes that the universities are one of the best ways to encourage younger people to make Wisconsin their home.
"We currently attract - in Madison in particular, Platteville, those institutions adjacent to other states - we attract a lot of out-of-state students," he said. "About 15 percent of them stay here after they graduate. If we give them an internship nationwide, we don't know here, but nationwide the average is about 52 percent who end up staying and being employed by that employer with whom they interned."
Kayla Breese may be reached at kayla@ rivernewsonline.com.
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