MENASHA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – As UW-Oshkosh grapples with declining enrollment at its branch location in Menasha, plans for the location there are still unclear.
UWO Acting Vice Chancellor Kurt Leibold read a letter on behalf of Chancellor Andrew Leavitt at Monday’s UW-Oshkosh Fox Cities Board of Trustees meeting.
“We have shared analysis on the future of UW-Fox Cities with the Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman. We appreciate the time President Rothman afforded us to complete our analysis and we await his feedback and/or his direction,” read Leibold.
Leavitt, along with Provost Ed Martini, were unable to attend Monday’s meeting.
FOX 11 reached out to UW-Oshkosh in hopes of learning more about the analysis they submitted to Rothman. The University was unable to elaborate any further.
On Monday, board members continued to stress they want to see the campus succeed.
“It’s hard to fathom, you know, how a facility like this, in this location, cannot be succeeding. With all the rooftops we have around here, I mean, this is a high density population area,” said Tom Swan, the Fox Cities Board of Trustees chair.
“I think we have a great thing. We just need to reinvent some things,” said trustee Yvonne Monfils.
The campus, like others in the state, has seen a major decline in enrollment. That also means space at the institution is underutilized.
The buildings are owned by Winnebago and Outagamie Counties.
Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson says he’s been looking into ways to get more use out of the Fox Cities campus, like leasing space out to other organizations.
“Accommodate the existing course work, the existing classes and programming coming from Oshkosh, I think that’s priority one. But, we also know seeing the statewide trend and seeing enrollment decline, that there is going to be capacity,” said Nelson.
UW-Oshkosh says it hopes to hear from the Universities of Wisconsin about its potential plan for the Fox Cities campus within the next month.
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