The UW Wausau Campus Foundation has committed $15,000 in new scholarships for local students who pursue a newly expanded engineering degree program. UW-Stevens Point at Wausau and UW-Platteville are expanding an existing engineering degree partnership to bring additional opportunities to students in the Wausau area.

An agreement signed in May will offer students in northern and central Wisconsin the opportunity to earn a UW-Platteville Bachelor of Science degree in industrial and systems engineering through the UW-Platteville Engineering Partnership Program. This is the first partnership that offers a degree in industrial and systems engineering.

UWSP at Wausau already offers degrees in electrical and mechanical engineering through UW-Platteville. Core classes are taught by UW-Stevens Point at Wausau faculty and upper-level classes are streamed from UW-Platteville.

“Leveraging engineers with this type of skillset is a competitive advantage for many businesses in our area, and will pay dividends for decades to come,” said Ryan Gallagher, president of Rocket Industrial and the president-elect of the Wausau Campus foundation board.

“This degree offering provides a new and affordable opportunity for students in the northcentral Wisconsin region who aspire to work in the industrial sector,” said Ann Herda-Rapp, UWSP at Wausau campus executive. “It meets the needs of industrial employers — from manufacturing settings to distribution centers — to recruit talented engineers, something that will be key to economic growth in Wausau and beyond.”

“The partnership is a win-win-win for universities, students and taxpayers,” said Philip Parker, acting dean of the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science at UW-Platteville. “It demonstrates how serious UW-Platteville is at meeting the statewide need for engineers.”

The UW-Platteville Engineering Partnership program currently partners with eight campuses across Wisconsin and has awarded 360 degrees since the program began.