Campus Messages

The Association of American Universities (AAU), the American Council on Education (ACE) and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) jointly filed a new lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, along with a number of impacted research university co-plaintiffs, seeking to halt the proposed Facilities and Administrative (F&A) rate cut to 15% for all Department of Energy research grants to colleges and universities. UW–Madison is a member university of AAU, ACE and APLU.

International Division Dean Vavrus shared a message with deans and campus leaders on April 10 about several campus offices that are monitoring the situation around SEVIS record terminations closely at the national and local levels and providing resources and recommendations as circumstances develop.

An update related to the termination of Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) records of a number of current and former international students by the U.S. government.

Dean of the International Division Frances Vavrus shared a message and links to resources with international students, scholars, faculty and staff on April 2.

The Association of American Universities (AAU) Board of Directors issued a statement on March 31 about the importance of preserving the partnership between American research universities and the federal government. UW–Madison is a member of AAU.

On March 26, University of Wisconsin–Madison Professor and Associate Director of Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Sterling Johnson provided testimony on the importance and urgency of National Institutes for Health (NIH) investments in research at a forum on Capitol Hill.

On March 21, Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin, Provost Charles Isbell Jr. and Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Rob Cramer sent a message to all faculty, Academic Staff, University Staff and limited appointees about steps being taken to preserve UW–Madison’s short- and long-term ability to carry out its mission amid potential federal funding cuts to research and other programs and uncertainty about indirect rates, stop work orders and inflationary impacts from tariffs.

UW–Madison is aware of the new Executive Order related to the U.S. Department of Education, signed on March 20. It is the university’s understanding that this executive order will not impact funding provided by the Department of Education for the current semester, including federal student financial aid and TRIO grants. With the spring term halfway through, most students have already received their financial aid, and disbursements will continue throughout the semester.

This afternoon, the U.S. Senate voted on a measure to fund the federal government through September 30, 2025. We will share additional information as needed.