A Game-Changer for Higher Education Offices

Written by: Sarah Ebben, Erin Kennon, and Aaron Seligman

The Universities of Wisconsin is renowned for its dedication to academic excellence and its strategic efforts to enhance student success. Our system of public higher education is comprised of 13 universities statewide: two (2) R1 research universities, one (1) polytechnic university and 10 comprehensive universities. It also includes an administrative arm, Universities of Wisconsin Administration (UWSA), which supports all 13 universities. One initiative at UWSA that has proven invaluable to both administrators and students is the Universities of Wisconsin Higher Education Graduate Fellowship Program.

It is our hope that those of you at ACUPA can utilize this information and run with it! This post was written by our Policy Analyst and Senior Advisor for Academic and Student Affairs, who have helped expand our fellowship program, and one current fellow who works in the Office of Administrative Policies. Below we provide an outline of our program, including which offices utilize a graduate fellow and how the students and supervisors benefit from participating in our program.

What is the Graduate Fellowship Program?

The Graduate Fellowship Program at the Universities of Wisconsin offers graduate students opportunities to apply their academic knowledge and skills in practical, real-world settings within higher education administration. At the inception of the program during the 2020-2021 academic year, fellowship positions were offered in the Office of Administrative Policies, Office of the General Counsel, and the Office of Compliance and Risk Management. These were offices that identified a need for additional work but could not hire additional full-time employees. The program has since expanded into nine different offices, with 10 fellowship positions in the 2024-2025 academic year.

The Fellowship Program currently partners with the following universities and is open to students within specific degree programs with which the program has established a Memoranda of Understanding:

1. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
   • Administrative Leadership: Adult, Continuing, and Higher Education Administrative Program
   • Master of Computer Science
   • Urban Education Doctoral Program
2. University of Wisconsin Whitewater
   • Higher Education Leadership
   • Master of Computer Science
3. University of Wisconsin-Madison
   • Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis
   • La Follette School of Public Affairs
   • Master of Business Administration
   • Law School
   • Master of Real Estate
   • Master of Computer Science

During the 2024-2025 academic year, fellowships were available in the following departments and administrative units at UWSA. These offices can change from year to year, and fellowship sites are determined based on need each calendar year. Our Human Resources department handles determining where the need is greatest as they begin the hiring process. We also provided a brief description of the work that UWSA fellows may do, to help give an idea of what a fellow could do for you!

1. Office of Academic and Student Affairs
   The fellow assists with Initiatives that include, among others, program array management, workforce alignment of system programming, dual enrollment, articulation agreements and transfer, open educational resources, high impact practices, undergraduate research, and research administration and compliance.
2. Planning and Budget
   The fellow assists with several real estate projects that arise throughout an average week, such as researching easements, leases, and deeds. Other projects include research into parcels of land that are not being used for the purpose for which they were donated and may be eligible for sale. As UW Institutions engage for-profit real estate developers in public-private partnerships, a fellow could also perform independent financial analysis, develop proformas, undertake peer evaluation and research for various project types.
3. Office of Enrollment and Student Success
   The fellow plays a key role in supporting the ongoing implementation of Direct Admit Wisconsin. Further, this individual provides support to other strategic enrollment initiatives including, dual enrollment, re-enrollment, transfer initiatives, Wisconsin.edu redesign, enrollment-related policies and other outreach and recruitment initiatives.
4. Office of Compliance and Risk Management
   The fellow works on numerous Compliance & Risk Management initiatives, including working with the Chief Compliance Officer on the Civil Dialogue Project, benchmarking against activities of other universities and systems, developing frameworks and guidance, and compiling information for external reports.
5. Office of the General Counsel
   The fellow performs traditional law clerk duties including research, hearing support, advising clients, attending staff meetings, preparing legal trainings, authoring client memos, and in person experiences unique to the practice of higher education law. The fellow also has the ability to work on significant legal projects that sometimes can span the entirety of their fellowship. This unique opportunity allows fellows to see the long-term effect and value of their legal advice and work.
6. Office of Information Security
   The fellow works on projects in a technical capacity focusing on data management, data visualizations, python scripting, and development of application/system/operational dashboards. This work aids in the development of report/charts/presentations that are provided or presented to system/campus leadership for both awareness and decision-making purposes related to Information Security risks.
7. Office of Business and Entrepreneurship (OBE)
   The fellow works with the OBE team to help formalize processes and catalog classes and training held throughout the state. The fellow will also help with curriculum development and learning platform technical expertise to help adopt a learning platform that is customer friendly and accessible to all campus collaborators. OBE’s staff, campus partners and contractors provide non-credit training to about 2,000 Wisconsin citizens annually.
8. Office of Administrative Policies
   The fellow works with policy owners and stakeholders across the system to coordinate the policy development cycle and undertake policy projects, including mapping the interconnections between policies, helping to coordinate system-wide workgroups on policy initiatives, and engaging stakeholders to obtain feedback to refine the policy process.
9. Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration at University of Wisconsin-Madison
   The fellow supports large-scale quantitative and qualitative analyses of institution-wide assessment efforts, while also engaging with the communication of analysis results through written reports and presentations to campus leadership, shared governance, and the campus community. Other projects include supporting cross-functional administrative improvements, collaborating on strategic plan metrics and initiatives, and completing benchmarking analyses of UW-Madison and peer institutions.

In addition to the substantive responsibilities at the fellowships sites, fellows are provided with unique opportunities to further their understanding of higher education and public policy. Fellows attend seminars with national or state higher education leaders within various aspects of higher education. Examples include seminars with vice presidents at the Universities of Wisconsin, associate vice presidents at the Universities of Wisconsin, Board of Regent members, and various chancellors across the universities. Fellows also attend peer-to-peer seminars, and once per year each fellow will research and present on a policy or higher education administration to other fellows in the program. In addition to the seminars, fellows also have the opportunity to attend site visits to various UW universities to further learn about higher education at each campus.

Benefits to Graduate Fellows

The Graduate Fellowship Program offers more than just hands-on experience in our offices; it also provides invaluable personal and professional growth opportunities for graduate students, along with financial support. Throughout the years, our fellows have identified the following key benefits:

1. Career Development
   Graduate fellows gain experience in areas such as leadership, project management, and policy development. Fellows have reported that the opportunity to work with many different colleagues in one office, and the opportunity to work on projects that span across many different offices has been key in their development. For example, our policy fellow often works on projects being led out of the Office of General Counsel, including work on admissions and anti-discrimination practices at campuses.
2. Networking Opportunities
   Fellows build professional connections through our leadership seminars, peer-to-peer seminars, and site visits to different UW campuses. The ability to visit different UW campuses and meet with chancellors is typically the favorite experience that fellows leave with. Fellows may also be offered opportunities to attend conferences and other professional events that directly relate to their fellowship site. The policy fellow attended conferences such as ACUPA and given the opportunity to present during the 2024 conference in Madison!
3. Practical Experience
   The fellowship allows graduate students to apply theoretical knowledge from their coursework to real-world situations, solidifying their learning and boosting their resumes. Fellowships run through the entirety of an academic year, with the potential to continue for a second year. This long-term experience is an unparallelled addition to a resume.
4. Financial support
   Graduate fellows within our program work at a 40%-50% appointment (about 16-20 hours a week). With this appointment, they receive tuition remission*, a stipend and are eligible for some benefits (including access to health and life insurance).

*Certain graduate degree programs are not eligible for tuition remission due to the funding source of the program.

Benefits to the Universities of Wisconsin

The impact of the Graduate Fellowship Program extends beyond the graduate fellows themselves. The Universities of Wisconsin as a whole benefits from the unique perspective and expertise that graduate students bring to the various offices. Some of the key advantages for the Universities of Wisconsin include:

1. Enhanced Efficiency
   Graduate fellows often are assigned tasks that might otherwise be unable to be prioritized by full-time employees, such as managing data, supporting outreach programs, or assisting with administrative duties. A graduate fellow is not the equivalent of an undergraduate intern. Site leaders have emphasized that the quality of work they see from fellows is equivalent to that of a full-time employee. Site leads have also emphasized that the education of their graduate fellows is highly applicable to the work they are doing. Site leaders are confident that they can assign projects or tasks and trust they will receive timely, high-quality, and accurate work in response.
2. Fresh Ideas and Innovation
   Graduate fellows are at the forefront of academic research and emerging trends, bringing fresh ideas to their roles. Having a new, fresh set of eyes on processes throughout the academic year helps ensure that departments stay innovative and forward-thinking, but also can help solve small problems that full-time employees may overlook as part of the routine.
3. Stronger Connection to the Student Community on Campuses
   Graduate fellows not only provide new perspectives, but they provide arguably the most important perspective: the student perspective. Our mission at the Universities of Wisconsin is to best serve our students; by having student voices in our offices, we can help ensure that it is being achieved. Additionally, fellows working in areas like diversity, equity, and student services contribute to fostering a more inclusive and supportive environment for all students.

Questions to Consider when Implementing a Fellowship at Your Campus

1. What needs/unmet capacity does your campus have that could be fulfilled with a fellowship opportunity?
   Can a fellow fill a void that cannot be closed with a full-time position? Additionally, is there enough work for them to consistently be occupied for the academic year. Is this work meaningful? Ex: Currently, our policy department is comprised of one(1) FTE and one fellow, making a combined 1.5 FTE. The fellow plays a key role in assisting the full-time policy analyst with the day-to-day work.
2. Will the fellows be paid, given credit, offered tuition remission or some combination?
   Because fellows are graduate students, cost of living is often a very big concern for them. Many universities have specific policies that lay out requirements or restrictions for assistantships and fellowships regarding compensation and benefits. Is there enough in the budget to fund this opportunity?
3. How would a fellowship program be funded?
   Funding models could include central support using a pooled resource model, or departments who are utilizing the fellowship program could be responsible for the costs. A combination of central and department funding may also be an option. Funding could also come from Federal or State grant programs that agencies may provide in specific fields. Universities could also partner with private industry, non-profits or other partners to fund the fellowship programs. The funding model would be highly dependent on the resources available at each institution.
4. How will fellows be recruited and hired? Are there specific degree programs that may train students in skills that would be valuable to your office?
   We have slowly expanded the number of degree programs in which our fellowships are offered. We recommend starting small, with degree programs that directly relate to the work being done in your office (Business Schools, Public Affairs/Public Policy Schools, Education Schools) and expanding as the program grows. This way you can ensure that fellows have an interest in the work being done, and that their skills are applicable. Additionally, you will want to consider how the hiring process will go. Will the hiring be centralized, or will each office be responsible?
5. Who will supervise the fellows?
   Our HR department currently handles the recruitment, hiring, and general organization of the Fellowship Program, including scheduling of seminars and professional development. Site leaders are asked to be involved in the selection of fellows, and then the day-to-day work being done. Our fellows typically work very closely with one person in the office who is the designated site lead. While they are doing work for the entire office, this lead is responsible for delegating the work to the fellow and ensuring that the fellow is set up to succeed in completing their tasks. Would the staff of departments with a fellow have adequate bandwidth to provide appropriate supervision, support and feedback.
6. What kind of professional development can you offer?
   A key draw for our fellowship program is the different types of professional development that are offered. Many graduate students are just getting their foot in the door in their future careers and a fellowship offers them the perfect opportunity to both learn and network. Would a fellow be able to interact with others outside of their assigned office?

A Look to the Future

The Universities of Wisconsin Higher Education Graduate Fellowship Program has proven to be a successful model that integrates graduate student talent into the fabric of university and administration operations. As the program continues to evolve, it holds the potential to play an even greater role in shaping the future of the Universities of Wisconsin. By providing graduate students with opportunities to engage meaningfully in higher education administration, the system fosters a culture of collaboration, innovation, and community building that will benefit the next generation of students, staff, and faculty.

In a rapidly changing higher education landscape, initiatives like the Universities of Wisconsin Higher Education Graduate Fellowship Program are key to ensuring that higher education administration remains adaptable, resourceful, and student-centered. As graduate fellows continue to contribute to a wide range of offices, they’re not only enhancing their own careers- but they’re also helping to build stronger, more resilient institutions that will serve generations of students to come.

Benefits and Advice on Making the Most of this Opportunity

When I began my career at Utah Valley University thirteen years ago, one of the first requests I made was for a budget to hire a student intern. In college, I benefited from editorial internships and after graduation, whenever possible, hired student interns when in management positions. Utah Valley University, with its open admissions model and focus on undergraduate education, is uniquely positioned to offer research and internship opportunities to undergraduate students who want to have an engaged learning experience that will give them real-world skills.

The UVU Policy Office offers engaged learning opportunities for student interns from UVU ‘s editing or political science programs. The Policy Office’s purpose is twofold: (1) To manage the policy review process and shepherd policy owners through it and (2) to ensure the editorial quality of university policy by making policy language clear and accessible.

How the Policy Office Benefits from Interns

Some of the ways our office benefits from interns are:

• Eliminating backlogged projects and administrative tasks
  
• Utilizing unique and invaluable perspectives
  
• Understanding what students are experiencing and thinking
• Fostering potential future employment relationships

The interns we have hired from UVU’s editing program came trained in the use of The Chicago Manual of Style, in the science of proofreading, and in the art and craft of editing. Those we hired from our political science program came with data and research skills for which our editors may not have been trained.

Our interns leave our office a better place. Here are some examples:

• Two political science interns helped us develop a format for policy research briefs; these briefs were designed in mind with the time demands placed on university leadership. These interns also helped us standardize our policy research procedures.
  
  
• One editorial intern graduated and became our first full-time editor. She introduced many major improvements into our business processes, such as the concept of policy mapping and moving many manual processes onto MS Teams/SharePoint.
  
  
• Another editorial intern assisted our senior editor with developing our writer’s guide.

Designing Your Internship Program

To determine how your office could benefit from using a student intern, assess the needs of your office. Start with the role and function of your office. For the UVU Policy Office, this was fairly simple. We do not write policy; we edit policy drafts to ensure clarity and accessibility, shepherd policy owners through the development and review process, and ensure policies are developed in accordance with our shared governance model. Therefore, it was appropriate for us to hire interns with editing or policy research skills.

The next step is to decide how many hours a week we could budget for and what tasks our interns would perform. Initially, our internship was funded for only 10 hours per week; later, it was funded for 15 to 20 hours per week. The increased hours really helped our office, as well as helping to support a student working their way through university! This hour range also helps our interns gain more meaningful experience with us.

Depending on Policy Office needs for the current academic year, we assign our intern administrative “maintenance” tasks, policy research, and editorial projects.

You will also need to ensure your internship complies with policy and law. If your institution has a center or office for internships, consult with them on any applicable laws or institution policies on internships to ensure you comply with requirements. You may also find it helpful to contact department/program advisors and internship coordinators to see what their requirements are in case student interns wish to obtain credit for their internship with you.

Finding Your Intern

There are formal and informal ways to find your intern. We post the internship on our university jobs site and our internship center website. We let English program advisors know we are searching for an intern. We also ask professors who are teaching advanced editing classes if we could visit their classes to discuss our internship and answer questions about it. All these avenues have worked well, including posting on LinkedIn.

In addition to conducting the usual interview and requesting writing/editing samples and reference letters, we have candidates take an “open book test” with a sample policy draft and The Chicago Manual of Style. This has often been the tiebreaker between two very qualified candidates.

Making the Most of the Internship for the Student and Your Office

Each time we hire an intern, we develop a training plan and a work plan for the semester ahead. For example, for the interns who have not yet taken the advanced editing class, our senior editor conducts training based on Chicago’s section on style and usage, which is the foundation of the craft of editing and proofreading. The workplan usually includes “maintenance tasks” such as updating our Policy Manual glossary; scrubbing gendered language from the Policy Manual; or updating and tracking references to university policy, Utah system policy, state and federal law. In addition to these maintenance tasks, we assign the intern to a few editorial projects. They work alongside me or the senior editor as a sort of apprentice, attending drafting committee meetings, and editing alongside us. We review the intern’s editing and explain why some revisions work very well and why others were not correct or appropriate.

What Do Interns Leave Our Office With?

Most of our interns go on to careers in editing and writing. Some have gone on into policy work in other fields.

Amanda Cooke, recommended to us by an editing professor, says of her internship: “The internship was a wonderful start to my career! It opened up new opportunities and allowed me to explore job options in a professional setting. I definitely would not be where I am today if I had not applied. Six years later, I am still working at the same university where I was an intern, now as a full-time employee.” Amanda is now a program manager in academic administration—one of her duties is to assist with the development of academic policy.

Contributing to the University’s Educational Mission

Working with student interns helps us to contribute to our university’s educational mission. But more than this, it helps us connect our policy work with students and to help them become more engaged in our shared governance process (this is an ongoing effort). We also can come to better understand what our students are concerned about during their university experience and what they hope for after graduation.

Working with student interns has kept me hopeful about the future. The young people I have had the privilege of working with are concerned about our society, are hard-working, and are good citizens of the planet.

Working with student interns has been—well, a good policy to have.

How to Run Meetings People Want to Attend

If you work in higher education then you have meetings. Lots of meetings. Long meetings, unproductive meetings, meetings about meetings. Don’t be part of the meeting problem, be part of the solution!

You may not be able to control how someone else runs a meeting, but if you’re the host, you can follow a few tips to ensure that when your meeting is over, the participants aren’t running for the hills or sound asleep.

The point of a meeting is to have a conversation about an issue or topic and come to a decision. Sometimes there are multiple topics and multiple decisions to be made. As the meeting organizer, you are the facilitator of the conversation and the guide leading the participants toward the decision.

Give Them Something to Talk About

Ahead of the meeting, send out the agenda and include whatever it is that is up for discussion. Whether that’s a policy draft, a project timeline, a list of goals, a link to related information, etc. It’s easier for the conversation to get going when there is something participants can react to. This allows the meeting to get right to the point, rather than waste time waiting for everyone to read a draft or review information. It also lets everyone know ahead of time how many topics are on the agenda.

Be Observant

Pay attention to who is talking and who isn’t talking. If the meeting is in person, watch how participants react to what is being said. If someone seems to squirm in their chair or cringe, ask them what they think. They may have a useful counter opinion.

If the meeting is online, watch for people to mark their hand raised and be sure to call on them. You may have to cut someone off who jumps in without raising their hand, but you can do so politely. Keep the chat window open in case anything gets added there that needs to be brought to everyone’s attention. If you don’t think you can do all those things at once, elect someone to watch the chat for you.

Watch the Clock

In addition to paying attention to the participants, pay attention to the time. Keep your agenda in front of you so you can see what is left to discuss. If the conversation is going on longer than you expected, but is productive, you may have to save one of the agenda items for another meeting. Conversely, be willing to end the meeting early if the discussion didn’t take the full time. If the conversation is straying off topic, it’s your job to let everyone know when it’s time to move to the next item.

Consider what can be accomplished offline. When time runs short, be flexible about what has to get done in the meeting and what can be done via email or shared documents outside of the meeting.

Listen

Just because you called the meeting, doesn’t mean you have to talk the whole time. As I said before, I see a meeting as a conversation. If all you want to do is present information, that doesn’t necessarily require a meeting. Gathering people together implies you want to hear what they have to say. As organizer, you pose the questions and then sit back and listen.

Know When to Step In

Sometimes one participant dominates the conversation or has an unending supply of questions. While you don’t want to skip over that person or ignore them, you may have to rein them in. A few ways of doing that are to say something like, “I hear you saying (briefly summarize their point), does anyone else want to comment?” You can cut in with, “Joe/Susie/whoever has had their hand raised for a while now, let’s hear what they have to say.” If the end of the monologue is nowhere in sight, you can interrupt the participant and let them know you’d be happy to talk with them offline, but that you need to keep the meeting going.

If time is running short and people’s hands are still raised, you need to decide whether to end the discussion and call for a decision or table the decision for next time. Either of those options is better than letting the meeting run long.

Take What You Can Get

Sometimes a final decision can’t be reached in the meeting. Instead, look for action items that will move the issue forward. If more research is needed, ask for a volunteer or assign the task to someone. If the document needs to reflect suggested edits from the meeting, have the scribe (which might be you) make the edits and send the document back out before the next meeting. If there isn’t a next meeting on the calendar, try to set one up while everyone is there. Often, that is easier than trying to get everyone to give you their availability via email or polling.

Follow-Up

When the meeting results in action items, it’s helpful to send an email to the participants afterwards with a list of who is doing what and when it is due. If several people missed the meeting and there was important information they will need before the next meeting, provide a summary or minutes that everyone can access. This allows you to post the information once for everyone to read, rather than wasting time at the beginning of the next meeting bringing everyone up to speed.

What things do you do to ensure your meetings are purposeful and productive?

What ACUPA has to offer and how it can benefit you and your institution

The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of ACUPA, Prairie View A&M University, or the Texas A&M University System. The author does not receive any financial incentive for purchases made through the link included in this post.

The Association of College/University Policy Administrators (ACUPA) is the leading professional organization dedicated to supporting and empowering policy administrators in the field of higher education. With a wide range of benefits designed to enhance career growth and development, ACUPA is an invaluable resource for professionals looking to make a lasting impact on their institutions and the students they serve.

ACUPA membership provides access to a nationwide network of policy experts, facilitating meaningful connections, collaboration, and the sharing of best practices. Through engaging events, webinars, and online discussion forums, members can stay at the forefront of the latest trends and challenges in higher education policy.

In addition to networking opportunities, ACUPA offers a wealth of resources to keep members informed and equipped to make data-driven decisions. These include exclusive access to research, policy briefs, and professional development materials tailored to the unique needs of college/university policy administrators.

ACUPA also serves as a powerful advocate for the profession, ensuring that the voices of policy administrators are heard throughout the industry. By joining ACUPA, members become part of a collective effort to shape the future of higher education and create positive change for students and institutions alike.

For those committed to excellence in college/university policy administration, ACUPA membership is an essential investment in career growth and success. If you aren’t already a member, join today and unlock a world of opportunities to elevate your skills, expand your network, and make a lasting difference in the field of higher education policy.

Tips for Implementing Policy

When I was asked to contribute a blog post for this month, I thought, “Sure! No problem! I love to write!” Then I sat down to really put pen to paper, and I was…stumped. What should I write about? And then it came to me, and I dusted off my two-year-old dissertation for inspiration.

When I began to pursue my doctorate quite a few years ago, I wasn’t sure what to research. Then I met a colleague at a conference, and she told me that research is just “me-search.” And so, my quest to figure out policy implementation started. As a Title IX Coordinator at a small private college with an 85% female student population, I dealt with pregnant students on a regular basis. Part of my job was to help develop education plans for students who were preparing to give birth and needed to finish their courses, and this meant working directly with faculty to implement our institution’s pregnant student policy. Our policy was written with the help of higher education attorneys and reviewed every two years. It was concise, to the point, legally sound, and only about two pages long. It was approved by our executive staff at the college as well as our board of trustees, published on our website, made available to new employees and students during orientations, and generally accepted by all who read or reviewed it.

So, what was the problem? Or as we say in the world of dissertation research, what was the problem statement? We had a great policy, but implementing it was a different story. And as my research showed, implementation is where the trouble usually arises. I found that I wasn’t the only one having difficulties implementing pregnant student policy, especially regarding leaves of absence and attendance accommodations. In the increasing number of Title IX violations at institutions of higher education over the last ten years, faculty were key in determining institutional actions regarding pregnancy policy and practice. So, I went about figuring out more about the faculty experience with implementing pregnant student policy, and here is what I discovered. The people who are closest to the issue, in this instance, the faculty, use their discretion to determine institutional actions—effectively, they implement the policy.

I won’t bore you with the details of all 119 pages of my dissertation, but I will share this with you. The development of the policy is just the beginning. Here are my pro tips on implementing policy:

• Educate and train all stakeholders on the policy
• Engage subject matter experts within the institution to assist in the implementation process
• Don’t underestimate the importance of shared governance and academic freedom when faculty are closest to the issue and ultimately responsible for implementing the policy

Building a policy program, developing policies, reviewing and revising policies, and keeping up on all the changes in laws and regulations that pertain to higher education are all vital parts of policy administration. However, the work is not done even when the best policy is developed and approved—it’s just beginning. The purpose of any policy is to guide and determine actions, and those actions do things like protect the rights of employees and students and guarantee access to education. Actions that result from policies are important, so don’t forget the implementation part.