Extending the benefits of the university begins with a question:

Who needs what I have to offer?

It's not just television that's hooked on the reality theme. UW–Madison is sold on the idea, as well.

Each year, more and more professors find ways to bring the real world into their classrooms. By introducing community service, fieldwork and other hands-on situations into their instruction, they connect students into the power of learning by doing. And that's not the only good reason to keep things real.

Consider the Elder Law Clinic, a new program launched by the UW Law School that provides free legal assistance to elderly patients in two Madison health clinics. Part of the rationale for the clinic was to give law students practice in handling the complex legal issues encountered by their aging clients. But why use hypothetical case studies when the students could be helping real patients while they learn?

That, in essence, is the Wisconsin Idea, the guiding principle of UW–Madison outreach. It acknowledges that education does not happen in a vacuum, but rather has the ability to touch many others outside the traditional boundaries of the teacher-student relationship. For more than a century, the university has embraced a core mission to extend those benefits to as many people as possible.

At the Elder Law Clinic, that means helping people understand their legal rights concerning insurance benefits, Medicare eligibility, advance directives and inheritance issues. Students have set up offices in two clinics, where they meet with patients to discuss and evaluate their legal issues. Patients pay nothing for the services — yet they make a valuable contribution to the education of future lawyers.

Another goal of the clinic is to bring the law inside the doors of health-care facilities, where so many legal and regulatory entanglements can arise. Having experts in the law at hand provides another resource that doctors and nurses can use to address patients' needs. In the process, people in both professions come to understand how their fields intersect.

"The idea is that lawyers will do a better job of advocacy if they are in contact with the client's health-care providers," says Betsy Abramson, a Law School assistant professor who supervises the clinic. "Health-care providers often don't have time or expertise to research Medicare regulations, but we do. That kind of communication allows health-care providers to make better decisions to advocate for the patient."

• A new Office of Corporate Relations was formed to help businesses access the university's resources. During its first year, the office reached out to 600 businesses and respnded to nearly 300 requests for assistance with business start-ups, student recruitment, faculty and staff expertise, and technology licensing opportunities.

• The Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems in the UW College of Agricultural and Life Sciences initiated an innovative program to put more locally grown food in school lunches. The Homegrown Lunch project connects local farmers with schools, allowing them to offer fresh produce and other goods in school cafeterias.

• The UW Law School's Wisconsin Innocence Project helped uncover DNA evidence that proved the innocence of Steven Avery, a Wisconsin man wrongly convicted of murder. Avery is the second person exonerated by the work of law students and professors.

• The Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line, a service offered by the UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, helped thousands of Wisconsin smokers kick the habit. In three years of operation, the phone-support line has helped more than 6,000 smokers quit, saving Wisconsin citizens approximately $16 million in health-care costs.

• More than 1,300 child-welfare workers in southern Wisconsin took advantage of continuing education through the Southern Child Welfare Training Partnership, a professional development opportunity created by the School of Human Ecology.

• A record 24,000 tickets were stamped for the 2004 Wisconsin Film Festival, an annual community event sponsored by the UW Arts Institute. The four-day event screened 140 films from 26 countries and included many free lectures and discussions.