Providing Expertise

Sharing individual and collective knowledge for the betterment of Wisconsin

contents:
  • Serving as good citizens: Faculty, staff and students share their time, expertise
  • Clinics care for poor, uninsured citizens
  • Students reach out beyond the campus
  • WINGS tackles health issues on reservations
  • LaFollette helps new legislators get up to speed
  • Sports Medicine program assists young athletes
  • Other Providing Expertise examples.



  • Serving as good citizens: Faculty, staff and students share their time, expertise

    UW-Madison is bringing new meaning to the word "community."

    In addition to their roles as teachers and researchers on campus, each year hundreds of UW-Madison faculty and staff make significant commitments of their time to perform public service activities for the community beyond the campus.

    In a recent survey on public service, for example, more than 800 faculty and staff have reported a multi-faceted tapestry of services and projects in which they shared their particular expertise with governmental bodies, industry and citizens in Wisconsin and throughout the world.

    Responses to the survey, which focused only on activities faculty and staff performed in their field of expertise, included such activities as advising a U.S. senator on Supreme Court nominations, briefing the Wisconsin legislature on census figures, presenting demographic assessments of growth trends for local communities, teaching seminars at state conferencesof cranberry and apple growers, and giving addresses before dozens of civic or professional groups.

    Associate Vice Chancellor Joe Corry, whose office encourages the development of outreach activities among faculty and staff, says the survey highlights an important commitment to reach out to the state. "This university provides a rich resource to Wisconsin and the nation, and an excellent way to tell that story is through the individual commitments of our faculty and staff," he says.

    Such expertise can often fill a niche for the needs of non- profit organizations, policy makers and citizens of the state. Take the case of Jeanine Mount, associate professor in the School of Pharmacy. Mount studies the quality of nursing home facilities in Wisconsin, and specifically, the over-use of drugs for sedating and restraining residents.

    "Chemical restraints in nursing homes can be worse than physical restraints," she says. "Physical restraints can be removed, but it may take days for the body to rid itself of the drugs. As they are used, these drugs often have no therapeutic value, but over-use is a very common occurrence, even though studies have shown they don't have the controlling effect wanted."

    Recognizing the need for better information about this problem, the federal government did an extensive study in the late 1980s on whether it could conduct research on drug use in nursing homes, but found the problem too complex to undertake. Instead, it turned to researchers like Mount and Professor Bonnie Svarstad at UW-Madison's School of Pharmacy for the knowledge it needed.

    "There are a lot of the common-sense notions about nursing facilities that have been held by the public and by government officials," says Mount, who has both a professional degree in pharmacy and a doctoral degree in organizational sociology. "When we conduct scientific studies, many of those notions turn out not to be accurate. Nursing home quality-of-care issues, and quality of drug use in particular, are far more complicated than we often think. In only a few places, like UW-Madison's School of Pharmacy, is there the critical mass of researchers needed for these kinds of complex studies."

    When it came time to revise and implement regulations of drug use, Mount testified before the U.S. Senate's Special Committee on Aging. Mount's public service activities continue: She and Svarstad now are conducting follow-up studies in Wisconsin on the longer-term impact of those policies.

  • Clinics care for poor, uninsured citizens

    Students design a creative solution to affordable, accessible medical care.

    On Saturday mornings, it's not unusual to see a half dozen people waiting patiently for the doors of the South Side MEDIC Clinic to open. Like its sister clinics at Grace Episcopal Church's shelter for homeless men and the Salvation Army homeless shelter, the facility offers free medical care to Madison's poor, uninsured and underserved citizens.

    The clinics are the outgrowth of the MEDIC organization, a program created in 1990 by UW Medical School students inspired by a desire to help people who ordinarily do not have access to basic health care. Today physician volunteers and student helpers at the three clinics offer at least 12 hours of free care each week.

    For patients suffering from bronchitis, flu, ear infections, hernias, diabetes and other common ailments, the clinics provide sorely needed services. Between eight and 12 patients are seen at each of the three clinics weekly, translating to care for more than 1,500 people yearly. Many of the patients also are directed to other social agencies where they can find help for different kinds of problems.

    For medical students and, more recently, nursing, pharmacy and health administration students, the clinics provide a chance to learn clinical skills and observe close-up the challenges of life at the poverty level.

    "It was my first hands-on experience in a clinical setting," says Clark Kulig, a second-year medical student. Students interview and examine patients before physicians, who are members of the Medical School faculty and community volunteers, establish a diagnosis and suggest a treatment or referral plan.

    The clinics capture the essence of primary care medicine - frontline care that focuses on healing illnesses that afflict most of us. "Working at the south side clinic gave me a good perspective on what it's like to spend time with patients and see them through their problems," says Kulig. "I now know that primary care is the way to go for me."

    A council of MEDIC student leaders directs organization of the clinics, including scheduling staffers and ordering supplies. Approximately 200 student volunteers staff the clinics each year.



  • Students reach out beyond the campus

    Volunteer work puts students in touch with diverse communities.

    This March, some 90 students passed on the chance for a beach-side spring break and instead traveled to seven U.S. locations for a week of community service and learning opportunities as part of the Wisconsin Union Directorate Alternative Breaks Program.

    Student volunteers visited and worked with communities as diverse as the homeless in Washington, D.C., an adult day care center in the mountains of Franklin, N.C., and an American Indian reservation freedom school in upstate New York.

    Sponsored by Wisconsin Union Directorate student volunteers and the Wisconsin Union Travel Center, Alternative Breaks gives UW students a chance to experience racially and economically diverse populations, to become part of a community and culture that is very different from their own. Since its inception five years ago, hundreds of students have volunteered time to work for organizations such as Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans and Miami, the United Farm Workers in San Juan, Texas, and Martha's Table Soup Kitchen in Washington, D.C.

    In another example of student service, at Volunteer Placement Day, held in both fall and spring semester, more than 800 students volunteer for non-profit organizations; some 2,500 contacts are made.

    At the School of Business, all MBA students volunteer at homeless shelters and low-income neighborhood community centers in Madison as part of a required course in "The Political, Ethical and Legal Environment of Business." Students work one-on-one with those who have low incomes and devise strategies to improve organizations serving the homeless and working poor.



  • WINGS tackles health issues on reservations

    Statewide pubic service program focuses on Native American children with special health care needs.

    The mixture of poor access to health care, rural conditions and stereotypes about Native Americans has had its negative effects on children who live on the 11 reservations in Wisconsin and have special health care needs.

    Countering these difficulties, the Wisconsin Indian Network for Genetic Services (WINGS) focuses on serving the often ignored health care issues of Native American children. The program, created by UW-Madison Medical Genetics Professor Raymond Kessel, provides diagnostic clinics for children and their families. The clinics have been conducted at nine of the state's 11 reservations.

    "The spirit of the Wisconsin Idea is to find ways of using the experience and talents of the great research and teaching university to address specific needs of Wisconsin - not only at the university but in the local communities," Kessel says. "My challenge is in helping to build the bridge to the community by identifying the needs, and then by identifying members of the university community to help meet those needs."

    In the first day-long clinics sponsored by WINGS, staff got impressions of how underserved and misrepresented these groups were. Kessel says they were told up to half of the children who had mental or behavioral problems were diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome. But of the more than 250 children treated at clinics since 1986, Kessel says staff confirmed only a few cases of the condition. Many, he says, often have other conditions not related to perinatal exposure to alcohol.

    It was an example, he says, of how stereotypes about Native Americans and poor access to quality health care had to be countered by their program. "A lot of factors that contribute to kids having special needs were not being considered," he says. Those include a high poverty rate, poor nutrition and geographic isolation from everything - including doctors and telephones, making accurate and complete diagnoses difficult to obtain.

    "Kids with problems were being ignored," Kessel says. "Many of these kids had been identified with medical and emotional problems, but there was no accurate diagnostic assessment and no follow-up."

    WINGS is part of a larger genetics outreach program, which focuses on clinical services and genetics education as part of a statewide genetics services network. Last year physicians and genetics counselors addressed more than 130 groups - ranging from K-12 students to college students, from physicians to public administrators - in an effort to increase awareness and understanding about children with special needs.

    Kessel credits the program's success to Tribal Coordinator Arvina Thayer and Project Coordinator Karen Martin, both members of the Ho-Chunk Nation who worked to gain trust and develop local ownership of the project, and to faculty and staff of the UW Clinical Genetics Program who are willing to travel to the tribal communities.

    This spring, WINGS received the annual Maternal and Child Health Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Maternal and Child Health Coalition for outreach to minority, low-income and other hard-to-reach populations.



  • LaFollette helps new legislators get up to speed

    Seminars provide a primer on public policy issues and decision-making.

    They have their parking assignments. They know how to apply for per diem allowances. They have been briefed on the state's ethics guidelines. They are learning to find their offices. And they have hired most of their staff. So the new state legislators, sworn into office just a few days earlier, are eager to get to the real issues as they gather on a cold January day for the biennial La Follette Institute Seminar for New Legislators.

    There are about a dozen in the class of 1995-97: Republicans and Democrats, men and women, senators and representatives. Like other legislators before them, they are beneficiaries of the teaching, research and outreach components of the La Follette Institute. This year's seminar topics included government reinvention, the Wisconsin economy and economic development.

    In a letter sent last fall to the newly elected legislators, Assembly Speaker David Prosser stressed the importance of the seminar for new legislators: "The seminar is one of a number of very useful programs for state policymakers that the La Follette Institute has developed. Participation ... will speed your transition into the legislative role and you will have an excellent opportunity to reflect upon the challenges of the policy making process itself."

    Since its establishment by the Legislature in 1984 in the rich tradition of "Fighting Bob" La Follette, the Institute has served thousands of students, public officials, business people, non-profit sector professionals, academicians and citizens in learning to apply sound management principles and tools of policy analysis to public issues.

    The seminar is just one of the ways La Follette's faculty and staff have made the Wisconsin Idea come alive for all levels of government through special activities and publications related to issues such as leadership, welfare reform, urban fiscal issues, education policy, governance, corrections, health care and public management.



  • Sports Medicine program assists young athletes

    Hundreds at Wisconsin high schools and colleges benefit from knowledge of UW Hospital Sports Medicine certified athletic trainers.

    About five minutes into a hotly contested high school soccer game, 16-year-old Lori Gunderson felt a "pop" in her knee and the sensation of water flowing inside her leg from the kneecap to her ankle.

    UW athletic trainer Joe Greene, who was covering the game for Madison Memorial High School, had seen the same thing happen to other athletes. He met Gunderson at the bench, quickly evaluated the injury and urged her not to return to the game until a physician could examine the knee.

    Gunderson later learned from UW Hospital physicians that she had completely torn her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), one of four major ligaments that connect the larger bone in the lower leg (the tibia) to the thigh bone (femur). Following two weeks of intensive, exercise therapy, she underwent surgery to reconstruct the ligament and then began daily rehabilitation, under Greene's guidance, to recondition the injured knee.

    "If it wasn't for Joe, I don't think my knee would have turned out so well," Gunderson says. "I would recommend him to anyone."

    Hundreds of Wisconsin athletes like Gunderson benefit from the athletic training outreach program offered by the UW Hospital Sports Medicine Center. Established in 1982, the program places certified athletic trainers in more than 30 high schools and several colleges, and has served as a model for other programs around the state.

    "Between 60 and 70 percent of high school students participate in some athletic activities," notes Dan Campbell, who heads the outreach program. "That means the majority of high school students are at risk for injury. We see ourselves as educators - for coaches and parents as well as students - and I think our services are highly appreciated."

    The trainers play several roles: helping prevent injuries through proper conditioning and training; handling emergencies on site as well as making the appropriate recommendations for physician follow-up; and completing the circle with rehabilitation to return injured athletes to full functioning.

    They also provide expert guidance on nutrition, drug abuse and general health. The exercise science lab at the Sports Medicine Center works closely with the athletic trainer program to provide young athletes with better ways to train and to recover from injuries.

    The various components of the program worked well for Gunderson, who returned to competition for her final two years of high school and competed in the state tournament her senior year. Now in college, she plans a health-related career where she, too, can help young people make the most of their athletic talent.



    Other Providing Expertise Examples

  • With over 16,000 pieces in its permanent collection dating from the 22nd B.C. to the present, the Elvehjem Museum of Art provides a valuable arts resource.The museum serves over 100,000 visitors each year through visits, tours, lectures and educational programs.

  • The School of Business has established the Women in Business Council, which is now working with the Wisconsin Glass Ceiling Commission - the first such commission in the nation - to increase the numbers of women and minorities on the boards of directors of businesses, non-profit organizations and government agencies. The council is creating a database for those interested in board service.

  • The Drug Information and Poison Control Center, staffed by registered pharmacists at the UW Hospital 24 hours a day, handled nearly 33,000 calls in 1994 from throughout Wisconsin and the region. One of only two Wisconsin sites, the hospital's poison control center works to help prevent and treat thousands of accidental poisonings.

  • The UW Hospital and the UW Comprehensive Cancer Center serve as a regional information center for residents of Wisconsin and the region. Counselors at the Cancer Information Service helped 14,000 callers - mostly from Wisconsin - since January 1994.

  • Training and support materials for Library Advocacy Now, a grassroots campaign to increase awareness and support for the nation's libraries sponsored by the American Library Association, were developed by the School of Library and Information Studies Outreach Program. Training sessions with the materials will be held in almost every state.

  • The University of Wisconsin Press publishes many books written by Wisconsin authors or that feature Wisconsin, helping to preserve the state's heritage and increase awareness of Wisconsin issues.

  • Some 125 family practice residents from the Medical School and over 70 faculty provide primary healthcare for over 70,000 people in nine clinics located in Appleton, Eau Claire, greater Madison, Milwaukee and Wausau. In addition, through a growing number of community partnerships, the residents and faculty provide access to medical care for Wisconsin's underserved and special population such as the homeless, elderly, cross cultural groups, prisoners and rural populations all over the state.

  • The La Follette Institute of Public Affairs offers a wide range of programs and publications for government officials. For example, this past year, the Institute held a seminar for 50 local government officials on mandates and a leadership institute for 35 legislators in 11 states from both parties.

  • The Multicolored Mirror Institute for Writers and Artists, provided through the School of Library and Information Studies, brought together unpublished writers and artists with those who have already published in an effort to increase the number of books for children and young adults created by people of color.

  • Students earning master's degrees in arts administration work as project assistants with local arts organizations, providing expertise to these groups. Students play major roles in marketing, fundraising and management of organizations such as the Madison Civic Center and the Wisconsin Arts Board.

  • Cabinet 99, created by the Wisconsin Alumni Association to involve more women in leadership positions in the state and around the nation, provides mentoring programs and continuing education seminars to help women become leaders in the work force and in their communities.

  • Faculty, staff and students in the schools of Music and Education volunteer for the Madison Bootstraps Program, an after-school program for at-risk students in grades six-12. Tutoring sessions are provided in areas such as math, languages and music.

  • Each year graduate students, under the supervision of UW- Madison faculty and staff, conduct an in-depth study of an actual public water-management problem, formulate recommendations and provide low-cost management plans as a part of the Institute for Environmental Studies' Water Resources Management Workshop.

  • Several of the Wisconsin Alumni Association's 115 alumni clubs have also begun community service initiatives such as the Chicago Club's innovative "Adopt a School" program. The Wisconsin Alumni Volunteer Endeavor (WAVE) annually brings together volunteers from both town and gown sectors to benefit the Madison community.

  • Expanding Visions in the Arts provides art workshops for people who are unlikely to enroll in traditional university classes, such as teenagers in an alternative school, adult survivors of abuse and low-income children. UW-Madison students and local artists spend several hours a week at community agencies, providing workshops tailored to their students' needs.

  • Geography faculty in the College of Letters and Science are working to create a cartographic profile of Wisconsin in order to represent the state's cultural heritage. The "Cultural Map of Wisconsin," which is intended to be a companion to the state highway map, will feature ethnic settlements, historic sites and important buildings. Nine public forums were held around the state to gather input from Wisconsin residents.

  • The Arts Outreach Program provides cultural service through music education and performance. The program participated in 18 concerts with a combined audience of 3,914. School of Music faculty provided 28 music clinics, school performances and master classes reaching some 2,283 Wisconsin high school students in the 1993-94 academic year.

  • More than 220 students from the School of Social Work provide expertise and specialized knowledge through internships with human service agencies in Dane County and throughout the state. The students, who earn academic credit rather than a salary, work some 16-20 hours per week for one to two years in areas such as mental health, child welfare, aging, health care and education.

  • Parenting the First Year, a program through the School of Family Resources and Consumer Sciences, publishes a free monthly newsletter in English and Spanish that reaches some 50,000 Wisconsin parents during their baby's first year. The publication has been picked up by 15 other states as well. The eight-page newsletter offers easy-to-read information on topics such as health, safety, feeding, child guidance, infant temperament and psychological development.

  • The university makes its expertise available throughout the year by publishing a speakers directory of over 650 faculty and staff willing to talk to community organizations and schools. News media from throughout Wisconsin and the nation receive the Experts List, which makes available the expertise of 1,150 members of the faculty and staff willing to be interviewed by reporters.

  • Some 25,000 visitors toured the Geology Museum last year, including more than 10,000 school children from southern Wisconsin. The museum covers all aspects of geology including a 6-foot-diameter rotating globe, a walk-through model of a limestone cave, minerals, rocks and fossils. Museum highlights include dinosaur skeletons and a Wisconsin mastodon.

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