MENASHA, WI (WTAQ) – Students at UW-Oshkosh will soon be able to take classes towards earning a mechanical or electrical engineering degree following the merge of the UW-Oshkosh and UW-Plattevile engineering program.
The move is part of the “UW-Platteville Engineering Partnerships.”
“If it weren’t for this program, I would have never gone back to school. I would have never finished my degree,” says Brian Eberwein.
Twenty-seven years ago Eberwein dropped out of school before hearing about the UW-Platteville Engineering Partnerships.
“So I looked into it and three months later I enrolled. Four years later I graduated from the program,” he says.
Eberwein was able to stay in the Fox Valley under the partnership without traveling to Platteville for his engineer degree.
Currently, he works for Plexus as a design engineer.
Students at the Menasha campus have been able to earn their bachelor’s degree in mechanical or electrical engineering for almost fifteen years through the partnership.
“We think of it as a talent development and retention effort,” says Martin Rudd, the Assistant Chancellor for access campuses.
Last year, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Fox Valley, and UW-Fond du Lac merged into one university, which paired with the Platteville partnership, will open up two new engineering degrees for UW-Oshkosh students.
This means that students can now access the engineering building at the Fox Valley campus.
“We definitely have a need for more mechanical and electrical engineers, engineers of all forms in the Fox Valley,” says Eberwein.
According to Rudd, the beauty of the partnership is there’s no need for more resources and he’s hoping to expand it in order to keep more engineering talent in the Fox Valley.
“We’re optimistically predicting that UW-Platteville classes will soon be offered at UW-Fond du Lac classes, as we begin to get the engineer program down in that area,” says Rudd.
Starting next school year, students at the Oshkosh campus can start signing up for classes and if they graduate they’ll earn a diploma from UW-Platteville.
