UW president Rothman speaks in La Crosse about science center, and work training

When the head of the Universities of Wisconsin system comes to La Crosse, he often hears people at UWL ask about getting the Prairie Springs science center completed.

UW President Jay Rothman spoke again about the project while visiting La Crosse on Tuesday, saying it’s still a major goal for state leaders in Madison.

“Prairie Springs was the number one prioritized major capital facility, so it is number one in terms of the major capital projects,” said Rothman, “and it has the full support of the Universities of Wisconsin administration. It has the full support of the Board of Regents. We want to see Prairie Springs get enumerated and be built.” The second building has a planned budget of almost $93 million.

Legislators still have not authorized a second Prairie Springs building, six years after the first half of the project was finished and opened. Rothman says the demand for science and health care workers justifies the need for more university science facilities, and he says the Wisconsin campuses continue to attract young people who want to learn valuable jobs.

“Where’s that nurse, or physician, or health care provider going to come from,” he asks. “Where’s the data scientist, the business finance person, or the marketing person? Rothman says the UW graduates about 37,000 people a year, and the average college graduate earns about $1 million more in a lifetime than a worker with just a high school education.