As a new school year approaches and students return to campus, Badgers are gearing up to explore opportunities and lead through challenges. From pioneering in AI to expanding student experiences and building new spaces for learning, UW–Madison is student-focused and future-focused, and the campus community is eager to provide exceptional education and advance cutting-edge work in the coming year.
“It’s an exciting time,” said interim Chancellor Eric M. Wilcots. “I love this time of year. I tell anybody who’s in academia, if you’re not excited about the start of the school year, you’re in the wrong line of work.”
On August 18, 2026, the UW Now Live hosted Wilcots and dean of UW–Madison’s new College of Computing & Artificial Intelligence Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau to discuss the year ahead. Mike Knetter, former CEO of the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association, moderated the conversation.
Building a Campus for the Future
Wilcots began the evening by highlighting a few key achievements for the fall semester. This year, the UW received more than 75,000 applications, a new record, with prospective students applying from all 50 states and more than 130 countries. And in the first weeks of the semester, the UW will host more than 500 student events and welcome 80 new faculty members to campus.
Additionally, UW–Madison will continue to expand its dedication to innovating and building new spaces for learning and research. In September, the UW will open Irving and Dorothy Levy Hall. The building is campus’s first new classroom space for the humanities and qualitative social sciences in more than 50 years, and it will house eight humanities and social science departments, programs, and centers. The Kellner Family Athletic Center will also be opening in the coming months, with an indoor track, a turfed multisport training space, and mental health and wellness services. Other construction projects include the Phillip A. Levy Engineering Center, Science Hall, and Music Hall, which will be renamed Herb Kohl Hall and house the La Follette School for Public Affairs.
“I will tell folks that if you’re ever on a college campus and you don’t see a lot of construction, that is a college campus that’s in trouble,” Wilcots said. “And fortunately, that is not UW–Madison because we are doing a lot of building.”
The interim chancellor then described the university’s strategic framework, which was first introduced last year and will help guide the UW into the future. The four priorities of the framework are: deliver unrivaled educational experiences to prepare students for their future; discover, create, and innovate to change lives; convene and collaborate for the public good; and cultivate a culture of excellence to ensure a resilient future.
Wilcots also discussed the impact of the Wisconsin Exchange, a university initiative aimed at helping Badgers lead and communicate in a polarized world. The Wisconsin Exchange provides opportunities for students to engage with a variety of viewpoints and ideas. Wilcots concluded by highlighting the Wisconsin Research, Innovation, and Scholarly Excellence (RISE) Initiative, which is an interdisciplinary, cross-campus effort that allows the university to tackle big problems.
AI at the UW
Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau, professor at the UW and founding dean of the university’s new College of Computing & Artificial Intelligence (CAI), described the new college and the opportunities it will provide for current and future Badgers. CAI is the first new college created at the university in more than 40 years, and Arpaci-Dusseau said that the UW and other universities need to be leaders in AI. Advances in AI are an opportunity and a responsibility, he said, as the technology is reshaping education and shaping the future workforce.
In UW–Madison’s vision, CAI is an amplifier for individuals and for the UW’s mission overall. AI provides both challenges and opportunities for education, such as struggles individual students may have when it comes to appropriately using the technology and the stress that it places on the value of the university.
Universities are where people learn and work together, Arpaci-Dusseau said, and he highlighted that the UW provides a unique environment where groups can come together to collaborate and learn from one another.
“It’s a big time in the world. It’s momentous,” he said. “And the way we’re approaching [AI] is to be clear-eyed, to lean into what’s going on, and not cover our eyes, and to engage with the change that’s going on around us. That’s how we can lead the world to a better place.”
The guests then answered viewer questions and discussed the impact of AI in college admissions, the ways AI will shape the future of the humanities, and navigating the complexities of AI advancements.
