For the Community

Start here

UW–Porter Falls has shared Main Street with the town since 1893, and most of the campus is open to the people who live around it. The page you are on is the front door. It lists what residents can use, what it costs (often nothing) and which page has the details. If you are not sure where something lives, call the Office of Outreach & Engagement in Millwright Hall 120 and someone will find it for you.

Three things people ask about most:

• Can I just walk onto campus? Yes. Grounds, lobbies, the library, the Furlong Gallery and most public events are open. The rules are on Public access to campus.
• Where do I park? The Founders Ramp, meters, or a daily visitor permit. Evenings and weekends are free in the general lots. See Visitor parking.
• Is there one day to see everything? Yes: Open Campus Day, Saturday, April 24, 2027.

Events, arts and athletics

• Events calendar: lectures, forums, fairs and ceremonies. Most are free and open to the public.
• Arts season 2026–27: theatre, concerts and dance in Heritage Auditorium. Tickets are at the Box office, and a season pass lowers the per-show price.
• Galleries: the Furlong Gallery in the Applied Arts Building is always free. The public art walk takes about forty minutes.
• Visiting writers series: readings, free, usually on a Thursday night.
• Halvorsen Observatory: public viewing on clear Friday nights.
• Ironclad athletics: NCAA Division III football at Millwright Stadium, and basketball, volleyball and wrestling in Ironclad Fieldhouse. Prices are on Athletics tickets. Children 12 and under get in free to regular-season games.
• Porter Falls Community Band: a town–gown band that rehearses on campus. You can play in it or come to its concerts.

Learning at any age

• Porter Lifelong Learning Institute: non-credit courses for adults 50 and over. $70 a year covers every course you have time for.
• Continuing education: certificates and short courses for working adults.
• Taking a credit course without a degree: how residents enroll in, or audit, a regular class.
• STEM Saturdays: one Saturday morning a month for kids in grades K–8, October through April. $12 a session, and free for any family that asks.
• Youth camps & programs and sports camps: summer weeks on campus for grades 6–12.
• Halvorsen Library: a free community borrower card for Wesconsin residents 16 and over.

Recreation and the outdoors

• Forge Recreation Center memberships: pool, track, courts and climbing wall. Community, household and 62-plus rates are available.
• Outdoor rental center: canoes, snowshoes and cross-country skis, rented by the day.
• University Farm: open farm Saturdays in season, plus the campus farm stand.
• Campus tree tour and the Riverfront Trail, which the university helps plow in winter.

Expertise and services

• Speakers bureau: faculty and staff who speak to community groups free within 60 miles.
• Faculty experts: for reporters and for organizations with a specific question.
• Small-business clinic: Thursdays at Foundry Coworking in the Depot District.
• Tax clinic, cybersecurity clinic and community legal clinic: services run by students under supervision.
• Community partnerships: one intake form to bring a project to a class or a faculty team.
• Economic impact report: what the university adds to the six-county region each year, in dollars and in jobs.

Giving time, renting space, having a say

• Volunteer on campus: mentors, ushers, farm-day crews, and standardized patients for the simulation hospital.
• Facilities & event rentals: anything from a 12-seat seminar room to the 900-seat Heritage Auditorium. External groups pay the published rate card.
• Town–Gown Council: the joint city–university council. Its meetings are public and include a comment period.
• Give: through the UW–Porter Falls Foundation at the Welcome Center. About 40% of local gifts go to the Hometown Porter Falls Scholarship.