University Breaks Ground on Second Solar Array, Aiming to Double Renewable Generation
A planned 1.4-megawatt expansion behind the Forge Recreation Center is expected to bring campus renewable generation past 25 percent by 2028.
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Rehabilitation & Disability Services Adds Two New Fieldwork Sites
New partnerships with an independent-living center and a county workforce agency expand where students complete their required practicum.
Welding Technology Students Sweep State Skills Competition
Three Porter welding students placed first in their divisions at the statewide trades competition, the program's best result in a decade.
Ironclad Robotics Qualifies for Nationals for the First Time
A second-place regional finish sends the student-run team to a national event for the first time in program history.
Regional Plastics Manufacturer Donates Injection Molding Line to Plastics Engineering Program
The equipment gift adds a second production-scale injection molding line to the program's pilot processing floor, doubling student lab capacity.
Regional Accreditation Reaffirmed Through 2036 With No Findings
A visiting review team recommended full reaffirmation and commended the university’s assessment and advising practices.
Forge Makerspace Goes to Extended Hours and Adds a Textiles Bay
The open-access fabrication shop now stays open until 2 a.m. on weeknights and has added industrial sewing and a heat press.
Graduate Outcomes Survey: 91 Percent Employed or in Graduate School Within Six Months
The career center’s annual survey of the class of 2025 shows strong placement, with results published by program.
Nursing Program Adds Second Clinical Cohort for Spring 2027
Facing a waitlist years long, the College of Health Sciences will admit a second, smaller nursing cohort each spring beginning in 2027.
First Cohort of the New M.S. in Cybersecurity Begins Classes
Nineteen working security professionals make up the inaugural cohort of the evening graduate program, three years after it was first proposed.
Faculty Win Grants to Redesign Courses Around — Not Against — Generative AI
Eighteen instructors received course-redesign stipends to build assignments that assume students have AI tools and teach them to use the tools well.
Career Fair Draws Record 140 Employers
The largest fall Career Fair in the event's history, and a line for Nursing and Cybersecurity graduates that formed forty minutes before the doors opened.
University Signs Ten-Year Workforce Pipeline Agreement With Three Regional Manufacturers
Graduates of five engineering and applied-technical programs will have a guaranteed interview under a new regional partnership announced Tuesday.
University Names New Provost After National Search
The incoming provost, currently a dean at a peer polytechnic, starts in January and has named applied learning and advising as early priorities.
Fall Enrollment Reaches 8,412, a Nine-Year High
Enrollment grew 6.1 percent over last fall, driven by Nursing, Cybersecurity and the university's expanded technical-college transfer agreements.
Roughly 2,600 Students Move Into Residence Halls
A staggered, appointment-based move-in and 300 student volunteers kept the first-year arrival to about twenty minutes per family at the curb.
Ironclads Open Season With 27–13 Win Over Eau Pleine
A season-opening win over the Eau Pleine Loggers in front of 3,800 fans at Ironclad Stadium.
Regional Packaging Manufacturer Donates $380,000 Testing Lab to Packaging Technology Program
The gift equips a new materials-testing lab for one of the few dedicated undergraduate packaging programs in the country.
$2.4 Million Federal Grant Funds New Advanced Manufacturing Lab
The College of Engineering & Technology will break ground this spring on a new automation and robotics teaching lab.
Campus-Wide Wi-Fi Upgrade Finishes Ahead of Fall Move-In
A two-year, building-by-building wireless overhaul is complete, roughly tripling peak network capacity in residence halls.
Volleyball Opens Season Ranked in Conference Preseason Poll for First Time in Program History
The Ironclads enter the season No. 4 in the Wesconsin Collegiate Athletic Conference preseason poll.
Nursing Program's NCLEX Pass Rate Hits Eleven-Year High
98 percent of this spring's BSN graduates passed the licensure exam on their first attempt, extending an eleven-year streak above the state average.
University Announces $15 Million Founders Hall Renovation
The 1912 building that houses the College of Business and part of the College of Arts, Design & Communication will be renovated in phases starting next summer.
Fall Commencement Speaker Announced: A 2011 Alumna Now Leading Statewide Manufacturing Policy
The speaker, a mechanical engineering graduate, now directs a statewide manufacturing workforce initiative.
Porter Esports Wins Regional Collegiate Championship
The university's varsity esports program brought home its first regional title, three years after the program's founding.
Parking Moves to Tiered Pricing by Lot Distance Starting This Fall
A flat annual permit fee is being replaced with three price tiers based on how close a lot is to the campus core.
Regents Approve Expanded M.S. in Data Science Cohort
The Board of Regents approved a larger incoming cohort for the M.S. in Data Science, citing sustained regional employer demand.
Summer Bridge Program Doubles in Size for Incoming First-Generation Students
The two-week, pre-fall academic and social transition program grew from 40 to about 85 students this summer.
First-Generation Student Center Marks 500th Student Served
The center, open since 2021, celebrated a milestone that its director says undercounts its real reach.
Halvorsen Library Adds a Permanent 24-Hour Study Zone
A card-access wing with power, printing, and a small café case will stay open around the clock during the semester.
Alumni-Founded Manufacturing Startup Named to State Innovation List
A company founded by two 2019 Mechanical Engineering graduates was named to a statewide list of fast-growing manufacturing startups.
University Releases 2025–26 Annual Security Report
Campus Police published the federally required Clery Act disclosure covering crime statistics, safety policies and emergency procedures.
Baja SAE Team Finishes Third Nationally, Best Result in Program History
The student-built off-road vehicle placed third overall against more than 100 university teams.
New Pathway Lets Registered Apprentices Earn a Bachelor’s Degree Alongside Their Trade
Manufacturing and construction apprentices can now bank credit for on-the-job hours and finish a degree part-time in the evenings and online.
Ironworks Food Hall Adds Two Rotating Vendor Stalls for Fall
A ramen concept and a Southeast Asian street-food stall join the retail dining lineup after a student taste-test vote.
Two Hundred Students Present at the Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium
The one-day event showcased paid summer research across every college, from bridge sensors to apparel supply chains.
Faculty Bring in a Record Year of External Research Funding
Grants and contracts crossed $9 million for the first time, led by manufacturing, health, and environmental science projects.
Class of 2026 Is the Largest in University History
About 1,650 graduates crossed the stage at Ironclad Fieldhouse, led by nursing, cybersecurity, and mechanical engineering.
Halvorsen Library’s Fourth Floor Reopens After a Year-Long Renovation
The former closed-stack floor is now a mix of bookable group rooms, a quiet-only reading room, and a small gallery space.
Esports Moves to Varsity Status with Scholarships Starting Next Fall
The formerly club-run program joins Ironclad Athletics, with its first scholarship offers going out this recruiting cycle.
Plastics Engineering Lab Runs a Pilot Line for Recycled-Content Automotive Parts
A small production line lets students and a manufacturing partner test how much recycled polymer a structural part can tolerate.
Veteran Resource Center Moves to a Larger Space With a Dedicated Benefits Counselor
The center now has a lounge, a quiet study room, and a full-time staff member who handles GI Bill certification in-house.
Applied Mathematics Adds an Actuarial Science Concentration
A new track aligns coursework with the first several professional actuarial exams and adds a required internship.
Campus Food-Recovery Program Passes 100,000 Meals Redirected
A student-run program that moves unserved dining-hall food to a community fridge and local shelters has crossed a six-year milestone.
Theatre Program Announces a Season Built Around Work Made in Wesconsin
The 2026–27 mainstage season features two plays by Wesconsin playwrights and a devised piece created by the ensemble.
Dual-Enrollment Program Will Let Regional High Schoolers Finish a Full Year of Credit
An expanded agreement embeds Porter courses in fourteen regional high schools, taught by certified high-school teachers under university oversight.
New Usability Lab Brings Eye-Tracking to Design and Computing Courses
A dedicated lab with eye-tracking, screen capture, and an observation room lets students test their interfaces on real users.
Alumni Couple Endows Scholarship Covering Full Tuition for Twelve Manufacturing Students a Year
The gift, the largest ever from individual donors to the College of Engineering & Technology, targets students from the region’s manufacturing towns.
Health Sciences Opens a Full-Floor Simulation Hospital
Eight patient rooms, a control suite, and debriefing spaces let nursing and allied-health students practice complex scenarios before clinical placements.
Industrial Design Students Redesign Downtown Porter Falls Wayfinding
A studio course delivered a complete signage and map system for the city’s downtown, now being fabricated by a local shop.
Record Number of Students Enroll in the Three-Week Winter Term
Nearly 1,400 students took a January course, most of them online, many to stay on track for an on-time graduation.
Porter Robotics Team Finishes Second at National Collegiate Championship
The student team’s autonomous sorting robot lost in the final round on a tiebreaker after a perfect qualifying record.
First-Generation Graduation Rate Closes the Gap With the Overall Rate
Six years of investment in the First-Generation Student Center have brought first-gen completion within two points of the university average.
Every Major Will Now Include Two Writing-Intensive Courses
A revised graduation requirement moves writing instruction out of the first year and into the disciplines.
North Campus Housing Will Be Heated and Cooled by a Geothermal Field
A borefield under the North Campus recreation lawn will replace gas boilers for four residence halls, cutting the university’s building emissions by an estimated nine percent.
Ironclad Athletics Will Move to the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference in 2027
The move shortens road trips for most teams and aligns competition with universities of similar size and mission.
Honors College Doubles in Size, Drops the Separate Application
Any admitted student who meets the threshold is now invited automatically; honors sections expand from 40 to 90 per year.
Packaging Lab Wins Federal Contract to Test Compostable Food Containers
The Center for Packaging Innovation will run accelerated aging and barrier tests on next-generation fiber containers for a federal agency.
Five More Wesconsin Two-Year Colleges Sign Guaranteed-Transfer Agreements
Students who complete an associate degree at a partner college with a 2.5 GPA are now guaranteed admission and junior standing in a matching Porter program.
Student Cybersecurity Clinic Will Do Free Security Reviews for Local Nonprofits
Supervised students in the new clinic will assess small organizations that cannot afford commercial security consulting.
Every Undergraduate Will Take an AI-Literacy Module Starting This Fall
A one-credit module on using and evaluating generative AI is now embedded in the first-year seminar for all incoming students.