The New Pathways Shaping Wisconsin’s Workforce

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Wisconsin Watch and Open Campus logos

Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at 8:00 AM

TruStage, 5910 Mineral Point Rd., Madison, WI 53705

Wisconsin’s future workforce will determine the future strength of our economy, communities and families. The decisions made today by students, parents, educators, employers and policymakers will shape workforce readiness, economic mobility and regional competitiveness for years to come.

Join Wisconsin Watch and Open Campus for a public conversation exploring the future of education, workforce development and economic mobility in Wisconsin.

Degrees, bootcamps, apprenticeships, stackable certificates, employer-direct pathways. The alternatives to a traditional four-year degree are multiplying faster than anyone can evaluate them — and the stakes couldn’t be higher for the students betting their futures on them, the employers trying to hire from them, and the communities whose economic mobility depends on getting this right.

The question isn’t whether the credential landscape is changing. It’s whether your city and state are keeping up. What credentials are employers in the Midwest actually hiring against? Which community colleges are leading the shift — and which are stalling? Where are students getting left behind by a system still designed around the four-year degree?

Wisconsin Watch and Open Campus bring together local elected officials, higher education leaders, employers, workforce boards, policymakers, and community advocates — moderated by the reporters who cover these institutions every day — to find out.

8 a.m. Registration, networking and continental breakfast
8:45 a.m. Welcome from Andy Pennington, CEO of Wisconsin Watch
8:50 a.m. Panel: Breaking Down the Changing Landscape
9:55 a.m. Conversation: A Question of Value
10:10 a.m. Closing remarks from Sara Hebel, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Open Campus
10:15 a.m. Meet and greet with reporters Miranda Dunlap and Natalie Yahr

Register and learn more here: https://events.wiscotix.com/e/the-new-pathways-shaping-wisconsins-workforce.

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