UW-Green Bay Announces New Collaboration with Microsoft & LinkedIn

New initiative to provide improved connections and free professional development

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay announced a new collaboration with Microsoft’s TechSpark program and LinkedIn, which will provide free professional development opportunities for University faculty and staff, infuse career connections for UW-Green Bay students, and grow LinkedIn Learning across the four-campus community.

“We rise by partnering with others,” said UW-Green Bay Chancellor Mike Alexander. ”As a University driving development in our region, we need to model the spirit of digital transformation to enhance learning, solve problems and provide the greatest array of professional development and networking courses possible to our faculty, staff and students. This partnership is an important and exciting step in that direction and has the potential to help our community in countless ways.”

The collaboration includes:

-Expansion of the free use of LinkedIn Learning for UW-Green Bay faculty, staff, and students while providing professional development opportunities in areas such as technological literacy, customer service, public presentations, and diversity and inclusion.

-Possibilities for the use of LinkedIn Learning by faculty as a co-curricular tool in courses or to map course content to LinkedIn courses as an affordable option for textbooks.

-Long-term development of Microsoft Teams as an intranet site for the University, allowing for seamless communication within academic units, colleges and service areas.

-Opportunities to develop long-term connections between Career Services and LinkedIn to include virtual career fairs, resources for alumni, and connect employers in the region to UW-Green Bay students and workforce talent.

“The COVID-19 pandemic continues to shine a spotlight on the need for foundational digital skills. The TechSpark program is proud to support UW-Green Bay to bring forth opportunities to participate in virtual work, virtual learning, and more,” says Michelle Schuler, regional manager, Microsoft TechSpark. 

Regional leaders also see the benefit of this collaboration:

“We value the strong partnership we have with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and Microsoft and the ability to leverage these relationships by providing new learning opportunities across our region,” says Barb LaMue, President & CEO of the New North, Inc. “The expansion of the LinkedIn Learning modules will provide professional development for faculty and staff and assist in upskilling our workforce in a variety of in-demand careers. New North is proud to continue supporting unique, effective talent development efforts with these great organizations.”

LinkedIn representative Kyle Obot says these collaborations are important to better position students:

“A diverse set of relevant skills are required to land jobs in today’s increasingly competitive job market,” Obot said. “LinkedIn and LinkedIn Learning are proud to partner with UW-Green Bay and Microsoft in providing high-impact learning opportunities to better position students to obtain the careers of tomorrow, while also advancing the skills of faculty, staff, and alumni.” 

The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay is a comprehensive public institution offering undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs to more than 8,000 students with campus locations in Green Bay, Marinette, Manitowoc and Sheboygan. Established in 1965 on the border of Green Bay, the University and its campuses are centers of cultural enrichment, innovation and learning.