A UW-Milwaukee program that gives students real-world weather forecasting experience is shutting down, due to funding.
The Innovative Weather Center is a nationally unique program for aspiring meteorologists. Graduates have gone on to work for the National Weather Service and TV stations.
If you're a regular WUWM listener, you've probably heard Innovative Weather's student meteorologists reading forecasts on the air.
The WUWM broadcasts are the most public part of Innovative Weather's work. But Operations Director Alex Bukvich, 28, says most of their time is spent providing detailed forecasts for local clients, including Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, Milwaukee World Festival, Milwaukee Department of Public Works and We Energies.
"We are helping [the Department of Public Works] make decisions in how to manage the snowfall," Bukvich says. "Additionally, We Energies, when they are handling adverse weather where there’s outages, we help them ensure that they can track outages and that they can keep their crews safe, so they can restore power as quickly as possible."
Buckvich is a 2017 graduate of UWM’s Atmospheric Science program who interned at Innovative Weather as a student. He became operations director at Innovative Weather in 2019 — overseeing a group of 12-15 student forecasters.
UWM Atmospheric Science professor Clark Evans says, for almost two decades, Innovative Weather’s paid student internships have provided real-world experience that few college meteorology programs can offer.
"It is completely unique across the United States and to our knowledge, the world," Evans says. "There are other universities that have small weather forecasting entities, like maybe they’ll forecast for their campus, their campus radio station — nothing nearly at the scale of what Innovative Weather has done."
After 17 years in operation, Innovative Weather announced this school year would be its last. It’s shutting down in April 2024.
UWM Vice Chancellor for Marketing and Communications Liv Hwang says it’s a financial decision. Even though Innovative Weather charges its clients for forecasts, it hasn’t been financially self-sufficient.
"Though [university] centers and institutes are often started with some level of seed funding, ultimately the goal is to ensure they become self-sustaining," Hwang says. "And Innovative Weather did not reach that threshold."
A spokesperson said examples of other UWM entities that are self-sustaining include the Industrial Assessment Center and Socially Responsible Evaluation in Education.
Innovative Weather costs UWM about $100,000 a year, according to numbers provided by the university.
UWM is in a difficult financial situation. Its enrollment has declined, resulting in less tuition revenue. And the Republican-led Legislature cut state funding to public universities this year — resulting in a $1.8 million cut to UWM.
"Certainly budget pressures, as they are presented at the university, whether that’s from declining enrollment or declining state funding, really are things that we have to consider as we evaluate the programs and supports we can offer," Hwang says.
Innovative Weather is a small program, serving about a dozen students each year. But its graduates say it was an invaluable experience.
Sam Kuffel is one alum, who now works as a meteorologist for CBS 58 in Milwaukee.
"I learned how to forecast in southeast Wisconsin. I learned how to forecast with Lake Michigan," Kuffel says. "Being able to learn that and the nuances as an undergrad has really helped me as a meteorologist back in Milwaukee. I already knew how to forecast here and I was confident in my forecasts when I got this job."
Innovative Weather’s supporters, including Kuffel, say losing the program means UWM students will lose an edge in the meteorology job market, which can be hard to break into.
"I’m very devastated, very sad for those current students that they won’t have that same opportunity that a lot of us did have going through this program," Kuffel says.
Innovative Weather's founder, professor Paul Roebber, declined an interview for this story.
In an email, Roebber said, "Inevitably, some of the things we do that we value simply disappear. [Innovative Weather] appears to be one of those things."
As Innovative Weather enters its final year, Alex Bukvich says they plan to finish strong.
"We hope to provide the same exact opportunity for the current students involved as the students have enjoyed over the last 17 years," says Bukvich. "We have very close partnerships we’ll be forecasting for. The weather doesn’t stop. And we plan on making sure they can be supported all the way until we close our shop."
Innovative Weather is a partner of WUWM. WUWM is a service of UW-Milwaukee.
_
