UW Board of Regents approves UW–Madison proposal to create College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence

The new college will build upon the university's strengths in computer, data, library and information sciences and statistics.

A proposal from the University of Wisconsin-Madison to reorganize the School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences (CDIS) into a standalone college was approved today by the UW Board of Regents at its December meeting at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

This vote marks a critical step toward the creation of a College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence (CAI), building on decades of investment in scholarship, research and teaching and the university's strengths in computer, data, library and information sciences and statistics. The proposal grew out of the continuing success of CDIS, which was created within the College of Letters & Science (L&S) in 2019.

With the authority granted today by the Regents to UW-Madison to form a new college, which would be the first at the university in many decades, the next several months will involve engaging university governance and a broad cross-campus consultation process to shape and hone further aspects of its creation.

An official announcement of the new college is anticipated to come later this spring and the operating start of the new college is expected to be July 1, 2026.

"We greatly appreciate the Regents' support for this important vision for UW-Madison and we are excited by this important step toward making this new college a reality. This will be about more than simply building a new academic unit," says Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin. "We will be shaping a future where UW-Madison leads in innovation while advancing knowledge for the common good. We want to prepare UW-Madison students for a world where computing and technology intersect with every profession and discipline, from patient care to teaching, biomedical research to the humanities."

The reorganization would involve CDIS's three units: Computer Sciences, the Information School and Statistics.

"Our expectation is that this college will further strengthen our excellence in these critical disciplines, and that it will also deeply engage both internally and across campus with AI as a transformative and disruptive force, considering it as a technological tool with vast problem-solving potential while also confronting its significant moral and ethical implications," Chancellor Mnookin adds.

A college to meet the moment

In 2018, then-Chancellor Rebecca Blank charged the UW-Madison Working Group on Computing, made up of 12 alumni and individuals from campus and industry, to advise campus leaders and others on opportunities to increase educational offerings for students, improve the profile and research output of faculty and prepare students for the workforce.

The resulting report, Wisconsin in the Information Age, led to the creation of CDIS in 2019.

"Our vision, when we formed CDIS, was to create a school whose transformative power lies at the intersection between computing and data sciences and the arts, sciences, humanities and the social sciences, and whose experts help us derive meaning and develop policies around computing and data to change the world for the better," says L&S Dean and astronomy professor Eric Wilcots. "This next step is another milestone in the fulfillment of that vision. The new college, as proposed, will allow UW to extend that deeply collaborative vision across campus, from the arts to medicine."

Reorganizing CDIS into a new college would help amplify the work already being done within its constituent units, from the Center for the History of Print and Digital Culture to the People and Robots Laboratory, while also better positioning it to serve as a dedicated hub for partnership, resources, research and educational opportunities for the rest of campus.

In recent years, enrollment in CDIS programs has significantly increased. In 2015, for example, 1,043 students were enrolled as computer science majors. In fall 2025, that number climbed to more than 3,000. In 2019, UW-Madison launched a data science major, which this fall boasts more than 1,700 enrolled students and is one of the fastest-growing majors on campus. And the information science major, launched in 2022, already enrolls 500 students.

Computer sciences professor Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau, who has led CDIS since last year, credits L&S with the success CDIS has achieved since its formation and says it will be important that CAI carry forward the same values, including intellectual curiosity, interdisciplinarity, a human-centered focus, access for undergraduates across the university (not just those majoring in CDIS disciplines) and serving as a catalyst for impactful cross-campus partnerships.

"Artificial intelligence and computing are transforming every discipline, from veterinary medicine to political science, and we see the formation of a college as an important step toward serving as a campuswide resource while also meeting the needs of our students and the state of Wisconsin," says Arpaci-Dusseau. "The future workforce will be defined by those who can integrate computing and AI fluently into every discipline."

Every major industry in the state, from agriculture to manufacturing and health care, is expected to be shaped by AI in the coming decade. The new college will help inform how society benefits from AI and reckons with its challenges and provide talent pipelines, research partnerships and statewide outreach to help Wisconsin lead in transformation.

In fact, the 2019 report, which perhaps could not have predicted the meteoric rise of AI just around the corner, concluded that "computing is moving so fast that any campus entity in charge of computing would need a tremendous amount of flexibility and nimbleness to create new programs and initiatives quickly … A college has the most flexibility to create new research and educational programs."

The process

UW-Madison has not launched a new academic division since 1983, when the School of Veterinary Medicine opened and admitted its first students.

In 2023, the university commissioned a task force that was made up of national experts in the fields of computing, data and information sciences, recommended creating a new college, led by a dean, built upon the success of CDIS. Approval from the Board of Regents to move forward is a significant milestone in a multiyear, collaborative process to build it.

Over the coming months, university leaders, faculty and staff will engage in transition planning and begin the search for the inaugural dean of CAI. Reorganization will include the formation of a steering committee and other structures intended to help drive the success of a new college. This includes consultation with key stakeholders across campus and beyond.

Initially, the new college would draw primarily on resources transferred from CDIS's current operating budget within the College of Letters & Science, including pulling from existing administrative structures. It will also secure private corporate and individual philanthropic support, a significant amount of which is expected to be announced in early 2026. The college will take a lean start-up approach, limiting the need for new positions, following best practices for financial responsibility.

"As we look to build a College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence, we are really looking to build a future that belongs to all of us: preparing our students, strengthening our research, serving our state and fulfilling the Wisconsin Idea in the digital age," says interim Provost John Zumbrunnen. "The role of the new college would be to not only become a central hub for AI and computing expertise, but also to be a gathering place for scholars and students from a variety of disciplines to explore the opportunities and the challenges new technology like AI poses for all of us. It represents a natural evolution for a university known for connecting ideas across disciplines and turning discovery into impact."

A newly launched website for the envisioned College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence is expected to serve as a primary source of information for CAI. Visit the site to learn more and explore the future of the new college.