The University went from open admissions to the institution of choice for many students. John E. Kerrigan was named chancellor in 1990. Faced with the twin demons of budget cuts and rising costs, Kerrigan helped to institute programs to benefit faculty and students. Entering students of exceptional merit were attracted by Academic and Leadership scholarships. In the 1990s the University has come on-line, taking long strides in technology.
Today there are e-mail accounts for all faculty, staff and students.
The University's new IDEA Lab is designed to help faculty and staff develop computer skills and produce multimedia materials for instruction. Through ResNet students in residence halls have access to the Internet, World Wide Web and Polk Library. Computer labs blossom across campus. Students using a university computer lab Technology and distance learning are now layered atop the many years of accumulated experiences that are the University's history. Armed with knowledge of its past and well-grounded in the present, the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh is poised and able as it ventures into the new century.