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Update: Important details regarding campus cooling issues

June 28, 2026, 10:27 am

This message to students, faculty and staff is being translated into multiple languages. Check back soon.

Students, faculty and staff,

As I shared on Friday, campus is experiencing cooling (air conditioning) limitations due to a broken chilled water line, which has significantly reduced our cooling capacity. To compound the situation, the coming week is forecast to be one of the hottest of the year, with high humidity and temperatures in the 90s.

UW–Madison Facilities Planning & Management crews have been working to implement short- and longer-term solutions to this problem. Repair is expected to take at least one month.

During this time, campus will remain open for classes, work and normal business. However, we will be making a number of adjustments. They include:

  • Temperature adjustments: Beginning today, Sunday, June 28, many campus facilities will see a noticeable increase in indoor temperatures as we allocate our cooling capacity to prioritize critical areas such as patient care, research, and mitigating impacts to in-person instruction.
  • Temporary facility closures: A number of buildings (listed below) will have their cooling systems turned off entirely. These buildings will be temporarily closed to the public and locked at the end of the business day on Monday, June 29.

Here’s how these changes will affect you:

Students: A number of Summer Term classes will be relocated. If your class is being relocated, you will receive a message from your instructor informing you of the new location.

Employees: The buildings listed below will operate as usual on Monday and will be temporarily closed beginning Tuesday.

Employees whose primary work locations are in these buildings should follow their normal work schedule on Monday and coordinate with their manager or supervisor to establish and implement alternative work arrangements starting Tuesday and for the duration of the closure.

Options include:

  • Working from home if duties can be performed remotely.
  • Relocation to an open building on campus.
  • Temporary reassignment of duties to enable remote work or relocation.
  • In rare circumstances, employees may request an exception from a supervisor or manager to allow continued work in a closed building

Building access: If you work in a building listed below, you should report for work as normal Monday and remove needed items at the end of the day. If you are unable to retrieve your items on Monday, please inform your supervisor when you plan to get them and if you need access to a building in order to do so. We are continuing to assess the situation and additional buildings may be added to this list, if the situation warrants.

Events and services: A number of events and services may be moved, shifted online or otherwise modified. If alerts.wisc.edu does not have the information, check the event or service webpage for the latest updates, or contact the organizer.

On a campus of our size and complexity, there will no doubt be situations that we’re unable to address in this message or require additional assistance. Please see this FAQ or work with your dean or director’s office, supervisor, or building manager to identify a solution.

Finally, we recognize that this is a difficult situation and we’re doing everything we can to resolve it quickly. Part of what makes UW–Madison great is our history of coming together to find solutions that allow us to continue to fulfill our mission, and I have no doubt we will do so again.

Again, thank you for your understanding.

Robert Cramer

Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration

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The following buildings will be closed to the public and locked as of Tuesday, June 30

  • 21 N. Park Street
  • 45 N. Charter Street
  • Agricultural Hall
  • Agricultural Engineering Hall
  • Armory & Gymnasium (Red Gym)
  • Bascom Hall
  • Bradley Memorial Building
  • Educational Sciences
  • Fleet & Service Garage
  • Grainger Hall
  • Henry Taylor Hall
  • Hiram Smith Hall
  • Ingraham Hall
  • Kurt F. Wendt Commons 
  • Music Hall
  • North Hall
  • Radio Hall
  • Science Hall
  • Service Memorial Institute
  • South Hall
  • Stock Pavillion
  • William H. Sewell Social Sciences Building
  • William S. Middleton Building

The following buildings will be generally closed to the public, but have partial access and cooling preserved for specialty areas and functions. FP&M staff are working with building managers on detailed plans.

  • 445 Henry Mall
  • Below Alumni Center (One Alumni Place)
  • Bardeen Medical Laboratories
  • McArdle Building
  • Medical Sciences Center
  • Nancy Nicholas Hall
  • University Club (432 East Campus Mall)
  • Van Hise Hall 
  • Van Vleck Hall
  • Vilas Communication Hall
  • W. J. Brogden Psychology Building