Good morning, colleagues. Here is this (spring) week’s update from Academic Affairs.

College of Letters and Science Dean

I am pleased to announce that Dr. Scott Gronert has accepted the position of Dean of the College of Letters and Science. Dr. Gronert will assume the role on August 1, 2018.

Currently, Dr. Gronert is the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Humanities and Science at Virginia Commonwealth University. In this role, he serves 18 departments and schools with more than 14,000 majors and facilitated $21 million in research awards in 2016-17. In addition, he developed and implemented an interdisciplinary cluster hiring program, increased research awards by 25%, and grant applications by 10%.

After completing his doctoral degree in Chemistry at UC Berkeley, Dr. Gronert conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Colorado in Boulder. He spent the next 16 years at San Francisco State University where he progressed from Assistant Professor to full Professor. In 2007, he accepted a professorship at Virginia Commonwealth University. He was promoted to Department Chair in 2009 where his notable accomplishments include the department placing fourth in the nation for undergraduate Chemistry Degrees, second for women, and third for African Americans. Under his direction, the number of BS Chemistry degrees increased from 59 (2008-09) to 134 (2014-15). He secured funding for and recruited 14 new faculty positions and obtained $700,00 in industrial funds to support their program.

Please join me in welcoming Scott to campus. I am looking forward to working with him as the incoming dean of L&S.

I would like to extend a word of thanks to the search and screen committee – in particular, Dr. Jennifer Doering and Dr. Thomas Malaby (respectively, the chair and vice-chair) – for their dedication and hard work that resulted in the hiring of Dr. Gronert.

I also want to express my personal thanks and appreciation to Dave Clark for stepping up on such short notice for the past year and a half, first as Acting Dean and then as Interim Dean. He’s done an admirable job and it’s been a pleasure working with him.

College of General Studies Interim Dean

As approved by the Faculty Senate, the College of General Studies will become a new academic college of UWM on July 1, 2018, pending HLC approval.  If approval is received, I’ve asked Dr. Stephen E. Schmid to assume the role of Interim Dean.

Currently, Dr. Schmid is the Southeast Regional Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of the UW Colleges. In this role, he oversees curriculum, instructional staffing, and student academic support services at UW Waukesha, UW Washington County, and UW Sheboygan. In addition, he serves as the Campus Administrator at UW Waukesha, where he works with campus staff in managing the day-to-day operations of the campus.

After completing his doctoral degree in philosophy 14 years ago at UW Madison, Dr. Schmid started with the UW Colleges at UW Rock County in Janesville, WI. Soon after promotion to associate professor, he moved into various leadership roles including associate dean for academic affairs. Holding that position prior to the UW Colleges’ regionalization, he gained broad experience serving on numerous teams engaged in the restructuring of the UW Colleges’ 13 campuses into its current four-region model. In the current restructuring process, he’s a member of a half dozen working groups at both UW Green Bay and UW Milwaukee.

Kudos

14 faculty have received Research and Creative Activities Support (RACAS) awards. These annual awards, sponsored by the Office of Research, fund scholarly inquiry across all disciplines at UWM. Congratulations!

Nadya Fouad, Romila Singh, and Ed Levitas received a $498,000 NSF grant for their research entitled, “Gender and race in fostering innovation in engineering teams: what works?” Well done, Nadya, Romila, and Ed!

Brittnie S. Peck (4th year PhD student) and Erin Parcell (Communication) presented their research, “Mental health and military marriage: Dilemmas faced in necessary conversations,” to the Military Family Research Institute (MFRI) at Purdue University on April 18. The qualitative interview study identified challenges military service members and their spouses face when talking with each other about topics such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. Westly Klasen, a UWM undergraduate majoring in Women’s and Gender Studies, also participated in the research via a UWM SURF grant. Well done, Erin, Brittnie, and Westly!

Erin Parcell won the Inaugural Dawn O. Braithwaite Award for Qualitative Research for her paper, “Microagressions toward people with disabilities: Implications for inclusive education,” presented at the annual meeting of the Central States Communication Association. She also presented her paper, “Those who say new motherhood is natural, well, so is walking and that takes about a year to learn,” at the meeting. Congratulations, Erin!

Joshua Driscoll (PhD candidate) received a Graduate School Dissertation award and was just notified that his thesis project, “Strategic Drinking: Alcohol and Power in Iron Age Europe,” will be funded by a Wenner-Gren grant. Well done, Joshua!

Traci Billings (Anthropology MS 2016) was accepted into a funded three-year PhD program at the Max Planck Institute in Jena, Germany, where she will be part of a team examining the use of psycho-active plants among the Steppe peoples in prehistory and early historic periods. Congratulations!

Sarah Miller (our first School District of New Berlin Advanced Innovation & Design transfer) had her portfolio evaluated for post-secondary credit by the Lubar School of Business and has been recommended for a full three credits for her work. Well done, Sarah!

Graduate students Sally Campos-Espejo (Spanish), Cheri Price (Anthropology), and Brock Splittgerber (Spanish) have received the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS) funded by the U.S. Department of Education through the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Each student receives up to $5,000 for tuition and a $2,500 stipend for their summer studies on a less commonly taught language. Congratulations!

Swaroop Behera (doctoral student in Materials Science and Engineering) won the Best Student Presentation Award for his presentation, “Surface alloying of mild steel to stainless steel compositions to improve the wear and corrosion resistance of base metal,” at the Water Equipment and Policy Center’s  IAB Project Review Meeting, held April 11-12 at Marquette University. Well done, Swaroop!

In the News

Val Klump (Freshwater Sciences) spoke with PBS NewsHour science producer Nsikan Akpan about the world’s largest freshwater system, as part of their conversation around this month’s book – Dan Egan’s “The Death and Life of the Great Lakes.”

Fund for Wisconsin Scholars (FFWS) Peer Mentor and JAMS senior ReAnna Oestreich did a story on Student Support Services for an on-campus audio assignment. Listen to her report, “First-Generation Students Get a Boost.”

Milwaukee Athletics News
Ron Reeves, Assistant Athletic Director – Tickets and Event Operations, has been selected to attend the fifth annual Learfield Minority Academy, which will be hosted June 11-15 in Dallas, Texas, and held in partnership with the Minority Opportunities Athletic Association.

The Week

Monday

I start the day with my weekly meeting with Robin Van Harpen, followed by an Integrated Support Services (ISS) Transition Phase kick-off meeting, and the Chancellor’s Executive Cabinet meeting. Later, I have my bi-weekly meeting with Mark Harris and my weekly staff meeting. I end the day with a follow-up discussion with the Provost from Alverno College.

Tuesday

Today, I have the Deans’ Morning Meeting, a discussion regarding our Affirmative Action Plan, and my monthly meeting with Ron Cisler. Later, I’ll attend Fab Lab Day at Bay View High School. I return to campus for my bi-weekly meeting with the UC and I end the day with an “Outstanding Learning Environment” meeting.

Wednesday

In the morning, I have meetings with Tom Luljak, several of my direct reports, the bi-monthly meeting of the Chancellor’s Council on Hispanic-Serving Initiatives (CCHSI), and my monthly meeting with Alan Shoho. In the afternoon, I have a Program Array meeting with UW System Vice President Jim Henderson, my monthly meeting with Marija Gajdardziska-Josifovska, and a meeting with Secretary of the University Trudy Turner.

Thursday

I have a meeting on advising, a System Provost’s meeting regarding Campus Restructuring, the ISS Project Key Milestone closing event, a one-on-one meeting with Pat Borger, the American Indian Advisory Board meeting, and the African American Spring Graduation Ceremony.

Friday

And then it is Friday – a day primarily filled with administrative tasks, but I do have my weekly meeting with the Chancellor and a one-on-one with Phyllis King.

Announcements

ARC Excellence Awards

Please join the Accessibility Resource Center (ARC) and other UWM faculty and staff on Friday, May 11 at 12 p.m. in the Golda Meir Library 4^th Floor Conference Center, for a special celebration of ARC Excellence Awards – 20 years, including a light lunch, presentation of awards to this year’s nominees, honoring of all past nominees, and presentation of Matt Glowacki’s, “Diversity According to Family Guy & South Park.” Reservations required by May 2.

From CLACS

Peruvian novelist Alonso Cueto will present, “The Novels of Mario Vargas Llosa and the Poetics of Power,” on Wednesday, May 2 at 3:30 p.m. in Curtin 175.

From C21

This year’s Center for 21^st Studies conference, “Ends of Cinema,” will be held May 3-5 in Curtin 175. Registration is free and open to the public.

Health Research Symposium

The UWM Health Research Symposium will take place on Friday May 4 from 7:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. in the Union Ballroom. This year, the event will showcase outstanding student-faculty scholarship through 66 poster presentations and 10 podium presentations.

Arundhati Roy Visits UWM

Please join the Humanities Division of L&S and Boswell Book Company on Tuesday, May 8 at 7 p.m. in the Wisconsin Room for a conversation with world-renowned author Arundhati Roy, winner of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction. Reduced price tickets are available for UWM faculty, staff, and students at the UWM Info Desk. Tickets for the general public are available online. All tickets include a copy of Roy’s latest novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness.

Lavender Graduation

The annual celebration of LGBTQ+ and ally graduates of UWM will take place on Wednesday, May 9 at 7 p.m. in the Wisconsin Room. December 2017, May 2018, and August 2018 graduates from any school/college in the University and any academic level are welcome to participate. Make sure to RSVP!

Other

Is ABBA back? (for those of us who remember . . .)

Take care,
Johannes

Johannes Britz

Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs