Good Afternoon, Colleagues.
This is going to be a busy week:
Kudos
– A very special word of congratulation to Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, a UWM alum, who was just named National Humanities Medalist. Here is the link: http://www.neh.gov/about/awards/national-humanities-medals/evelyn-brooks-higginbotham.
– Nadya Fouad, Educational Psychology, has been appointed Editor in Chief of the Journal of Vocational Behavior for a 6-year term. Congratulations, Nadya, for being selected to edit the top journal in your field!
– George Clark, English, has had the French translation of his novel, Les Douze Portes dans le Maison du Sergent Gordon published by Éditions Anne Carrière to strongly positive reviews. He also has short stories forthcoming in the winter issues of two international magazines, Granta and Wasafiri. Well done George.
– The Masters in HealthCare Administration (CHS) got approved by the Board of Regents last week. Congratulations to the College of Health Sciences and thanks to Tim Patrick and his team for making this happen.
Enrollment update
Our enrollment numbers are still down from last year at this time. This week is the last week to finalize registration and we will have final numbers by the end of the week, which we will then share with campus.
The Week
Monday
VC Tom Luljak is interviewing me for a future UWM Today program on WUWM. Later in the day, I’m meeting the Slovenian ambassador (see the announcement from the Libraries, below), and the Chancellor’s Cabinet has a regular meeting. The CEMAT Steering Committee (Chancellor, VC Laliberte, and me) meets and I’m attending a meeting of the Social Entrepreneurship, Justice, and Equity Compact.
Tuesday
The UWM Research Foundation board meets early (7:30!) followed by meetings with direct reports. In the afternoon, I’m attending the meeting of the University Committee and joining the Chancellor in the Fireside Lounge for a student-focused Q & A session on the budget. I’m also attending a reception for the Fund for Wisconsin Scholars in the evening.
Wednesday-Thursday
I’m out on Wednesday, and on Thursday, I’ll be attending a meeting on the interim dean appointment at the Zilber School of Public Health. I also have my regular weekly meeting with the Chancellor and I’ll attend the Faculty Senate meeting at 2:30 p.m. in Curtin 175.
Friday
I’ll be in Madison attending a Common Systems Review Group (CSRG) meeting. The CSRG focuses on large-scale IT systems used by many UW institutions.
Announcements
President Obama Abandons College Ranking System
– On Sunday, President Obama announced that he was discarding the plan for a government ranking of all 7,000 U.S. colleges and establishing the College Scorecard, a website that provides comprehensive information on each institution. Read the NY Times article. See UWM’s page on the new website.
Work Group on Undergraduate Advising
– The Work Group on Undergraduate Advising is hosting another round of open forums to share the group’s progress and collect feedback from campus. Please join one of the following open forum sessions:
•Tuesday, September 22 from 10:30am to 12:30pm
•Wednesday, September 23 from 12:00pm to 2:00pm
Each open forum will be held in Union 280. Space is limited for each session so please reserve your seat. Learn more about the Work Group.
Presentation on Health Information Exchange
– HiA (Health Informatics and Administration), in partnership with the Wisconsin Dairyland Health Information Systems Society (HIMSS), is sponsoring a free talk entitled, “Health Information Exchange: What Will It Take?” on Wednesday, September 16, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the Wisconsin Room of the Student Union. Information and registration.
UWM AAUP
– Our campus’s newly formed chapter of AAUP will hold its Fall Welcome on Friday, September 18 at 3 p.m. in Curtin 175, with special guest Joerg Tiede of AAUP National. For more information, please see uwmaaup.org.
From the UWM Libraries
– A talk by author Melanie McCalmont, “Historic 3D Maps/Models: The AGS Library’s 1893 Palestine Relief Model,” will be held in the American Geographical Society Library this Sunday, September 20 at 2 p.m. More information.
– The Digital Humanities Lab (second floor east wing of the library) hosts Matt Richardson, founder of the Milwaukee Data Initiative, on Thursday, September 17 at 4 p.m. Richardson will discuss MDI and its efforts to change the way Milwaukee uses and shares critical data. More information.
– Slovenian Ambassador Božo Cerar is visiting campus today and will be giving a lecture, “The International Court from Nuremburg to Kampala and Beyond,” at 2:30 p.m. in the American Geographical Society Library (3rd floor Library). You are all welcome.
From UITS
– The Microsoft Office 365 Outlook Web App (OWA) interface changes frequently to keep pace with the dynamic business environment that it’s designed to serve. For fall of 2015, OWA will sport a simplified, cleaner user interface to help you work more efficiently and will now be referred to as “Outlook on the Web.” Microsoft has deployed this new interface along with new features to help you be more efficient, stay on top of your inbox, and better manage your calendar. You can find more information about the recent changes by visiting the UWM Knowledgebase.
– A recent update to “Outlook on the Web” (formerly OWA) for Office 365 has changed the default method of how a user replies to an email. Combining “reply” and “reply all” into one button and setting the default to “reply all” could cause users to inadvertently reply to all users in an email thread when they intended to reply to a single sender. If you are interested in how to change your default behavior, please visit the UWM Knowledgebase.
Other
– Italy’s Flavia Pennetta won the women’s title at the U.S. Open on Saturday and Novak Djokovic, Serbia, took the men’s title yesterday. Unfortunately, Roger Federer did not make it, but he is one of my favorite sportspeople.
Take care,
Johannes
Johannes Britz
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs