Good morning, colleagues. Here are this week’s updates from Academic Affairs.
Kudos
– Anne Basting, Theatre, is one of this year’s winners of the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, commonly known as a “genius” grant. This is wonderful news and a first ever for UWM. Well done, Anne – we are truly proud of you!
– Christine Kovach, Nursing, received an R01 grant for $3.8M over five years for her research, “Nighttime Agitation and Restless Legs Syndrome in Persons with Alzheimer’s Disease.” Her team has developed the first diagnostic tool for RLS in people with dementia, thus allowing diagnosis and treatment of the disorder in this population for the first time. Congratulations, Christine!
– Nancy Frank, Urban Planning, has been appointed as the Interim Director of the [uwm.edu/news/center-for-water-policy-launches-scholars-program/]Center for Water Policy in the School of Freshwater Sciences. Congratulations, Nancy!
– Anne Pycha, Linguistics, published two news articles in Scientific American magazine in September, “An Auditory Component to Autism” and “R is for Red: Common Words Share Similar Sounds in Many Languages.” Congratulations, Anne!
– Sarah Davies Cordova, French, Italian, and Comparative Literature, co-edited an anthology of critical essays in English and French about the works of the Franco-Ivorian poet, novelist, and painter Véronique Tadjo entitled, “Écrire, traduire, peindre – Véronique Tadjo – Writing, Translating, Painting.” Well done, Sarah!
– Amanda Seligman, History, had her book, “Chicago’s Block Clubs: How Neighbors Shape the City,” published by University of Chicago Press. Congratulations, Amanda!
– UWM is a member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) and participates in the Sustainability, Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS). In 2016, UWM moved up to a STARS Gold Rating from Silver. Kudos to Kate Nelson and John Gardner for coordinating all of our campus sustainability efforts!
– The U-Pace team of Ray Fleming (Psychology), Diane Reddy (Psychology and CETL), and Laura Pedrick (Academic Affairs) have published an invited article in the EDUCAUSE Review covering recent U-Pace achievements. Congratulations, Ray, Diane, and Laura!
Dean searches
There will be three Dean searches this year, with the plan to fill these positions by the Fall of 2017.
– College of Nursing
– Zilber School of Public Health
– College of Letters and Science (This follows the announcement of Dean Swain that 2016/17 will be his last year as Dean of the College – I want to thank you, Rodney, for your leadership role in L&S since 2011).
In the News
Aneesh Aneesh, Sociology, had his op-ed, “Innovation Requires Free Speech,” published in the Journal Sentinel yesterday.
The Week
Monday
My Monday starts again with a meeting with VC Robin Van Harpen (we will join a Strategic Position Control meeting under the leadership of Hobey Davies), followed by a Board of Regents prep meeting and the Chancellor’s Cabinet meeting. In the afternoon, I have meetings with direct reports.
Today, we also celebrate UWM’s Founders’ Day and 60th Anniversary at 12:15 p.m. on Spaights Plaza. There will be remarks from the Chancellor and free cake! Please take a moment to view this outstanding video on our alumni.
Tuesday
A day of meetings with deans and direct reports, including Val Klump, Brian Thompson, Brett Peters, and Bob Greenstreet. I also meet with Emily Kuester, the new Student Association Student and Academic Affairs Liaison.
Wednesday
More meetings today – these include the Chancellor, UC Chair John Reisel, and ASC Chair Rebecca Freer. I have a CEMAT co-chair meeting and the fall meeting of the UWM Ombuds Council. We also continue important discussions today on INTO (the international pathway program). I end the day at the Graduate Student Fellowship Celebration in the Library 4th Floor Conference Center.
Thursday
I meet with direct reports Peter Sands (Honors College), Michael Doylen (Library), and Kanti Prasad (Lubar). I have a meeting on community engagement with the Chancellor, and I’m making opening remarks at the School of Education’s all-school meeting. I’m also attending the Welcome Reception for the African American/African Faculty, Staff, and Students.
Friday
Fewer meetings and more administration: This is an administrative work day with breaks for a National Science Foundation visit, a meeting with UWM Health Schools Executive Committee chairs, and a Strategic Position Control Target Team meeting.
Announcements
From the Center for Community-Based Learning, Leadership, and Research
UWM’s efforts to register student voters were highlighted in the local news last week on WTMJ4. Our campus has partnered with the Milwaukee Election Commission to train over 100 “Special Registrar Deputies” who can register anyone living in Milwaukee to vote. If you need to register please stop by the Union Information Desk or the Library Guest Services Desk.
Kat Matthews, University of California Santa Barbara, will present, “The Milwaukee Moment: Oppression, Policing, and Resistance,” on Wednesday, September 28 at 1 p.m. in Sabin G90. Sponsored by Africology, Comparative Ethnic Studies, and Cultures and Communities.
From the Department of Communication
Tony E. Adams, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Communication, Media, and Theatre at Northeastern Illinois University will present, “The Purposes and Practices of Autoethnography,” on Friday in Merrill Hall 131 at 3 p.m. You are welcome to join.
From the Institute of World Affairs
Former French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira will give the 2016 Kennan Distinguished Lecture, “Citizenship and Identity in the 21st Century,” on Thursday, October 6 at 7 p.m. in the Helene Zelazo Center. She currently holds the title of honorary professor (non-paid) here at UWM and was one of the recipients of our honorary doctoral degrees last year.
From Alumni Relations – Spirits Days
– Join the fun on Spirit Days! September 29 begins a week of campus spirit activities and the chance for staff and faculty to compete for Most Spirited Office and the Panther Participation Pizza Prize, awarded on Black & Gold Spirit Day, October 6, by the UWM Alumni Association. Lead your office in the festivities as a Spirit Liaison and learn more about this campus celebration
– New alumni employees are invited to the New Alumni Employee Welcome Breakfast on Thursday, October 20 from 8-9 a.m. in the Golda Meir Library, 4th Floor Conference Center. Free. Register by Friday, October 14.
– Register today for the Panther Prowl 5K Run/Walk.
Revamped MyUW site to debut September 27
Beginning on September 27, when you log in to MyUW at https://my.uwm.edu orhttps://my.wisconsin.edu, you’ll experience a new and improved MyUW site. See additional details about the MyUW changes.
PantherFILE
UWM will be retiring pantherFILE at the end of this calendar year. Individual files will move to OneDrive for Business, group storage will move to SharePoint Online, and web pages will move to CampusPress WordPress. See more information about the pantherFILE retirement efforts.
Homecoming
Departments of units on campus should consider offering a workshop or hosting an open house for students, family members, alumni, faculty, staff, and the community during Homecoming, Family Weekend, and the Panther Prowl 2016 on Saturday, October 8 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. We expect over 1500 Panther Prowl Participants and over 2000 Panther Families on campus that day. If you are interested please contact Keri Duce at klduce@uwm.edu.
Title IX Training
The Office of Equity/Diversity Services will be conducting a training session for all campus employees, staff, and students from 1:30 – 3 p.m. on Thursday, October 6 in Union Room 191. Please pre-register.
From the UWM Libraries
– On September 26, 1956, the UWM Post published its first issue. Since then, the UWM Post has served as UWM’s unofficial news outlet and the primary source of student news. It published weekly and was operated entirely by a student staff. The Post printed its last issue in November 2012 and has published online exclusively since 2013. The UWM Archives is nearing the end of a project to digitize the UWM Post and make it fully searchable online – all print issues published from 1956 to 2012, amounting to over 43,000 pages. Explore UWM’s history through the UWM Post.
– On Wednesday, September 28, Marc Tasman, Senior Lecturer, UWM Department of Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies, will lead a “Digital Pedagogy Brown Bag: Viral Media Mashups, Remixes, and Fair Use in the Classroom,” from 12-1 p.m. in the UWM Digital Humanities Lab at the Golda Meir Library and Thursday Dan Siercks, IT, UWM College of Letters & Science, will give a talk, “Opportunities with High Performance Computing for the Humanities,” in the UWM Digital Humanities Lab from 4-5 p.m.
Other
Go Arsenal!
Take care,
Johannes
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs