April 19, 2021  |  News & Events, Provost's Updates, Timely Announcements

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

Kudos 

In the regional Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Mark of Excellence Awards, UWM students won eight first-place honors and 17 awards total, among the best in the upper Midwest. Winners in their categories go on to the national SPJ competition. UWM awards were for print/online, video and audio stories covering Covid-19, the 2020 election and civil unrest in Wisconsin. Congratulations to the UWM student awardees!

Amanda Braun (Athletics Director) was named to the 2021-22 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee. Well done, Amanda!

Belle Rose Ragins (Lubar School of Business) was one of ten editorial board members selected to receive the inaugural 2020 Best Editorial Board Reviewers award from the Journal of Applied PsychologyCongratulations, Belle!

Jean Creighton (Planetarium, Physics) and Robin Mello (Theatre) published an article in The Planetarian about their experiences infusing astronomical themes into an undergraduate UWM storytelling course called Tale of Scale. Students performed skits to highlight astronomical phenomena and explain the scale of the universe. The hope is that infusing scientific themes into arts and humanities contexts can foster people’s science engagement and literacy. Well done, Jean and Robin!

Mauricio Kilwein Guevara (English) will be a featured writer in a national poetry conference, April 23-25, sponsored by Write On, Door County. Mauricio also has a new short story accepted for Summer 2021 publication in The Georgia Review. Entitled “Pachakutik,” the story dramatizes a decades-long restitution case for environmental damage to the eastern rainforest of Ecuador and its inhabitants. Congratulations, Mauricio!

In the News 

Yesterday, an article (in Spanish) citing Daniel Gervini’s (Mathematical Sciences) analysis of coronavirus curves in Argentina was the most read article in La Nación, one of the two top Argentine newspapers.

Mark Schwartz’s (Geography) Spring Indices models were used recently on the Today Show.

Belle Rose Ragins’ (Lubar School of Business) interview on high quality mentoring was featured in Psychology Today.

Jane Hampden Daley (Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies) is producing a podcast series of interviews with Wisconsin journalists, many with UWM ties, for use in her online classes, and supported by the Digital Humanities Lab. The interviews help students relate to reporters in the field during these days of remote learning. Find the podcast “Making News” on Apple Podcasts.

Athletics 

The Milwaukee men’s and women’s soccer teams both won their Horizon League Tournament Championship games against Northern Kentucky on Saturday and will play in the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA selection show takes place today (April 19) at 11 a.m. CST for the men and 12 noon CST for the women. It streams on NCAA.com. GO PANTHERS!

“Built By MKE” is a website feature started during the 2020-21 school year by the Milwaukee Athletic Department. The series, presented by Educators Credit Union, features former student-athletes and looks back on their time in Milwaukee. The next entry is former Milwaukee men’s soccer player Craig Mallace.

The Week 

Monday 

I start the week with a Coronavirus Management Team (CMT) Leadership meeting, followed by my weekly meeting with Robin Van Harpen, the Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin (FCW) Executive Quarterly Briefing, the Academic Staff Committee meeting, a 2030 Leadership meeting, and the Chancellor’s Executive Cabinet meeting. In the afternoon, I have my weekly meeting with Dev Venugopalan and Laura Pedrick, followed by my staff meeting, and I’ll attend a check in for the upcoming 2030 School/College Planning meetings. At the end of the day, Stephen Schmid and I take part in an interview regarding the outcomes from UWM consolidations with the two-year campuses.

Tuesday 

In the morning, I will attend a meeting with Regents, followed by an M3 meeting, my monthly meeting with Dave Clark and Kay Eilers, and a meeting on 2030 planning. In the afternoon, I’ll attend the University Committee meeting, and my one on ones with Chancellor Mone and Phyllis King.

Wednesday 

Today, I have the Dean’s morning meeting, a June Board of Regents planning meeting, one on one meetings with Nancy Nelson, Mark Harris and Pat Borger, and a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Recruitment and Selection Protocol meeting. I’ll then briefly attend the Peck School of the Arts Admin meeting regarding the transition plan, followed by my monthly update with Kim Litwack and Amy Harley, and an Enterprise Direction Council meeting.

Thursday 

In the morning, I have another CMT Leadership meeting, I’ll attend the Academic Planning and Budget Committee meeting, a meeting with Tracy Buss for the Telling Our Stories Book Project, my monthly meeting with Tina Freiburger, and a UW System meeting on Online Education.

Friday 

Today, I have a Connected Systems Institute Business Plan Review meeting, the bi-monthly UW System Provost Council meeting, and I’ll attend to administrative matters and meet with direct reports.

Announcements 

Institute of World Affairs Webinar Series

On Wednesday, April 21 at 4 p.m., the Institute of World Affairs is hosting a webinar on African perspectives on the new US Administration, featuring Phumzile Mazibuko (South African Consul General), Abera Gelan (UWM African and African Diaspora Studies) and Chima Korieh (Marquette University). Register here.

The Long 2020 

C21 welcomes architectural theorists Daniel Barber (University of Pennsylvania), Beatriz Colomina (Princeton), and David Gissen (The New School) on Friday, April 23 at 2 p.m. for a discussion about the role architecture has to play in public health in terms of environmental harm, disability, and disease.

A Conversation with Michael Fenlon 

“A Conversation with Michael Fenlon,” UWM alumnus and Chief People Officer at PwC, will take place Tuesday, April 27, from 1-2 p.m. Mike will join us virtually to discuss digital upskilling and the workforce of the future, inclusive leadership, talent acquisition and diversity, and innovation in higher education. Register here.

PALM Graduation Gala 

On Friday, April 30 at 5:15 p.m., the Roberto Hernandez Center will host its 2021 (Promoting Academics in Latinx Milwaukee) PALM Graduation Gala to celebrate all 20-21 Latinx graduates (400+). This event will take place virtually on Facebook & YouTube, and it also serves a fundraiser to help provide much needed Emergency Scholarships. We hope to see many of you. Interested guests can register to attend this FREE event. For questions, please contact rhc@uwm.edu or call 414-229-6156.

PANTHERCYCLE Launch 

Neighborhood Housing in partnership with the Office of Sustainability is excited to announce the launch of a new program for UWM students called PANTHERCYCLE, which aims to reduce waste, promote sustainability, and build community amongst UWM students. In the Facebook group, students can both post items to give and claim items posted by other UWM students. More information.

Other 

Ben Stokes was named Wisden’s leading cricketer in the world for a second straight year.

Take care,

Johannes

Johannes Britz

Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs