August 3, 2020  |  News & Events, Provost's Updates, Timely Announcements

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

Kudos

Tanya Tiffany (Art History) and collaborator, Laura Bass (Brown University), were awarded a $156,248 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for their project, “The Autobiography of a Seventeenth-Century Painter and Nun, Estefanía de la Encarnacíon,” a bilingual scholarly edition and translation of the only known autobiography written by a woman artist during the early modern period. This is terrific news, Tanya, and congratulations!

Ellyn Lem’s (English) new book on aging, “Gray Matters: Finding Meaning in the Stories of Later Life,” will be published August 14 by Rutgers University Press’ Global Aging series. Congratulations, Ellyn!

Milwaukee Athletics

Milwaukee placed 147 student-athletes on the 2020 Horizon League Spring Academic Honor Roll. The Panthers’ total number of honorees topped the Horizon League for the third time in the past four semesters, well ahead of second-place Oakland (132). Women’s track and field/cross-country led the way for Milwaukee with 28 members; men’s track and field/cross-country came in second for the Panthers with 20.

In the News

A team of researchers, including Dave Clark (English), discovered that articles published in journals that accept reprint fees are nearly three-times more likely to be written by authors who receive industry payments. Read: the article in PLOS ONE; the press release from UT-Austin; and the story from the press release.

This past week, Simone Conceição and Melissa Spadanuda were interviewed by WTMJ-4 about online learning and our preparation for the fall semester.

Online and Blended Teaching Program (OBTP) Communities of Practice

Engage as a participant (or coach) to promote pedagogical innovation and effectiveness with the objective of increasing course quality and student success this fall and beyond. A $400 stipend will be provided to participants and coaches. The deadline to apply is August 10. More information.

  • Participants must:
    • Be teaching at least one online or blended/hybrid course in Fall 2020
    • Complete the OBTP Badge of Completion by August 31, 2020
    • Fulfill all requirements of the OBTP Communities of Practice

The Week

Monday

I start the week with my daily Crisis Management Team (CMT) Leadership meeting, followed by my weekly meeting with Robin Van Harpen, the Chancellor’s Cabinet Deep Dive meeting, my one-on-one with Mark Harris, and my weekly staff meeting.

Tuesday

In the morning, I have my daily CMT Leadership meeting and my monthly meetings with Nancy Frank, Nancy Nelson, and Tom Lipinski. In the afternoon, I have my monthly meeting with Val Klump and Tim Grundl, a meeting with department chairs, advisors, associate deans, assistant deans, and deans regarding student outreach, and a check-in with Dev Venugopalan and Laura Pedrick.

Wednesday 

Today, I once again have a CMT Leadership meeting, followed by a meeting with Jennifer Abele and Sue Weslow, the monthly Connected Systems Institute Budget Meeting, monthly meetings with Ron Perez, Tim Behrens, Scott Emmons, and Scott Gronert, and a meeting with deans and shared governance.

Thursday

I start the day with the daily CMT Leadership meeting, followed by my one-on-one with Michael Doylen and my biweekly meeting with Tom Luljak. Later, I have my one-on-one with Joely Urdan, an IT Advisory Council meeting, my monthly meeting with Kim Litwack, my one-on-one with Marija Gajdardziska-Josifovska, and an end-of-day check-in with Dev and Laura.

Friday

Today, I have the final CMT Leadership meeting for the week and will attend to administrative matters.

Announcements

2020 Panther Prowl – Don’t Prowl So Close to Me Virtual Tour

Registration is now open for the 16th Annual Panther Prowl 5K Run/Walk on Sunday, October 11! The event will be held virtually this year and is hitting the road as a “Don’t Prowl So Close to Me” Nationwide Virtual Tour. Request a “tour stop” in your hometown and support UWM students in need by registering for the virtual race, purchasing a tour tee, or making a donation. All proceeds benefit the Chancellor’s Student Success Fund. Learn more.

Toward an Anti-Racist Campus: A Call for Action Mini Grants for Faculty and Staff

The Office of Research and the Division of Global Inclusion and Engagement are allocating funds for action mini grants aimed at ideas and specific actions to address systemic racism on our campus. Applications are due by 5 p.m. on September 14. Details are available here.

Other

Arsenal did it! (I hope Bob Greenstreet was watching the game.) My next Update will be on August 17.

Take care,

Johannes

Johannes Britz
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs