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

Kudos

At its December meeting, the Board of Regents approved two new UWM degrees: an MA in African and African Diaspora Studies and a Doctor of Occupational Therapy. Congratulations to the departments that moved these degrees forward!

Milwaukee Athletics

A very big round of applause for Kelli Swenson of the Milwaukee women’s soccer team. In addition to being named the GEICO Horizon League Fall Scholar-Athlete of the Season, she also earned a spot on the Google Cloud Academic All-America Women’s Soccer First Team. That is the highest academic honor an NCAA DI athlete can earn!

The Milwaukee men’s basketball team recently returned from Northern Ireland for a trip that wrapped up its participation in the 2018 Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic. Fans can see recaps and read about the exploits and travels of the Panthers in the team’s travel blog.

In the News

The Week

Monday

This is going to be another busy week. My first meeting Monday morning is with Robin Van Harpen, followed by my weekly staff meeting, the first meeting of the Libraries Director Search and Screen Committee, my bi-weekly meeting with Mark Harris, and my monthly meeting with Brett Peters. I have a New Budget Model meeting with Finance and Administrative Affairs, I’ll introduce members of the Italian Consul General delegation, and the Chancellor and I will meet with MCW executives. In the evening, I’ll attend the Commencement Honors at the Zelazo Center.

Tuesday

In the morning, I’ll make welcome remarks at the Nonprof-IT Student Showcase (It is a very successful SOIS initiative). Then we have the Deans’ Morning Meeting, the Chancellor, Joan Prince and I also have a  meeting on diversity, then I have a follow-up meeting with Adel Nasiri regarding the Connected Systems Institute, and a standing meeting with Peter Sands. In the afternoon, I meet with Bob Greenstreet and I’ll attend the Academic Leadership Council meeting. ALC agenda items include a new graduate/online program marketing initiative, an update on the UWM Research Foundation and the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center, an online workforce development initiative, and changes to Chapter 104. I’ll finish the day with a Holiday Reception at the Chancellor’s residence.

Wednesday

I have standing meetings with Brian Thompson, Kristian O’Connor and Alberto Maldonado. There is a monthly Campus Space meeting and my weekly meeting with the Chancellor. In the evening, I’ll attend the UWM Foundation Board of Directors Annual Meeting and Reception at the University Club.

Thursday

The day starts with the APBC meeting, followed by a New Budget Model meeting with the UWM Libraries and standing meetings with Katie Miota and Dave Clark. I’ll end the day at Faculty Senate.

Friday

This morning, there is a New Budget Model meeting with the School of Information Studies and a Connected Systems Institute Executive Update at Rockwell Automation. In the afternoon, I have the Distinguished Professors Subcommittee meeting, my monthly meeting with Michael Doylen, and New Budget Model meetings with Academic Affairs and Student Affairs.

Announcements

End of Semester Memo

The Fall 2018 End of Semester Memo is available online.

UWM Authors Recognition Ceremony

Every two years, the UWM Libraries join with the Graduate School to honor recent UWM authors at a special event. The next UWM Authors Recognition Ceremony will be on March 14, 2019 at 4 p.m. in the Library’s Fourth Floor Conference Center. Faculty and staff who have written, edited, or illustrated a book; composed music for a published score or recording; or had a primary role in creating a commercially distributed film or video since the last event should fill out the submission form found at https://uwm.edu/libraries/forms/authors/ to be included in the next ceremony.

Take care,

Johannes

Johannes Britz
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs