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

Chancellor’s Town Hall Meeting 

There will be a virtual town hall meeting on Tuesday, April 6 at 10 a.m. for UWM faculty and staff. Chancellor Mone and I, along with other campus leaders, will focus on the 2030 Plan implementation and will be available to answer questions. Send questions to uwm-townhall@uwm.edu.

Secretary of the University 

Professor John Reisel has been named a finalist for the Secretary of the University position. Your participation is encouraged. John will discuss his candidacy in an open campus session on Thursday, April 1 from 12:30 – 1 p.m. You can join the session via Teams or by calling 414-253-8850 and entering Conference ID: 371 952-983#. View John’s application materials.

Associate Dean Search 

The Helen Bader School of Social Welfare is conducting an internal search for a .75 FTE Associate Dean of Research and Academic Affairs. The Associate Dean will play a critical role in promoting a shared culture and collaboration between the Departments of Criminal Justice and Social Work. The Associate Dean will also assist in fostering academic excellence and integrity in both departments, as well as work with faculty, staff, and students to promote a stimulating and dynamic climate for research, teaching and learning, and scholarship. The deadline has been extended to March 31. Please apply online.

Kudos

Anne Widmayer and Christopher Yogerst (Arts and Humanities) received fall 2021 UW System Fellowships from the Institute for Research in the Humanities. Dr. Widmayer will be working on her book project, “Raging Women and Crying Men: Taboo Gendered Emotions in Eighteenth-Century Britain,” and Dr. Yogerst will be working on his book, “The Warner Brothers: How an Immigrant Family Came to Hollywood and Changed America.” Congratulations, Anne and Christopher!

Marcia Silva (Water Technology Accelerator) received three awards for work at the accelerator at the recent UWM Research Foundation Awards. The recognition included one patent and two license agreements. Marcia also received a $124, 104 Fund for Lake Michigan Award titled, “Enhanced Treatment Technologies for Removal of P from Agricultural Runoff Treatment Systems (ARTS).” She is the Principal Investigator (PI) and will collaborate with UW-Green Bay, UW-Platteville, USGS, Outagamie County, and Keiser & Associates. Well done, Marcia!

Kimberly Blaeser (English and American Indian Studies) was named the recipient of The Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award. The award, based on a writer’s complete body of work to date, is voted upon by Native American writers, making it one of the few literary awards presented to Native Americans by Native Americans. Congratulations, Kimberly!

Kudos to UWM’s Health Care Administration program for earning the Higher Education Network Award, through the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), for the fourth consecutive year in the undergraduate category, recognized nationally at the 2021 ACHE Congress on Healthcare Leadership. Students and alumni joined faculty and staff virtually during Spring Recess to celebrate with Panther Pride.

Carolyn Eichner’s (History and Women’s and Gender Studies) book, Franchir les barricades: Les femmes dans la Commune de Paris (Editions de la Sorbonne, 2020), is a finalist for the Prix Augustin Thierry, awarded by the City of Paris. This extremely prestigious award recognizes a work of history focusing on any period between Antiquity and the late 19^th-century. Congratulations, Carolyn!

In the News

Ellen Lem (Arts and Humanities) was invited to write an article on how well pop culture is representing older adults for PBS’s new digital platform, Next Avenue.

DeAnn Huinker (Teaching and Learning) was quoted in The Hechinger Report regarding new approaches to teaching math.

The Digital Humanities Lab has posted two recent discussions on their website: Margaret Noodin’s “Mapping Indigenous Connections” and Chris Cantwell’s “Documenting COVID-19.”

Jennifer Jordan (Sociology) published an article on her hops research in the online beer magazine, “Good Beer Hunting,” and was also interviewed on their podcast.

Melinda Kavanaugh was interviewed for an article in Kaiser Health News about child caregiving during COVID.

Anne Pycha (Linguistics) appeared on CBS58 Morning News, where she discussed the impact of face masks on everyday communication.

Robert Schneider, Lingqian Hu (Urban Planning), and Jie Yu (Civil and Environmental Engineering), along with their co-authors, produced an op-ed in Urban Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Athletics 

Tickets are now available for Milwaukee home baseball games. The Panthers are scheduled to host 24 games at Franklin Field, beginning March 26. Fans can buy single-game tickets online for only $7. General admission tickets can be purchased in pods of two to four tickets and seating will be physically distanced. Other rules do apply.

Thanks to an impressive 20-21 campaign that included a regular-season Horizon League title, the Milwaukee women’s basketball team earned the right to play in the WNIT tournament. Milwaukee accepted an at-large bid to the event, marking the third time in program history that the Panthers reached the WNIT tournament. The team defeated Drake before falling in the second round to Saint Louis.

Following the Milwaukee women’s basketball regular season Horizon League Championship, fans can purchase championship merchandise. Commemorate the title with championship shirts, hats, and more. Hurry! Today is the last day to place your order!

The Week 

Monday 

I start the week with a Coronavirus Management Team (CMT) Leadership meeting, followed by my weekly meeting with Robin Van Harpen, a 2030 Update/Town Hall meeting with campus leaders, a Campus Budget Planning meeting, my weekly staff meeting, and my weekly check-in with Dev Venugopalan and Laura Pedrick.

Tuesday 

In the morning, I’ll record an episode for the TechEd podcast, the CEMAT leads meet, and I have my one-on-one with Kim Litwack. In the afternoon, I have my monthly meeting with Nadya Fouad, my weekly meeting with the Chancellor, and a Secretary of the University finalist interview.

Wednesday 

Today, I have a meeting with Chancellor Mone, Jennifer Abele, and Sue Weslow, followed by one-on-ones with Nancy Nelson and Nancy Frank, an interview with a University Relations and Communications (URC) Interim Leadership candidate, my monthly meeting with Scott Gronert, an Ongoing Partnerships Discussion with WCTC, and an Letters and Science follow-up budget meeting.

Thursday 

In the morning, I have another CMT Leadership meeting, an interview with a URC Interim Leadership candidate, my bi-weekly meeting with Mark Harris, and my one-on-one with Tom Luljak. In the afternoon, I’ll attend the IT Advisory Council meeting, followed by my monthly meeting with Val Klump and Tim Grundl, and a meeting with Peter Sands.

Friday 

Today, I have a number of meetings with my direct reports.

Announcements 

Impact of the Student Vote: WI State Superintendent Forum 

College campuses in Wisconsin are invited to take part in a forum with State Superintendent candidates Deborah Kerr and Jill Underly on Wednesday, March 31 at 5 p.m. The candidates will take questions submitted by college students from across the state and discuss the impact this election has on college students, especially future teachers. The forum will be live streamed on YouTube.

Long 2020 

C21’s series continues on Friday, April 2 at 3:30 p.m.as philosophers Levi Bryant (Collin College) and Megan Craig (Stony Brook) discuss our experience of time during the pandemic.

A Trip to Brazil
This is the second Clube Lusófono event of the semester focusing on a trip to Brazil. Eduardo Conceição will share his experience on April 2 at 5 p.m. via Zoom.

The Public Health Significance of Racism 

Dr. Thomas LaVeist, an international expert, will show his new documentary, “The Skin You Are In,” speak, and take questions on Tuesday, April 6 at 6:30 p.m.

Tenure and Promotion Workshop 

Secretary of the University Trudy Turner is sponsoring a session for faculty desiring to learn more about the tenure and promotion process on Wednesday, April 7 at 1 p.m. via Microsoft Teams.

Run 4 Water MKE 

The student chapter of Engineers without Borders USA @ UW-Milwaukee is hosting a fundraising event. The proceeds from the event will go to the construction of gravity-fed water distribution systems in the highlands of Guatemala. The race is a virtual event that will take place from April 17-25. The registration fee of $25 will increase to $35 on April 3.

A Conversation with Michael Fenlon

Michael Fenlon, UWM alum and Chief People Officer at PwC (formerly Price Waterhouse Coopers), will join Chancellor Mone on Tuesday, April 27 at 1 p.m. for a virtual discussion on digital upskilling and the workforce of the future, inclusive leadership, talent acquisition and diversity, and innovation in higher education. Registration.

Call for Experts 

UW-Milwaukee Connects is looking for experts and speakers (virtual and in-person) to populate our Speakers Bureau and Pounce’s Classrooms outreach efforts. UW-Milwaukee Connects helps share UWM’s story with the community. Consider making yourself a profile so external groups can reach out to you. Contact Keri Duce (klduce@uwm.edu) with any questions.

UWM Authors Celebration

Every two years, the UWM Libraries, the Graduate School, and the Office of Research celebrate UWM faculty and staff who have published books or recordings since the last UWM Authors Ceremony. This year, due to the pandemic, the Libraries have created a website that recognizes the 2019-2021 UWM authors.

Other 

They will be back after 17 years.

Take care,

Johannes