Good morning, colleagues. I hope you enjoyed a peaceful and restorative Thanksgiving break. Here is this week’s brief update from Academic Affairs.

Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Finalists Feedback
Chancellor Mone has requested feedback on the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion finalist candidates, who visited campus this month. To submit your feedback, please access the survey, which is available until 11:45 p.m. today (Monday, November 29). Candidate materials are available on the finalists page. The survey feedback will be collected and presented to Chancellor Mone in a collective format that does not identify identity.

Kudos

Purush Papatla (Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute and Lubar School of Business) is co-author of a paper conditionally accepted at the Journal of Marketing Research entitled, “High-Energy Ad Content: A Large-scale Investigation of TV Commercials.” The paper’s other co-authors include Joonhyuk Yang (Notre Dame University), Yingkang Xie (Northwestern University doctoral student), and Lakshman Krishnamurthi (Northwestern University). Congratulations, Purush!

In the News

Amanda Seligman (History) was featured in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article about her history class and different ways she’s making Milwaukee history exciting for her students. Anyone who would like to watch the reenactment of the birth of Zero can follow #MKEZero on Twitter on Thursday morning.

Athletics

Milwaukee has taken the overall lead in the race for the 2021-22 McCafferty Trophy after the conclusion of the Horizon League fall championship season. The Panthers picked up 26 points in their fall championship campaign, 21 coming from the women’s side. By season’s end, Milwaukee had clinched the regular season titles in volleyball and women’s soccer and earned two more championships by securing the women’s cross country and women’s soccer titles. The Panthers also saw the men’s soccer team earn a tournament berth and a top-five finish in men’s cross country. The McCafferty Trophy is awarded annually by the Horizon League to the member institution that compiles the greatest number of performance points, based on its finish in the League’s 19 championship sports.

The Week

Monday and Tuesday

I’ll be in Madison for the UW System President semi-finalist interviews.

Wednesday

Today, I have the Deans Morning Meeting, my bi-weekly meeting with Mark Harris, one-on-ones with Nigel Rothfels and John Reisel, a meeting with Chancellor Mone and Brian Thompson, my weekly meeting with the Chancellor, and a Cabinet reception for Pat Borger.

Thursday

In the morning, I’ll attend the APBC meeting, followed by a Campus Budget Planning meeting, and the UWM Holiday Celebration. In the afternoon, I have my standing meeting with Chia Vang, my one-on-one with Jason Puskar, my monthly meeting with Keri Duce and Michelle Johnson, and my standing meeting with Peter Sands.

Friday

Today, I have my one-on-one with Pat Borger, the annual Connected Systems Institute Executive update, I’ll make welcome remarks at the Honors College student conference, I have my bi-weekly meeting with Paul Klajbor, and my monthly meeting with Mark Harris and Rebecca Klapper.

Announcements

Updated Obituary: James Brundage
Here is an updated obituary on James Brundage from the History Department that is more reflective of his life as a wide-ranging scholar with wicked wit and humor.

Student Union Renovation Kickoff

The UWM Student Union is excited to formally kickoff the Student Union Renovation Project on Tuesday, November 30 in the Union Concourse! Activities and displays from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., and a short program at 1 p.m. with wall smash and food.

Federal Relations

UWM is completing a comprehensive survey of federal relations needs and is seeking your input for items that would benefit from federal legislative/policy change or federal funding. We are especially interested in proposals that would contribute to UWM’s Strategic Directions and the 2030 Action Team Goals. More information. Thank you in advance for your input. We welcome any questions via email and will also hold open information sessions via Teams from 1-2 p.m. on December 3 and December 10. Contact Jennifer Abele (gonda@uwm.edu) or Keri Duce (klduce@uwm.edu) with questions.

Other

Most used word in 2021? Barbados is launching the world’s first virtual embassy.

Take care,

Johannes