Good morning, colleagues. We are already in October (which is also National Disability Employment Awareness Month) and here is this week’s update from Academic Affairs.
Kudos
– Ann Graf, PhD student in SOIS, won the first ever “Best Conference Paper” award at the 14th International Society for Knowledge Organization Conference in Rio de Janeiro for her paper, “Describing an Outsider Art Movement from Within: The AAT and Graffiti Art.” Congratulations Ann – this is a wonderful achievement and we are very proud of you!
– EDUCAUSE, the leading higher education IT organization, has asked UW-Milwaukee to serve as one of two U.S. case study institutions for an international study. UITS Director (and 2015 EDUCAUSE Community Leadership Award winner) Beth Schaefer will serve as our representative. This is a great recognition of your leadership Beth.
– Karyn Frick, Psychology, received a five-year $1.8M R01 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health for her research entitled, “Mechanisms underlying memory regulation by 17beta-estradiol, canonical Wnt signaling, and BDNF in male and female mice.” Congratulations, Karyn!
– Fred Helmstetter, Psychology, also received a new five-year $1.8M R01 grant from the NIMH last week for his research entitled, “Systems and molecular mechanisms of retrival-dependent memory destabilization.” Well done, Fred!
The Week
Monday
Robin Van Harpen and I start again with our regular weekly meeting that is followed by an Academic Staff Committee meeting, and the Chancellor’s Deep Dive Cabinet meeting. In the afternoon, I meet with Dean Alan Shoho and attend the Chancellors Committee for Hispanic Student Initiatives (CCHSI) Steering Committee meeting. CEMAT meets and agenda items include review of fall enrollment; Strategic Enrollment Management Planning update; update on Director of Admissions recruitment; 2016-17 scholarship results; and school/college enrollments debriefing that is planned for October 18. There is also a meeting on Charter Schools in the Chancellor’s Office.
Tuesday
We kickoff the Homecoming today! There is a Deans’ morning meeting, I meet with the Chancellor and Robin Van Harpen (mainly on budget issues), and I have my bi-weekly meeting with Legal Affairs Director Joely Urdan. In the afternoon, I have my weekly meeting with the Chancellor. I’m also attending the University Committee meeting (this is on a bi-weekly basis) and I have a campus space planning meeting.
Wednesday-Friday
I’ll be traveling to UW-Eau Claire for the October Board of Regents meeting. The System Provosts have their meeting on Wednesday afternoon and then a joint dinner in the evening. The Board meeting is on Thursday and Friday and UWM’s MS in Information Science and Technology from the School of Information Studies is up for its final approval. See the short agenda.
I will leave Eau Claire at about noon on Friday to be back in time for the UWM Alumni Association Awards dinner at Discovery World.
Also remember that Wednesday is the Fall Awards Ceremony, and Thursday is Black and Gold Spirit Day.
Saturday
Saturday is the Panther Prowl, it starts at 10 a.m. See you there!
Announcements
Imagining America National Conference
At the Crossroads is the theme of the 16th Annual National Conference held on October 6 – 8, with a pre-conference on October 5. The Conference is hosted by UWM and co-sponsored by the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design and Marquette University.
From the Institute of World Affairs
Former French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira will give the 2016 Kennan Distinguished Lecture, “Citizenship and Identity in the 21st Century,” on Thursday, October 6 at 7 p.m. in the Helene Zelazo Center. She currently holds the title of honorary professor (non-paid) here at UWM and was one of the recipients of our honorary doctoral degrees last year.
Wisconsin Women in Higher Education Leadership (WWHEL)
WWHEL is hosting a Brown Bag Program in the Library 4th Floor Conference Room on Tuesday, October 4 from 12-1 p.m. (bring your lunch – beverages will be provided). Speaker Donna Schumell will present, “Command Confidence, Trip Triggers, and Flip Fears.”
Annual Fall Awards Ceremony
The annual Fall Awards Ceremony honoring faculty and staff will be held on Wednesday, October 5 at 2 p.m., with a reception to follow in the UWM Union Wisconsin Room. I will unfortunately not be able to attend since I will be traveling to the BOR meeting in Eau Claire.
From University Relations & Communications
Just a heads-up: UWM is the featured host of the Wisconsin Science Festival in Milwaukee the weekend of October 21-23.
From the College of Letters & Science
– The 2016 Dean’s Distinguished Lecture in the Natural Sciences will be held this Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. in the Zelazo Center, Room 250. The featured speaker is Dr. Sean B. Carroll, author and educator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Allan Wilson Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics at UW-Madison. His presentation, “The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters,” will explore the answers to the question of “how life works” matters for our health and the health of the planet. All are welcome!
– The Departments of Communication and Political Science will host a Professional Development Seminar titled, “Anger in Presidential Elections,” featuring Dr. Mary Stuckey, Professor of Communication and Political Science at Georgia State University, on Friday, October 14 at 3 p.m. in Merrill 131 with light refreshments to follow.
From Alumni Relations – Spirits Days
– UWM alumni employees are encouraged to join us for Behind the Scenes at UWM: A Tour of Campus Green Sites, Tuesday, October 18 from 12-1 p.m. The event is free, but please register.
– The first Black & Gold Spirit Day of 2016-17 is Thursday, October 6. Wear black and gold and participate in fun campus activities to compete for great prizes. More information.
– New alumni employees are invited to the New Alumni Employee Welcome Breakfast on Thursday, October 20 from 8-9 a.m. in the Golda Meir Library, 4th Floor Conference Center. Free and brought to you by UWM Human Resources and the UWM Alumni Association. Register by Friday, October 14.
Homecoming
Departments and units on campus should consider offering a workshop or hosting an open house for students, family members, alumni, faculty, staff, and the community during Homecoming, Family Weekend, and the Panther Prowl 2016 on Saturday, October 8 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. We expect over 1500 Panther Prowl Participants and over 2000 Panther Families on campus that day. If you are interested please contact Keri Duce at klduce@uwm.edu.
Title IX Training
The Office of Equity/Diversity Services will be conducting a training session for all campus employees, staff, and students from 1:30-3 p.m. on Thursday, October 6 in Union Room 191. Please pre-register.
From UITS
With pantherFILE retiring, OneDrive for Business is the perfect option for storing your personal documents! Our next OneDrive for Business Demo Session is on Tuesday, October 4 from 1-2 p.m. in Bolton B40.
Disability Awareness Month Film & Panel
October is Disability Awareness Month. Please join Sociocultural Student Programming, the Accessibility Resource Center (ARC), and the Americans with Disabilities Act and Accessibility Advisory Committee (ADAAAC) on Tuesday, October 18 at 7 p.m. in the Union Fireside Lounge for the screening of Right Footed and panel to follow.
From the UWM Libraries
– The UWM Libraries invite proposals for the 2017 Fromkin Research Grant and Lectureship. The deadline to submit a proposal is Friday, December 2.
– This Wednesday at 4 p.m. in the UWM Digital Humanities Lab, Newest Americans co-directors Tim Raphael and Julie Winokur will discuss how their documentary and storytelling project is salvaging local immigrant histories in and around Newark, NJ. and on Sunday, October 9 at 2 p.m. in the American Geographical Society Library, Chelsey Blanke, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and Helen J. Bullard, storyteller and UW-Madison PhD candidate, present, “Stories from Lake Michigan: The Cultural, Ecological and Industrial Histories of a Great Lake.”
From the Department of Mathematical Sciences
The Atmospheric Science Program and Atmospheric Science Club at UWM will jointly host an Atmospheric Science Career Panel in Bolton B40 on Wednesday, October 19 from 6-8 p.m. featuring speakers from across the field and the related disciplines of actuarial science, communication, and environmental science.
From the Center for Community-Based Learning, Leadership, and Research (CCBLLR)
The UWM/MPS Working Group, in partnership with CCBLLR and Parents for Public Schools-MKE, is pleased to announce that we have received grants from the Wisconsin Humanities Council and the MPS Partnership for the Arts and Humanities to build a Deliberative Dialogue and Digital Storytelling Project with high school students in MPS. This spring, trained facilitators and service learners from UWM will work with high school students to ask, “What can communities do to help youth succeed?” To learn more about this project or to get involved, contact Jasmine Alinder, jalinder@uwm.edu or Laurie Marks, lmarks@uwm.edu.
Other
October 1 was International Coffee Day – started last year not only in promotion of coffee but also to promote fair trade coffee. I hope you got a free coffee somewhere (If you are a coffee-drinker…)
Take care,
Johannes
Johannes Britz
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs