September 2, 2022  |  News & Events, Provost's Updates, Timely Announcements

Good morning, colleagues. It’s September, already; welcome to Fall 2022! Here is this week’s update from Academic Affairs.

Kudos

Shama Mirza (Chemistry and Biochemistry) received a $538,699 Major Research Instrumentation grant from the National Science Foundation for the acquisition of a high-throughput, high-resolution orbitrap mass spectrometer to enable multidisciplinary research and education in Southeast Wisconsin. Congratulations, Shama!

Yomarie Castellano (Center for International Education) and Christine Wolf (Global Studies) will be co-presenting at the NAFSA Region V Conference in Milwaukee, October 19-21. They will present on the creation and implementation of an IDEAS grant funded project, the team-taught course Global Studies 391, Black Lives Matter, A Global Comparative Study and a companion study abroad experience to the UK. Well done, Yomarie and Christine!

Philip Chang (Physics), Mahsa Dabagh (Biomedical Engineering), and Susan McRoy (Computer Science) have been awarded a three-year, $500K grant to support summer school to teach computing for research problems. The school is aimed toward graduate students at UWM and will greatly enhance the level of computational sciences at UWM. Congratulations, Philip, Mahsa, and Susan!

In the News

Kyoung Ae Cho (Art and Design) was interviewed by the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters on her recent visual art research, and published in the summer 2022 issue of Wisconsin People & Ideas.

The Week in Retrospect

This was an exciting week with residential students coming to campus and many welcome events underway. You could not help but notice all the new students on campus and the energy they are bringing. I began the week with opening remarks at the new faculty orientation. It was a pleasure to meet such a large and engaged group of new faculty and instructional academic staff. On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to visit the Washington County campus and give remarks at their Opening Day event. It was a great chance to connect with the College of General Studies faculty and staff. Later in the day, Chancellor Mone and I stopped by the residential student move-in at Sandburg Hall and met some new students and their families. Thanks so much to all the volunteers from across campus that make this an efficient, rewarding, and reassuring process for the students and their parents. On Wednesday, I visited Geosciences’ Greene Gallery in Lapham Hall and learned more about their incredible collection of fossils and minerals—a real gem on the UWM campus. Finally, I will end my week with the fun-filled Fall Panther Welcome event at Engelmann Stadium Friday evening. A highlight will be the tossing of the freshmen coins into the campus fountain outside Curtin Hall, with those coins to be returned to students when they graduate. Hope you have a great holiday weekend in advance of the new semester next week!

Announcements

Student Union Reopening and Space Relocations
Several offices are reopening in the Union today, while other offices are in temporarily relocated spaces as construction continues. See the Space Relocations page within the Union’s Renovation website to find details on displaced services and visit the What’s Happening page for updates.

Graduate School Announcements
The Graduate School is happy to share two announcements:

  • Professor Victoria Moerchen (College of Health Sciences) was appointed the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in August. Please join us in welcoming Victoria to her new position.
  • The shared leadership structure of the Graduate School and Office of Research was implemented over the summer. More information on the reorganization.

Optics and Photonics Database Now Available
The SPIE Digital Library, a comprehensive database published by the international society for optics and photonics, is now available from the UWM Libraries.

Add Perceptions on Aging Curricula to Your Class
Disrupt Aging Classroom is a 2.5-hour, interactive curriculum that challenges students to examine their aging perceptions and thing about how the growing aging population is relevant to their personal lives and future careers. The curriculum complements any course of study and helps students become more age inclusive. Request class presentation.

Campus Events

Trauma-Informed Care Workshops
Since summer 2021, the Trauma-Informed Care workshops have helped students, academic departments, and administrative units understand trauma, its effects, and how to support students, faculty, and staff in distress. This fall, Dimitri Topitzes (Social Welfare), Sarah MacDonald (CETL), and Adam Jussel (Dean of Students) are offering a new version of the program that will focus on how instructors can help students achieve essential learning outcomes through a balance of flexibility and accountability, high standards, and care for students. The workshops (virtual or in-person) will last an hour and are scheduled on request. Please contact Adam Jussel (jussel@uwm.edu) if you are interested.

Online Program Council
The OPC will meet on Friday, September 9 from 1:30-3 p.m. on Teams. Agenda topics include preparing for next spring’s Higher Learning Commission accreditation visit, information on UW System strategic work on online education, and regulatory updates. If you have not previously attended an OPC meeting, please email Laura Pedrick (lpedrick@uwm.edu) to be added to the meeting.

Take care,

Scott

Scott Gronert
Interim Provost