Dear UWM Students, Faculty and Staff,
Welcome and happy new year! As we usher in the promise of a fresh decade it’s customary to reflect on the last one. What was your favorite part? The rise (and decline) of Justin Bieber, athleisure craze, ASL ice bucket challenge of 2014, Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” the explosive growth of mobile and social media use, hoverboards, kale, avocado toast?
Here are just a few of my favorite UWM recollections from 2019:
- We celebrated maintaining our ‘R1’ status as one of America’s top-tier research universities
- Grand opening of our Lubar Entrepreneurship Center and Welcome Center
- UWM made history with the conclusion of our successful $251M record-breaking fund-raising campaign that supports student success, research excellence and community engagement.
- The Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin and our School of Freshwater Sciences gained substantial momentum with a major donation through the Greater Milwaukee Foundation for a new research vessel.
- Our current 4-year and 6-year graduation rates are the best UWM has experienced in the 2000s. We closed the gap in under-represented minorities’ retention by three percentage points, and our general trend line for retention is fairly positive over the past several years.
- Through our M-cubed partnership with MATC and MPS, we saw an increase in MPS’ 4-year graduation rate from 58.2% in 2015 to 66.7% in 2017 (most recent data). We are on target to reach the goal of 72% for 2019-20. This increases the pipeline to UWM.
- UWM was selected by the Washington Center as one of two higher education partners for the Campaign 2020: National Conventions seminar. This is a great opportunity for our students!
- Milwaukee made Forbes magazine’s 25 Best Places to Visit in 2020 AND our region was ranked the #1 2020 destination by Airbnb!
- I learned how to sew in our Peck School of the Arts costume shop and became a Grind barista for a day.
What will the next decade look like for you and UWM? There are many opportunities underway to engage.
Winter Welcome, January 21 – 25
The new semester starts strong with a number of events and activities to help you meet new friends and colleagues, and to explore winter on our campuses. Be engaged and see all of the remarkable things UWM offers during Winter Welcome, from sports and recreation, to community volunteering opportunities, to arts and crafts, and hot chocolate and coffee socials, and more.
2030+ Think Tank
At UWM we have been preparing for the next 10+ years. Last fall, I formed a 2030+ Think Tank work group to examine how UWM can position itself for decades of continued success. There are many challenges and opportunities being discussed – cost of college, enrollments and employer needs to name a few – and your input is critical. This semester, Think Tank work group members will gather input from faculty, students, staff, stakeholders, and outside resource experts to produce recommendations that, together with our guiding values, will serve as our road map.
Chancellor Activity Updates
In today’s fast-paced environment, it’s even more important for me to communicate what major directions are underway and accomplishments have been realized. Beginning later this week, I will start sending regular updates about my activities. Leading a great public university like ours involves much collaboration both inside and externally. Your involvement is essential to what we do, how we operate and serve students. I couldn’t do what I do without you. While we all came to be here from different paths and places, we’ve been drawn to UWM for a reason. There is much yet that we can accomplish, and the momentum of the last decade will carry us strongly into the 2020s.
I look forward to talking with you and wish you all the best for this new semester and decade. No doubt, the times ahead will be even more energetic and engaging than ever.
Best regards,
Mark A. Mone
Chancellor
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee