Chancellor’s Update: Final Sprint of Academic Year

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Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

We are in the final sprint of the 2015-16 academic year when there is a furious flurry of research presentations, exam preparation, events, and projects. It’s an exciting time! It can also be a time of stress as we get further immersed in the month of May. Showing extra kindness and taking a deep breath for some moments of reflection can be restorative.

There’s no question that this has been a year like no other. We have faced unprecedented challenges together. There have also been countless individual triumphs and numerous shared successes, many of which have been captured in UWM Report stories.

One of those remarkable stories is about our campus receiving a U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools Award. UWM is the only UW System school and one of only two postsecondary schools in Wisconsin to ever receive this honor. Hats off to Kate Nelson, our Chief Sustainability Officer, and to all of the students, faculty, researchers, and staff who dedicated so much to earning this national recognition.

Among our brightest moments this year was when we learned that UWM was named as one of the top research universities in the country. We joined the ranks of only 115 universities nationwide (out of 4,665) to receive the highest rating for a research institution from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, the gold standard for assessment. The 2016 Research Report is one of the many ways we are spotlighting our critical role as a research university in Wisconsin.

We can see the dramatic impact of research in the work of Junhong Cheng, a Distinguished Professor in Mechanical Engineering, and his team that developed a highly sensitive, low-cost sensor that can be easily modified to detect lead in water, the Ebola virus and other threats to human health. This video on how sensor technology could save lives in public health crises showcases Dr. Cheng’s breakthroughs.

I hope you will join me on May 12 for a campus-wide R-1 Celebration. This joyous occasion will take place on the ground level of the Student Union concourse from 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. We will be joined by UW System President Ray Cross and Board of Regents President Regina Millner.

Please do find time to celebrate, reinvigorate and restore during the intensity of these next few weeks. One way to do this is to take part in the wildly popular therapy animal visits on campus, several which have been scheduled in the near future:

  • May 3, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. near the UWM campus fountain (weather permitting)
  • May 11, 3:30 – 5:00 p.m., Zilber School of Public Health outdoor patio (main floor lobby if raining)
  • May 20, 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. Cunningham Hall ground floor (this date is tentative)

Let’s take a collective deep breath and take in all of what is to come. This will certainly be a year to remember!

Best regards,

Mark A. Mone
Chancellor
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee