Provost's Update: Friday, February 7, 2025

Office of the Provost

Friday, February 7, 2025

Good morning, colleagues. Here is the update from Academic Affairs.

Engaged students are more likely to stay enrolled, graduate on time, and succeed in their chosen careers. The effects include greater academic performance and improved retention rates, leading to better outcomes for both students and institutions. Fostering student engagement is essential, and I am excited to invite you to participate in two upcoming opportunities in the coming weeks that will make a difference:

Hoops, Hearts, and Homecoming! Panthers basketball puts the “hoops” in this year’s “Hoops, Hearts, & Homecoming” theme. The action-packed week tips off on Monday, February 10 and culminates with exciting MKE men’s and women’s basketball. There’s something for everyone, including the “Bart Lundy Basketball Show,” a Pep Rally, trivia, UWM Alumni gatherings, and more. The Homecoming celebration is the perfect way to show your Panther pride! Check out the full schedule.
The Office of Undergraduate Admissions (OUA) is seeking support for the upcoming Admitted Student Days. In support of the Chancellor’s Committee on Hispanic Serving Initiatives, OUA has several opportunities for anyone who speaks both English and Spanish to help engage admitted students and their families. Descriptions of the initiatives can be found here, along with times, locations, and an ask for sign-ups, including t-shirt size (the Roberto Hernandez Center will supply Yo Soy UWM shirts for volunteers). Contact Andrea Giachino (giachina@uwm.edu) with questions.

I appreciate Priya Nambisan (Public Health) who received a Bader Philanthropies grant for her research project entitled, “Self-care, healing, and social support for dementia patients and their caregivers,” which aims to address the unmet need for self-care among Alzheimer’s and dementia patients with co-occurring chronic conditions that are often overlooked due to the assumptions about their inability to care for themselves.

I share my appreciation for Alexander Arnold, Anna Benko, and Anja Blecking (all Chemistry and Biochemistry) who received a $175K 2024 UW Innovation Grant for their proposal, “RECHARGE-STEM-Creating a new, equitable pathway for high school graduates and students who discontinued a STEM program to enter the local STEM workforce.” The proposal calls for collaboration with the local chemical industry and other education partners to develop an eight-week, paid summer internship program that trains students as chemical technicians. Graduates from the program would earn a microcredential and have skills ready for employment.

I appreciate Rob Cuzner (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) whose breakthrough idea, developed with partners at the Naval Postgraduate School, will makeover microgrids that could decrease the negative effects of power outages, modernize the aging electrical grid, and integrate sustainable energy resources. Read the whole story.

Much appreciation goes to Brooke Slavens (Mechanical Engineering) who was recently awarded the prestigious Presidential Early-Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. White House on scientists and engineers early in their careers.

UWM’s Center for International Education proudly shared that six highly successful faculty-led study abroad courses were offered during the UWinteriM 2025 term. These programs took a total of 90 students representing six schools and colleges to seven different countries. Studying abroad is a high-impact practice, and I share CIE’s sincere appreciation for the dedicated faculty who made these life-changing experiences possible for our students:

Michael Aschenbrenner (Art History) – Italy
Amit Bhatnagar (Business) – Czech Republic and Hungary
Jonathan Kahl (Atmospheric Science) – Mexico
Marquise Mays (Film; Global Studies) – United Kingdom
Dana Riesterer (Social Work; Criminal Justice) – Costa Rica
Julia Snethen (Nursing) – Thailand

Learn more about these and other study abroad programs. Applications are now being accepted for students to study abroad in Spring 2025, Fall 2025, and academic year 2025-26. The deadline to apply is March 1.

Please join me in welcoming Valerie Harlynn to the Provost’s Office team. Val just started her position as Communications Manager on Monday, February 3 and brings a wealth of experience from her previous positions with the Southeastern Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois. Val earned her MA in Communications from the University of Dubuque and will be managing my strategic communications, weekly updates, and the Provost’s Office website.

Join the UWM Alumni Association and the Black Student Cultural Center for the Black History Month Alumni Social & Trivia Night event on Thursday, February 13 from 5:30-9 p.m. in the UWM Gasthaus Sports Grill. This will be an evening of connection in honor of Victoria Pryor. Registration.
Join the Panthers Connect Spring 2025 Career Mentoring Program as a mentor or mentee. The spring session runs from February 17-May 16. Applications close on Thursday, February 13. The Panthers Connect Career Mentoring Program is hosted on Panthers Connect, UWM’s dedicated mentoring, networking, and engagement platform for students and alumni. The program’s primary goal is to connect current UWM students with alumni mentors who share professional expertise and interests within the students’ desired fields. Learn more.
The Student Health and Wellness Center (SHAW) is now offering group therapy sessions for Spring Semester 2025. This semester will feature two sessions of the interpersonal process group, and five different topic-based groups – two of which, the RA Support Group and the Healing Horizons Trauma Support Group, will be available by drop-in. You can find more information, including dates and times, on SHAW’s website.

The UWM Police Department is once again offering its training, “Instructor-focused Classroom Disruptions and Campus Safety,” this semester, with the goal of reaching 100% of UWM’s faculty and instructional staff. The focus of this presentation is to address students in crisis, when students are being disruptive, and what to do in case of a violent incident. To date, approximately 1200 instructors have received this valuable information. If you have not attended a training session, please make it a priority this semester. There are eight sessions available, in person and virtually, through May. Information and registration. Contact safety-training@uwm.edu with questions.
The Spring 2025 TechTraining course schedule is now available. View the schedule and register for a free course today! Upcoming courses included: Collaborating with Teams; Excel Fundamentals; File Storage & Sharing: OneDrive, Teams, & SharePoint; OneNote; Teams Calls; and Teams Calls: Shared Phone Numbers. If you can’t make it to the live course, the Online Training page has course recordings and resources. Contact uwm-techtraining@uwm.edu with questions.
Thankful Thursday: a UWM Employee Get Together, hosted by Chancellor Mark Mone, will be held on Thursday, February 13 from 2-3:30 p.m. in the UWM Union Gasthaus. Enjoy complimentary food and soft drinks with your peers and meet new friends from across campus divisions. Please consider bringing a food or hygiene item to donate to the UWM Food Center and Pantry, which will directly benefit student wellbeing. RSVP here and share something you’re thankful for (RSVP appreciated but not required to attend).
All UWM employees are invited to attend an in-person leadership panel discussion entitled, “Leading and Thriving in Challenging Times,” in the Student Union Fireside Lounge on Tuesday, February 18 from 1-2:30 p.m. Register by Wednesday, February 12.
The UWM Alumni Association invites you to its annual Alumni Awards Evening on Friday, February 21 at The Pfister Hotel to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our UWM alumni and partners. Individual tickets are $100 and a UWM school/college table (seating 8 guests) is available at the discounted rate of $1,000. To secure your table or to get more information, please contact Bonnie Fuggiasco (fuggiasc@uwm.edu; 414-229-5305). View the list of awardees.
The Libraries are hosting a celebration on Thursday, March 27 honoring UWM employees whose published monographs and recordings have been added to the UWM Authors Collection during the two years since the previous ceremony in 2023. The event is co-sponsored by the Office of Research. Employees who have written, edited, translated, or illustrated a book; composed music for a published score or recording; or had a primary role in creating a commercially distributed film or video since the last event should fill our the UWM authors submission form to ensure inclusion in the March 27 event.
The Center for 21st Century Studies is pleased to announce its Call for Collaboratories for the 2025-2026 academic year. Collaborative project funding provides an opportunity to bring together teams of scholars across disciplines, across university and community partnerships, and across emerging and established scholars. The application deadline is Friday, March 28. More information.
The UWM Libraries and the Institute of Physics (IOP) upgraded their journal access agreement to allow open access publishing by UWM authors without paying article processing charges for 2025-2027. Corresponding authors can publish open access in nearly all IOP journals on lists A, B, and D. See details about the UWM open access agreements with five publishers at: Open Access Read and Publish Agreements.

Heiko Zuerker, enterprise architect at Northwestern Mutual, will discuss, “Taking AI Agents to Production,” at the Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute (NMDSI) virtual speaker series on Tuesday, February 18 from 10-11 a.m. Information and registration.
Hear the latest in public health research and practice in the Zilber College of Public Health’s seminar series. Seminars are held weekly on Thursday mornings from 9-9:50 a.m. in the Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research Complex and virtually via Teams. Coffee and bagels will be served. More information.
The Asia in Conversation Series returns for Spring 2025 on Friday, February 21, from 3:30-5 p.m. via Zoom. Lia Wolock (Communication) will discuss, “Media Circulations and Risky Publics,” with Darshana Sreedhar Mini (UW-Madison) and Pallavi Rao (University of Virginia). More information.
The Center for Student Experience & Talent will host, “From Incarceration to Empowerment: Simulation and Dialogue Series,” in the UWM Student Union from February 24-March 14. Activities, events, and engagement call attention to the system of incarceration and individuals impacted by it within the context of UWM and Wisconsin. Information and registration.