Provost's Update: Friday, April 4, 2025

Office of the Provost

Friday, April 4 2025

Good afternoon, colleagues. Here is this week’s update from Academic Affairs.

The AI Taskforce (AITF) that was launched in March of 2024 has completed its work and issued a final report. The AITF was formed to assess how UWM can best leverage AI services for the success of our students and stakeholders. More than 50 students, faculty, and staff took part in the AITF’s work and I appreciate the leadership of Scott Genung, Associate Vice Chancellor for IT and CIO, and Dr. Purush Papatla, Co-Director, Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute, and Brian Thompson, Chief Innovation & Partnership Officer, Office of Strategic Partnerships in this effort.

AITF was composed of six workgroups. The first four were focused on the impact of AI on teaching and learning, research, student success, and business operations. The other workgroups were centered on identifying the AI technology infrastructure and talent required to deliver this impact and practices that provide guidance for safe and responsible use of these technologies at UWM.

Highlights from the AITF Final Report

Data security and privacy, the AITF was able to secure protections from vendors to ensure data security and FERPA compliance.
Microsoft Copilot Chat, featuring Enterprise Data Protection, is an AI service that is now available to all students, faculty, and staff at UWM. https://copilot.cloud.microsoft
Additional specialized AI tools have been identified for use by UWM.
IT governance groups will continue the work started by the AITF.
AI Center of Excellence and AI website will be launched to continue campus collaboration, including practical next steps including promoting skills development across campus, and utilizing existing expertise.
UWM will continue to pursue institutional collaborations to leverage resources.

I encourage you to read the full report to learn more about the workgroups and key outcomes of the AITF.

Additionally, if you’d like more information on AI applications in courses the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) director Natasha Jankowski presented recently to the associate deans and department chairs about AI and Academic Integrity which includes information and resources about using AI in courses. CETL also has guidance and training about AI and teaching on their website.

The Accessibility Resource Center (ARC) Excellence Award recognizes instructional staff members who demonstrate exemplary service to ARC students and staff. Students nominate their instructors so ARC may honor their dedication and commitment. Congratulations to this year's winners: Lindsey Hieber, Alecia Corbett, Julianna Marie Miller, Jamie Bertsch, Aaron Mandell, Sarah E. MacDonald, Han Joo Lee, Eric Lohman, and Yaron Zoller.

Prof. Daniel Agterberg (Physics) has been awarded funding from the Simons Foundation to participate in the Simons Collaboration on New Frontiers in Superconductivity. Prof Agterberg’s research focuses on correlated quantum materials with an emphasis on superconductivity and magnetism.

A Center for Water Policy paper, “Inside ESG Reporting: Thirsty Data Centers Reveal Limits to Transparency,” was published by the American Bar Association. Water Policy Specialist Peyton McCauley, Director Melissa Scanlan, and UWM-SFS Master’s student Dan McLennon recently explored private environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting to assess the water consumption of AI and data centers and discussed the limitations.

Asst. Prof. Tom Shi (Civil & Environmental Engineering) appeared on TJM4-TV news to explain the many devices involved in collecting the right information needed to make vehicles autonomous. Shi’s lab has part of a larger grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to work on overcoming obstacles of putting AVs into use in rural areas. Watch the segment.

Faculty and students from the Department of Communication are presenting their research at the Central States Communication Association Convention. Undergraduate students Justin Gottfredsen and Evelyn Rojas were selected to present their research. Several UWM attendees are receiving awards for research, including graduate students Alima Abdul-Karimu, Emmanuel Appiah, Alexandra Parr Balaram, Cassandra D. Hightower, Ousman Mbaye, Candice Ruh, Xiola Schneiderman, and Sarra Ben Slama, as well as faculty Xiaoxia Cao, Kim Marie Omachinski, Sarah E. Riforgiate, and Erin Ruppel.

Celebrate National Student Employment Week with Center for Student Experience and Talent (SET.) April 10-16, there will be events for all students to partake in. Supervisors who sign up as a team with at least one student employee can accrue points for completing challenges and take home the Panther's at Work Cup. Full list of events and registration.
The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, along with UWM Union Student Involvement, and Union Cinema present UWM’s Latin American Film Series (LAFS) this April for its 46th year, showcasing recent feature-length films from across Latin America and the Caribbean. All films will be shown in their original language with English subtitles. Free and open to the public. Schedule of showtimes and trailers.
Campus partners in the Division of Student Affairs are coming together to provide education and events focused on Sexual Assault Awareness Month in the month of April. Events and programs will be hosted by the Student Health and Wellness Center, Women's Resource Center, LGBTQ+ Resource Center, and Sociocultural Programming. Listing of events and workshops.
At the Friends of Art History guest lecture, Nancy J. Troy will examine Yves Saint Laurent’s wildly popular series of Mondrian dresses of 1965 to reveal the significance of these designs for the French couturier’s career, their impact on Piet Mondrian’s posthumous reception, and their resonances with the pop art of Roy Lichtenstein, Tom Wesselmann, and Andy Warhol on April 10, 2025, 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Mitchell 191. Event information.

Join the UWM Alumni Association and the Campus Activities Board on Tuesday, April 15, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Spaights Plaza to celebrate 414 for UWM Giving Days! Enjoy games, a DJ, photo opportunities, and free food while connecting with fellow Panthers and showing your UWM pride. Event information.
Free faculty and staff headshots from the Center for Student Experience and Talent (SET). SET will host an “open house” for faculty/staff to get their professional photo taken by the new Iris Photobooth, visit the UWM Career Closet, and grab a free cup of coffee in Vogel Hall on April 7 and 8 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

UWM’s student-run publication, UWM Post, has partnered with UWM’s Atmospheric Science Department to offer daily on-campus weather forecasts. Every day UWM Post will release a 5-day forecast. Students can also subscribe to the UWM Post Newsletter to get daily on-campus weather forecasts sent straight to their email. Get the forecast.
A new Center for Water Policy video highlights partnerships dedicated to restoring lake sturgeon in the Milwaukee Estuary. The lake sturgeon population in the Great Lakes has dropped to less than 1% of historic numbers, but dedicated efforts are underway to change that by organizations like Milwaukee Riverkeeper, the Deng Aquaculture Lab at UW-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences, and Riveredge Nature Center. This short film exhibits a story of progress for lake sturgeon restoration efforts in the Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern.
A multi-disciplinary event, Artistic Representations of Aging, highlights a photo exhibit, film, and panel discussion — all centered around aging. The UWM Helen Bader Office of Applied Gerontology, Student Gerontology Association at UWM, the Focus Photography Club at UWM, and Milwaukee Film invite you to attend an event centered around artistic representations of aging on Friday, May 2, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the UWM Student Union, Room 280. Information and RSVP.