November 3, 2023 Friday Update
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November 3, 2023
Friday Update |
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Good morning, colleagues. Here is this week's update from Academic Affairs.
As the Chancellor highlighted in his plenary, UWM is facing enrollment challenges. Our enrollments have declined for most of our undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs. These declines necessitate a closer look within each college to identify opportunities for reinvesting resources into programs of significance, prominence, and growth. I have consulted with the University Committee, the Academic Staff Committee, and the Secretary of the University regarding this initiative.
I have asked the deans to work with the appropriate faculty curricular committees in their units to analyze program array, using data resources from the Office of Assessment and Institutional Research along with an examination of labor market trends and state or online competitor analysis (my office is providing support on labor market/competitor trends).
This will be a two-step process, with a preliminary list due to me by January 15 and a finalized plan, due by July 1, 2024. The submitted lists will address program growth, reinvention and curricular innovation, any program closures along with how human and other resources will be reinvested into areas of growth, and any new programs.
In addition to program array renewal, Academic Affairs and Enrollment Management are working to build new enrollments and improve the success of our current students. For enrollment, we are expanding partnerships with regional technical colleges and high schools and developing market-expanding partnerships, including collaborations with companies that provide tuition benefits to employees. For retention, we are implementing best practices, including expanding re-entry and retention grants, providing targeted outreach to struggling students, and overhauling our support for students on probation.
We have to think about how we can do things differently if we are to stabilize and then grow our enrollments.
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Rachel Bloom-Pojar (English) received the Conference on Community Writing’s Outstanding Article Award for her co-authored article, “To Community Care: Enacting Positive Barriers to Access as Good Relations.”
Ching-Hong Yang’s (Biological Sciences) funded projects promise to transform the battle against crop diseases, benefiting organic farming. He received $1.4M from the USDA NIFA EDCRE to address Citrus Huanglongbing (HLB), which infects up to 100% of Florida citrus trees within a year of planting. Concurrently, with a $1M USDA Organic Transit program grant, Dr. Yang’s team is exploring Pseudomonas soli strain T307 to counter apple fire blight.
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I would like to express my appreciation to all the members of the campus community who attended one of the three listening sessions/town halls that I held this semester. There were nearly 500 individuals who attended either in person or virtually. Participants asked great questions that showed their commitment to UWM and its mission. I learned a lot about our community from these sessions, and I am committed to holding a listening session once per semester for students, in collaboration with the Student Association, and a town hall once per semester for faculty and staff.
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Conflict transformation tips for instructors
Conflict in the classroom is simultaneously a potential learning opportunity and a potential disruption to learning. Many members of our UWM community are personally impacted by the violence occurring in Palestine and Israel, and this may be showing up in the classroom through students’ comments, questions, or deeply felt emotions. If you’re an instructor experiencing this, here are a few suggestions.
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Acknowledge it. When tensions or strong emotions are present in the classroom, say or do something to acknowledge that. This may be as simple as pausing, naming the tension, expressing concern for students’ wellbeing. If you and your students need to re-ground yourselves, a mindfulness exercise or reflective journaling may help.
- Discuss it, maybe. If you are wondering whether you should devote class time to discussing a conflict, consider:
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- How relevant is the conflict to your course topic and learning outcomes? How much class time can you afford to give?
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How able do you feel—both in professional expertise and in your emotional state—to facilitate the discussion well?
- Are students in a space where they can listen well and learn together?
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Or move on, if more appropriate. When conditions are right for a fruitful discussion, learning can be transformative. But other times, it’s better to acknowledge why this moment in class isn’t the right time and place for a fuller discussion.
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Connect students to resources. If individual students seem especially affected, it may be important to follow up with them outside of class time and connect them to resources.
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Address disruptions. If student behavior(s) are disruptive to learning, ask the student to stop and attempt to deescalate in a way that is minimally impactful to the class. You can consider taking a break and speaking with the student or ask the student to leave if the disruption continues. More information about how to address classroom disruptions is available in this policy. If you have any questions, you can always contact the Dean of Students Office.
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Advancing 2030 Plan Priorities |
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The Graduate School Open House will be held on Thursday, November 9 from 5 – 7 p.m. in the Union Wisconsin Room. Students will be able to visit with representatives from their program of interest and the Graduate School will pay the application fee for all applicants who attend the Open House and began their application on or after August 15. More information.
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Student scholarship application season for 2024-2025 is underway! UWM is looking to increase awareness of student scholarships, as fewer than 20% of continuing students apply annually. UWM offers scholarships based on a variety of factors, including academic merit, financial need, leadership, and service. Scholarship promotion toolkit.
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The Center for International Education (CIE) is calling for proposals for supporting projects in line with the Title VI National Recourse Center grant for fall 2023 through summer 2024. This grant supports faculty initiatives focused on sociocultural programming, pedagogical training, curriculum development, and professional development in US/ED-approved less-commonly-taught languages and area studies. More information.
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The UWM Libraries invite proposals for the 2024 Morris Fromkin Memorial Research Grant and Lecture. The grant encourages and assists UWM scholars in all fields of study to conduct research on individuals, groups, movements, and ideas that have influenced the quest for social justice and human rights in the United States. Deadline to apply is January 12, 2024. More information.
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Join UWM’s Military and Veterans Resource Center on Thursday, November 9 from 9 a.m. – Noon in the Union Ballroom as the campus and community come together to serve a buffet-style brunch to our veterans in honor of Veterans Day.
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The Chancellor’s Committee for Hispanic Serving Initiatives will host its first Hispanic Serving Initiatives Day of Engagement (HSIDOE) at UWM on Friday, November 10. The main guest/speaker will be author and HSI expert, Dr. Gina Garcia. Information and RSVP.
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Seeds of Culture: The Portraits of Native American Women, an exhibition by Indigenous photographer Matika Wilber, will be on display in the Union Art Gallery from November 16 – December 15. Ms. Wilber will also be presenting a keynote about the exhibit on November 16 from 6 – 7 p.m. in the Union Ballroom.
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Disrupt Aging Classroom is a 2.5-hour, interactive curriculum that challenges students to examine their perceptions of aging and think 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. The course was created by AARP and Jen Kahn-Pettigrew (Social Work) is the campus representative. Request class presentation.
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Join the New Student Programs team on Wednesday, November 8 from 2 – 3:15 p.m. via Teams to review the orientation and transition process for spring and summer 2024 incoming UWM students. Teams link.
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The Non-Instructional Academic Staff Committee will host a hybrid workshop entitled, “How Can I Be of Service,” on Thursday, November 9 from 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in the American Geographic Society Library (GML E370) and via Teams. This workshop will help academic staff learn about university and community service opportunities available at UWM and what the NTASRC and IRASRC committees look for in an indefinite file. Teams link.
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The Center for Student Experience and Talent (SET) is hosting a panel discussion on Tuesday, November 14 from 4 – 5:30 p.m. regarding opportunities for students to do national service when they graduate through organizations such as the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, HealthCorps, and Justice Corps. More information.
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WWHEL presents Navigating Difficult Conversations with Lauren Pagenkopf on Thursday, November 16 from 12 – 2 p.m. in the Library Fourth Floor Conference Center and via Zoom. Discover your style under stress and develop some basic tools to manage the conversation in the moment. Registration.
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WWHEL will sponsor attendance for 10 academic staff at the 2024 Women Leaders Conference on March 1, 2024, from 9 a.m. – 5:15 p.m., featuring keynote speakers JuJu Chang, Emmy-award winning co-anchor of ABC News’s “Nightline,” and Anat Baron, Futurist, Tech Entrepreneur, and former CEO of Mike’s Hard Lemonade. To apply, use this link no later than Friday, November 17.
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With appreciation,
Andrew P. Daire, PhD
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
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