Dear Colleagues,

I’m writing today with recent staffing updates in the Provost’s Office.

Vice Provost for Partnerships & Initiatives
Phyllis King, Vice Provost for Partnerships & Initiatives, is retiring from UWM on August 17, 2024. Phyllis began her career at UWM in 1993 and since that time, she has held many roles within the Occupational Therapy Department and in the College of Health Professions & Sciences – including as a faculty member, department chair, program director, director of campus ergonomic services, and associate dean. Since 2010, she has also served as an associate vice chancellor in Academic Affairs, and her most recent role has been as an administrative and strategic officer for academic partnerships and innovations. She is the executive director of Moon Shot for Equity, and administrative lead for the Higher Education Regional Alliance (HERA), and M-Cubed, a partnership between Milwaukee Public Schools, Milwaukee Area Technical College and UW-Milwaukee.

Phyllis has been very involved in her profession and in community service. She is a past president, and longtime member, of the Association for Schools Advancing Health Professions. She is also a past president of the UWM Alumni Association and served for seven years as the Faculty Athletics Representative for UWM to the Horizon League. She has served on a large number of committees, councils and boards, both at UWM and in the community.

I would like to thank Phyllis for her dedication, hard work, and service to the campus and community over the course of 31 years at UWM. In her next chapter, Phyllis will support Wisconsin non-profit leaders as a Bader Foundation Fellow.

Student Success and Retention Portfolio Changes
As previously announced, Dave Clark has accepted the position of Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. With Phyllis’ departure and Dave’s new portfolio in mind, Academic Affairs and Enrollment Management are working to reorganize around student success and retention efforts with an eye toward enhanced outcomes and resource maximization.

The roles formerly held by Phyllis and Dave will not be backfilled in their previous format. I’ve asked Kay Eilers, Associate Vice Chancellor – Enrollment Management, to take the lead on incorporating these responsibilities into a refreshed enrollment management structure with a specific focus on student success. This realignment creates opportunity for UWM to ensure coordination for our retention and student success efforts, ensure we are institutionalizing the work of the M-Cubed, Moon Shot for Equity and HERA initiatives, and advance elements of the academic advising proposal.

UWM University Centers Director
Suzanne Boyd will become the UWM University Centers Director, as of Fall 2024, to facilitate the launch of University Centers at Waukesha County Technical College, Moraine Park Technical College, and future regional technical college partners. 

Special Assistant to the Provost for Space Planning
I am pleased to announce that Professor Mark Srite (Lubar College of Business) has accepted the position of Special Assistant to the Provost for Space Planning, effective August 19, 2024.

Mark earned his PhD in Management Information Systems from Florida State University and joined UWM in 2000. He has been the Lubar College of Business Director of Accreditation since 2010 and served as Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2020 – 2023. His research focuses on areas of technology acceptance across national cultures and issues in enterprise systems adoption. Mark also served as Interim Special Assistant to the Provost for Faculty Affairs during the 2024 spring and summer semesters.

I extend my thanks to Associate Professor Kristene Surerus (Chemistry & Biochemistry), who has held this space planning role since 2015 and is retiring from UWM this month after 31 years of service. Kristene has provided valuable guidance on campus space planning issues. I also wish to thank the Search Committee, chaired by Melissa Spadanuda, for its review of candidates and service to the university.

With appreciation,

Andrew P. Daire, PhD
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
2310 E. Hartford Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53211