Provost's Update: Friday, September 19, 2025

Office of the Provost

Friday, September 19, 2025

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

One of the benefits of working on a university campus is the access to engaging and exciting events. The fall semester is often jam-packed with sports events, art installations, performances, lectures, and dialogues. I hope that you can take advantage of some of the great experiences UWM offers.

This week, Chancellor Gibson held a plenary session about the things he is learning about UWM. If you missed it, you can watch the recording online. In the Chancellor’s plenary, he mentioned taking in all the experiences on a new university campus and all the things yet to do. Chancellor Gibson also noted that he wants to ensure that UWM is a “model of public service, through our research, access, and community engagement missions.” I agree with this wholeheartedly, and our 2030 Action Plan and commitments ensure that we are strengthening those missions and our continued impact in southeastern Wisconsin and beyond.

This fall, I have already had the opportunity to welcome our new faculty and academic staff at an orientation, welcome all new employees at a separate orientation, and welcome new graduate teaching assistants at a training session. I will continue these meetings by visiting colleges and other units to spend time in dialogue with our faculty and staff. While these visits are limited in time, they provide valuable opportunities to connect with colleagues, learn about their needs, and hear more about the important work they do in support of our instruction, research, access, and community engagement. I will also be spending time with students. It is invigorating to me to spend time hearing about where our mission meets students in the classroom and their departments, through advising, mentorships, labs, and research.

I appreciate all that you are doing to ensure students succeed in both direct and indirect ways, as well as your engagement in the community, research and the future of UWM.

Prof. Krishna Pillai (Mechanical Engineering) delivered a keynote address titled, “Permeability of Porous Media — A Mathematical Complexity Spanning Multiple Length-Scales,” at ICCM 24 (24th International Conference on Composite Materials), Baltimore, MD, Aug 4-8, 2025. He also co-chaired sessions in Permeability Measurements of Textiles, as well as chaired another keynote address.

UWM student Patti Schevers was awarded the 2025-2026 Consuelo W. Gosnell Memorial Scholarship from the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Foundation. This scholarship is awarded to master’s degree candidates in social work who have demonstrated a commitment to working with, or who have a special affinity with, American Indian/Alaska Native and Hispanic/Latino populations. A fourth-generation European American, Patti was born and raised on the Oneida Nation Reservation, where her family still resides. Learn more.

Kyle Khembunjong, a recent graduate of UWM’s classical guitar studio, received second prize and the audience prize at the Josefina P. Tuason International Guitar Competition in Denver. The competition draws talented musicians from around the world.

Throughout the fall semester, the College of Community Engagement & Professions is hosting several events to foster a sense of belonging among its students. During the first few weeks of class, events included two weeks of drop-in advising and a community-building workshop. An upcoming well-being event on Oct. 1 invites students to recharge and reconnect. Learn more about these events and their impact.
Join Women's & Gender Studies (WGS) alumni as they discuss their career paths and what to do with a Women's & Gender Studies degree on Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 2:30 p.m. in the Golda Meir Library 4th Floor Conference Room. Ask questions about the panelists' journeys and get advice on navigating the professional world post-graduation. See more information.
Milwaukee Police Chief and UWM Alum Jeffrey Norman and FBI Milwaukee Special Agent in Charge Michael Hensle recently visited criminal justice classes at UWM for several hours each, offering students a remarkable engagement opportunity. The Higher Education Law Enforcement/Police Education and Recruitment (HELPER) Program is a student-centric program giving participants the chance to connect their classroom learning and personal journeys with a practitioner’s point of view. Learn more about the HELPER program.
September is Suicide Prevention Month. In recognition, the UWM community is hosting Suicide Prevention Awareness Day on September 25th. This day is a time to spread hope, raise awareness, show support, and share vital information for those affected by suicide. The goal is to ensure that everyone has access to the resources they need to discuss suicide prevention and to seek help. See full event details. Additionally, the Student Health and Wellness Center will be offering student bystander intervention training on suicide prevention called, "You Can Help! Prevent Suicide," on October 1 and 2. Students can register for the training on the SHAW website.

Join a growing network of UWM faculty and staff committed to student well-being by completing the Recognize, Respond, Refer: Suicide Prevention Training. This two-part hybrid program equips you with the tools to identify signs of distress, respond with confidence, and connect students to supportive resources. The first session is online and self-paced. Contact Lori Bokowy at labokowy@uwm.edu with any questions or to schedule a Recognize, Response, Refer Part 2 for a specific group. Learn more and sign up online.
Have a workplace concern or conflict? The Ombuds Council is a safe and confidential place to share your UWM-related issues. They will work with you to explore options for managing your concern, ensuring confidentiality, informality, impartiality, and independence. Ombuds are available to meet with any staff, faculty, administrator or graduate at UWM. Learn more about the Ombuds Council online.
A construction project will affect Hartford Avenue traffic and some sidewalks. Due to construction related to a city cable project, traffic on Hartford Avenue will be limited to eastbound traffic only from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, starting next week. The sidewalk on the south side of Hartford will also be closed, as well as the sidewalk on the western side of Downer Avenue.
Renewing Our Civic Culture is an initiative designed to demonstrate how respectful dialogue across differing perspectives can help to bridge divides, reduce affective polarization, and foster empathy. By encouraging deeper mutual understanding and highlighting common values and concerns, this effort aims to strengthen the fabric of our civic community. In collaboration with a range of campus and community partners, UWM’s Divisions of Community Empowerment and Institutional Inclusivity (CEII) and Student Affairs (DSA) host speakers and events that enrich campus conversations and promote inclusive engagement. Renewing Our Civic Culture will feature a guest lecture on October 17 by Dr. Jed Atkins, a distinguished scholar of civic engagement and constructive dialogue. Faculty, staff, and students are all welcome; the event is free and open to the public. See more about this event, the initiative, and register online.
The fall 2025 TechTraining course schedule is now available. View the schedule and register for a free course today. Upcoming Courses include: Collaborating with Teams; Excel Fundamentals; File Storage & Sharing: OneDrive, Teams, & SharePoint; Protect Yourself from Phishing; and more. If you can’t make it to the live course on the scheduled date, the Online Training page has course recordings and resources.
Mark your calendar for the UWM Wisconsin Women in Higher Education Leadership (WWHEL) Fall Welcome on Thursday, October 9, from 3:00 to 4:15 p.m. in the UWM Library 4th Floor Conference Center. This year’s theme is GLOW BOLDLY - come ready to spark new connections with colleagues from across campus, discover exciting WWHEL opportunities for the year ahead, and enjoy light refreshments in a welcoming atmosphere. Please register to attend by October 2, 2025.

The Office of the Provost invites UWM internal applications for the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program. UWM may nominate up to two candidates for this program: one tenured/senior and one untenured/junior scholar. An internal review process will be used to select nominees. The Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program supports scholarship and research that explores the many ways political polarization in the United States manifests itself in society and how it may be mitigated. Studies of polarization in other countries are welcome, provided they offer lessons that can be applied to the United States. See complete information, deadlines, and details online.
Applications are now open for three NMDSI Center of Excellence (COE) programs: Paving ROADS Seed Fund, Pioneer Collaborative Curricula, and Student Scholars. We are excited to continue our academic partnership through these funding opportunities. All COE programs focus on building research capacity in five key areas – AI, AI & data bias/ethics, behavioral economics, financial literacy, and health & wealth inequities. Learn more by reading the full RFAs. Please note that proposals are due for all three programs before Sunday, Oct. 26.
- Paving ROADS Seed Fund: supporting faculty research
- Pioneer Collaborative Curricula: funding new course development
- Student Scholars: supporting students and faculty in research programs
LGBT+ Studies Scholar in Residence presents, "Beyond Barriers: Ethics and Critical Perspectives on Reimagining Gender-Affirming Care in Times of Crisis." At a moment of both progress and precarity, gender-affirming care is expanding even as it comes under attack. While institutions retreat, clinicians continue to uphold their ethical commitments in creative ways. This keynote offers critical perspectives on reimagining care beyond traditional structures and considers how resilience and resistance can sustain ethical practice in times of crisis. Join us on Friday, November 7, from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. in the Alumni Fireside Lounge in the Student Union. Learn more.
The UWM Libraries invite proposals for the 2026 Morris Fromkin Memorial Research Grant and Lecture. The $6,000 grant encourages and assists UWM scholars in all fields of study to conduct research on individuals, movements, and ideas that have influenced the quest for social justice and human rights in the United States. The application deadline is Friday, January 9, 2026. All full-time faculty and academic staff are encouraged to apply, individually or as a group. More information is available here.
The 2025 Morris Fromkin Memorial Lecture will be delivered by Gabriela Nagy, assistant professor in the UWM Department of Psychology, on Thursday, October 30, 2025, at 4:30 p.m. in the 4th-floor Conference Center of the UWM Golda Meir Library, 2311 E. Hartford Avenue. The title of her talk is, “Resilience, Resistance, and Rhetoric: What Latino/a Immigrants Teach Us About Health and Humanity.”

A new Chicago Tribune article highlights how the rapid growth of data centers across the Great Lakes region could strain already finite water resources. Data centers use enormous volumes of water to keep servers cool. The rise of artificial intelligence is accelerating their spread into water-abundant regions like the Great Lakes. The article features insights from Center for Water Policy Director Melissa Scanlan, who underscores that while the Great Lakes are vast, they are not limitless: “Those of us who work in this space think of the Great Lakes more as a finite resource.” Read the Chicago Tribune article.
- See the recently published paper by UWM researchers on this topic.