News from Academic Affairs

Provost's January 30 Monday Update

Good morning colleagues. Here are this week’s updates from Academic Affairs:

-I am pleased to announce the recipients of the second round of Digital Future grants (the grants vary from $4,000 to $10,000):
*Frankie Flood: Create a Digital Craft Research lab that will provide students and researchers with access to a new CAD/CAM technology called Rapid Prototyping, which is the automated creation of a 3D model;
*Thomas Hruby, Rachel Spilka, Josh Ebert, and Jennifer Watson: Build an on-campus usability testing facility to improve the effectiveness of texts and technologies by analyzing actual user experiences;
*Robert Beck, David Stack, and Rachel Schiffman: Develop a mechanism for quickly and easily creating lists of publications that can be uploaded into Digital Measures;
*Jude Rathburn: Discover innovative ways to harness the power of mobile technologies to enhance student motivation, engagement, and learning;
*Jasmine Alinder, Jeffrey Hawkins, and Merry Wiesner-Hanks: Bring a series of consultants to campus to advise on how to best teach digital history and develop a courses in digital history;
*Dylan Barth, Tanya Joosten, Matthew Russell, and Sharon Stoerger: Host an inexpensive, informal, participant-driven 'unconference' to address new ideas;
*Karl Wallick: Purchase digital fabrication equipment for use within the foundation design architecture curriculum, impacting themes of teaching, research, and university service.

The Digital Future Grant Review Committee did an outstanding job; my thanks to members Beth Weckmueller (Chair), Judith Kuhn, Daniel Laughland, Quinn Madson, Latonia Pernell, Sally Stanton, Sharon Stoerger, and Michael Zimmer.

-Chancellor Mike Lovell and I will be participating in a Brown Bag Forum with the Graduate School from 12-1 p.m. today in Union 280.

-The first meeting of the Search and Screen Committee for the Dean of the School of Continuing Education will take place later today.

-On February 4, the Southeast Wisconsin Regional Science Olympiad will be held at UWM with about 200 area students competing in science, mathematics, and problem-solving competitions. Coordinator of the event is Dr. Ray Scolavino, School of Education, with activity and judging assistance provided by the MACSTEP science and mathematics teaching certification students. UWM is slated to host the State Science Olympiad in 2013.

-The Gold Meir Library, the School of Continuing Education, and the School of Education will host the First Friday gathering on February 3, from 4-6 p.m., Library 4th floor. Come and enjoy Louisiana crawfish, other New Orleans delicacies, and a little bit of jazz. Wear your mask, beads, and other Mardi Gras fashion.

-From the Sam and Helen Stahl Center for Jewish Studies: Prof. Rachel Baum, FLL, will take the audience on a tour of “A Second Life for the Jews of Europe: Shoah & Virtual Memory.” The event will be held on February 1, 2012 at 7 p.m. at the Sister Camille Kliebhan Conference Center, Cardinal Stritch University, Fox Point. Read more at http://www4.uwm.edu/jewishstudies/news_events/images/2011_Legacy_Heritage.pdf.

-Budget meetings will continue this week with the Lubar School of Business, the Graduate School, the UWM Libraries, UITS, and the School of Education.

-Registration for "Inclusive Excellence 2012 - Realigning for Inclusivity: Reframing Diversity at UWM" on Friday, March 2, 2012 is available at http://mydevelopment.uwm.edu/longview.cfm?eventid=44986.

-Kudos to

  -Rebecca Klaper, School of Freshwater Sciences, who went to Washington last week to brief the EPA and Congressional committees on behalf of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) regarding an NAS report on the risks of nanotechnology. She served on the authoring committee for the report, "A Research Strategy for Environmental, Health, and Safety Aspects of Engineered Nanomaterials," which was developed to answer a Congressional mandate to EPA and the Academies. http://blogs.nature.com/news/2012/01/research-strategy-urged-on-risks-of-nanotechnology.html

-Jacques Du Plessis (faculty member at SOIS) shared with me the idea of knowledge cafes (KCs) on campus.

The idea: an eclectic gathering of interested folks (based on personal interest rather than being connected or invited) to discuss a common topic of interest. The idea originated that often the voluntary knowledge mining within a group is greater than that of an identified expert, hence a strategy to allow individuals to learn from each other and to collectively enhance their knowledge. A benefit of a KC is that it is interdisciplinary, it is open (people and agenda) and it can spawn new research and enhance existing intellectual investigations. Please contact Jacques if interested (jacques@uwm.edu).


Take care,

Johannes

--

Johannes Britz
Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Provost's January 23 Monday Update

Good morning colleagues, as we begin the first day of instruction for spring semester. Here are this week’s updates from Academic Affairs:

-The Chancellor's Plenary Address is this Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 2:30 p.m. in the Wisconsin Room of the UWM Union. A live webcast of the plenary will be available to those unable to attend the presentation in person. The URL for the plenary is: http://www.liveplenary.uwm.edu

-Patrice Petro reminded me that there is still time to apply to CIE's Global Studies Research Fellows Program; the deadline for proposals is noon today, Monday, January 23rd. Questions: Please contact Tracy Buss (tbuss@uwm.edu). Also see http://www4.uwm.edu/cie/staff/2105.

-The Campus Space Planning Committee will be holding an all-day retreat on January 25th to advance space planning.

-The Reaccreditation Steering Committee will be meeting on Tuesday, January 24 from 10:30 - 12:00 in the Regent's Room.

-Budget meetings will continue this week, with Budget meetings with the School of Information Studies, the Peck School of the Arts, and the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare.

-UWM's Digital Future: The UWM Class of 2016 Facebook page is now live at: http://www.facebook.com/UWMilwaukee2016.

-UWM Student Voter ID Cards: I will keep you posted.

-Friday's retreat on Removing Obstacles to Student Success: Retention, Remediation, and Recruitment offered a wonderful opportunity to envision our way forward in making UWM a 'best place to learn.' Photos from the retreat are at http://www.flickr.com//photos/66798555@N03/sets/72157628984616701/show/. This first stage of enrollment planning will culminate in an April meeting with the deans and governance groups to define a strategic enrollment plan that advances the Chancellor's strategic vision for UWM.

-The Panthers compete against Butler (Thursday at 7:00 p.m., it's Military Appreciation night and fans receive a camouflage hat) and Valpo (Saturday at 1:00 p.m., Kids Day, all Kids are admitted for only $1.00, Kid's Day activities include face painting, coloring booth, post game autographs with the players, visits from Pounce and the Milwaukee Cheerleaders).

-Help us welcome the new Grind Coffee Shop which opened on Thursday, January 19 in the NWQ along the main corridor on the first floor. The sixth campus Grind menu will feature (in addition to coffee!) smoothies, organic teas, a selection of grab and go sandwiches, salads, yogurt, fruit juices, and fresh bakery items. Hours will be 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Friday and closed on weekends.

-On Monday January 30 Restaurant Operations will open the first store on Campus with an entire focus on local, all natural, organic, non-processed foods. The newest convenience store entitled “RESTORE nurture your core” will open up in the NWQ right off the main corridor next to the brand new Grind Coffee Shop! They tell me that free samples will be distributed on Monday, January 30 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Regular store hours will be Monday – Friday 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

-Registration for the "Inclusive Excellence 2012 - Realigning for Inclusivity: Reframing Diversity at UWM" on Friday, March 2, 2012 is available at http://mydevelopment.uwm.edu/longview.cfm?eventid=44986.


-Kudos to

   -School of Education Associate Dean Gail Schneider and an outstanding 3-department group of faculty, who won the competition to secure a contract with Milwaukee Public Schools to provide professional development to 25 aspiring principals over the next 18 months. Faculty leaders of the project are Assistant Professor of Administrative Leadership Latish Reid and Associate Professor of Educational Policy Raji Swaminathan.

   -Craig Berg (Curriculum & Instruction), who is one of a group of science teachers being recognized by the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE) for his work with TEACHLive, and the virtual teaching lab he runs here in Enderis. The award is the AACTE 2012 Innovative Technology Award.

   -Jeff Tiger (Psychology). He has been selected as the 2012 recipient of the B. F. Skinner Foundation Young Researcher Award in the area of applied research. This award recognizes his contributions to applied behavior analysis and his potential for future contributions. His research is in the area of developmental disabilities, particularly on interventions for problem behavior and skills deficits and on skills training for those with visual impairment.

   -Chantal Wright (Foreign Languages and Literature) has won the inaugural Cliff Becker Book Prize in Translation. The prize, given for an English translation of a volume of poetry, is awarded by the creative writing program at the University of Missouri, White Pine Press, and the Cliff Becker Endowment for the Literary Arts. Chantal received a publication contract that will result in a bilingual volume of her literary translation.

   -The UWM Panthers men's and women's swimming teams, which had big wins over the University of Chicago on Saturday:
http://uwmpanthers.cstv.com/sports/m-swim/recaps/012112aaa.html

   -Congratulations to Stephanie Obst who recently became Miss Milwaukee 2012. Stephanie is a senior in the Journalism, Advertising and Media Studies program. The Miss Milwaukee pageant is the first step to Miss Wisconsin and Miss America, the largest provider of scholarships for women. Stephanie will compete for Miss Wisconsin this June.

-Ingrid Jordt (for Anthropology) is currently in Bhutan and sent me the following interesting bit of news about Bhutan’s notion of GNH (Gross National Happiness): Here is the government's own website developed for assessing GNH ( http://www.grossnationalhappiness.com/ ). In short, GNH is directed toward assessing quality of life along more psychological and holistic assessments and not simply by economic indicators such as GDP. It has just been adopted by the UN (July 2011) as an assessment factor which now includes happiness as the ninth Millennium Development Goal (MDG).

Take care and have a good start to the semester (and happy Lunar New Year).

Johannes

--

Johannes Britz
Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Provost's January 17 Tuesday Update

Good morning colleagues. Here are this week’s updates from Academic Affairs:

-The Academic Deans Council meets later today. On the agenda: TAs/PAs/RAs salaries for fall 2012 (David Yu); Growing Power (Stan Stojkovic); strategic goals (from the Chancellor); UWM space at Grand Avenue Mall.

-This Friday there will be a Removing Obstacles to Student Success: Retention, Remediation, and Recruitment working retreat at the School of Continuing Education. This first stage of enrollment planning will culminate in a March meeting with the deans and governance groups to define a strategic enrollment plan that advances the Chancellor's strategic vision for UWM.

-My Office will also start the ‘mid-term’ budget meetings with the School and Colleges. I meet this week with L & S and the School of Continuing Education.

-Wednesday the Chancellor and I will hold a brownbag meeting with the UWM Libraries.

-UWM welcomed a delegation from South Korea's KonKuk University last week Tuesday to discuss possible collaboration with UWM.

-Last Tuesday a new Online Student Services group met with the goal of increasing 24/7 access to student services. Subcommittees on creating a virtual student services hub, text messaging, a one-stop student services website/mobile site, synchronous communication with web conferencing tool Elluminate, consolidated evening hours, and podcasting/videocasting were launched. The groups will develop action plans by May 1, furthering the goals of the UWM's Digital Future planning initiative.

-The Academic Opportunity Center (AOC) is proud to announce the addition of two new staff members. Dr. Karen Parrish Baker is joining us as Assistant Director for Instruction. Dr. Baker is relocating from Texas and earned her doctorate in Educational Policy & Leadership from The Ohio State University. She brings a strong and varied background in teaching, administration, and counseling, as well as expertise in grant-writing. Pamela Schoessling is joining AOC in the role of Academic Advisor. She earned her Master of Arts Degree in Education from Mount Mary College, and brings extensive experience in advising. We look forward to welcoming both new staff members to our AOC family and to UW-Milwaukee. Welcome!

-The UWM in New Orleans UWinteriM course has just concluded for 2012; I was in New Orleans this past weekend and I continue to be impressed at the dedication our students, faculty, and staff bring to this immersive educational experience. Along with colleagues from Letters and Science, Heath Sciences, PSOA, Engineering, and Nursing, I attended a reception for New Orleans-area alumni.
The UWM in New Orleans Facebook page is at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/UW-Milwaukee-NOLA-WinterIM-2012/299165720135760

-The Student Accessibility Center (SAC) is very pleased to announce that Martin Keller, Jr. has recently joined the department as the Assistant Director. Martin will oversee SAC’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program, along with other responsibilities. Martin comes to SAC with vast experience in educating deaf and hard of hearing students. SAC will host a reception for Martin at a later date.

-Registration for the "Inclusive Excellence 2012 - Realigning for Inclusivity: Reframing Diversity at UWM" on Friday, March 2, 2012 is available at http://mydevelopment.uwm.edu/longview.cfm?eventid=44986. As part of the registration process, you will be asked to submit a question with the prompt “What's your question about diversity and inclusion at UWM?” Responses will be used to guide discussions on Friday , March 2, 2012 . This event is followed by the PSOA First Friday Reception, honoring Ed Burgess and welcoming the 2012 Diversity Fellows. For more information and questions, please contact Monica Lawrence at lawrencm@uwm.edu.

-Kudos to

-Library award winners: Recipients of the 2011 UWM Libraries Outstanding Achievement Awards, sponsored by the Carl and Janet Moebius endowment and the Friends of the Golda Meir Library, were honored last Tuesday, January 10, at a ceremony in the fourth floor Conference Center of the library. The winners were Kristin Miller Woodward, Instruction Design Librarian (academic staff); Giulia Caspari, Shelf Supervisor (support staff); and Erin Kunert, who works in the Interlibrary Loan Department (student employee). See: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66798555@N03/6691470245/

-The Zilber School of Public Health, which has garnered acclaim for partnering with the Milwaukee Health Department on the Strong Babies ad campaign, which aims to prevent premature births in Milwaukee. Here are some photos from last week's press conference with the Mayor: http://www.flickr.com//photos/66798555@N03/sets/72157628842769135/show/

-Jen Murray, Director of the UWM LGBT Center, who was honored on Saturday, January 14 at the 2012 Fair Wisconsin Education Fund Leadership Awards Dinner. Jen has been named the 2012 "Activist of the Year," and joins honorees from the Lambda Legal Defense Fund, the Alliance School, and Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele. Well done Jen…we are very proud of you!

-…and Mordecai Lee (faculty member at the School of Continuing Education) for being quoted yesterday in the New York Times.

In remembrance:

-Craig Sandgren, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, died Dec. 24, 2011, in Shorewood, WI. A native of Minneapolis, Craig held BS and MS degrees from the University of Minnesota. His love of nature, and particularly all things aquatic, led him to the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Laboratories, where he earned a PhD. Craig was a UWM faculty member for 25 years, and served for 3 years as the Bio Sci department chair. Craig was an aquatic ecologist with broad interests in the ecology, taxonomy, and physiology of algae, aquatic community ecology, ecology of invasive and nuisance species, and habitat restoration. Craig inspired both graduate and undergraduate students. His research included fieldwork on Lake Michigan, Midwestern northern lakes, and the Pacific Northwest. Craig also taught seaweeds and marine phytoplankton classes at the Friday Harbor Laboratories. A celebration of his life was held January 2 .

-There will be a gathering to celebrate the life of Ed Burgess, Chair and Professor of Dance, on Sunday, February 5 from 10:30-noon (ceremony from 11-noon) at the Zelazo Center. Please consider making a gift in support of the Ed Burgess Legacy Scholarship Fund. Attendees are encouraged to stay for the Department of Dance performance of Winterdance: Fate/Love & Loss at 2pm on the Mainstage Theatre (tickets available at 229-4308 or one hour before the performance.)

Take care and have a good start to the semester (Packer game a bit depressing, but congratulations to my Australian colleagues celebrating the cricket victory of Australia over India).

Johannes

--

Johannes Britz
Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Provost's January 9 Monday Update

Good morning colleagues. I wish you all a successful and good 2012.

Here are this week’s updates from Academic Affairs:

-From UITS: The UWM website is undergoing a redesign, with a target launch date of January 17. The refreshed site will feature more personal stories, a new search results display, and easier access to needed information. Here is a link to a design mock-up: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66798555@N03/6666889267/
Note that there will be a link to provide input on the site after it launches.

-Pam Kissinger from the Travel Office asked me also to alert you to an information session on hotel and meeting space that they plan for February 27 (Monday). The format will be similar to the annual benefits fair where exhibitors are available to speak to people about their services and answer questions. The state hotel listing was discontinued in June and a replacement process has not yet been determined. According to Pam there is a lot of confusion about what hotels can/should be used, what are their rates, where are they located, etc. While registrations are not required, the Travel Office is asking for people to sign up so that sufficient materials can be made available.
Attendees can register on the MyDevelopment website at https://www4.uwm.edu/employeedev/longview.cfm?eventid=45008

-I read this article on active learning strategies with interest and I am passing it along:
http://www.npr.org/2012/01/01/144550920/physicists-seek-to-lose-the-lecture-as-teaching-tool?ps=cprs

-Kudos to

-College of Health Sciences Echocardiography student Denise Marie Spiegel, who has received the Alan D. Waggoner Award from the American Society of Echocardiography. This is the top student award in the discipline of echocardiography and Denise will be the first recipient from the state of Wisconsin to receive this award.

-The UWM team of four students (all from the Peck School of the Arts) that won first place in the Harbin Engineering University International Collegiate Snow Sculpture Competition. There were 49 teams (9 international and 40 domestic teams) in the competition. Our students did a remarkable job, turning a huge block of snow into a fine piece of art work in a little more than three days and under 0 to -20 degree Celsius temperature. The title of the UWM team's sculpture is Starting Anew, which depicts the early spring scenery in Wisconsin. Our students not only performed exceptionally well in the competition, but they were also great ambassadors for UWM and our country (we were the only team from the U.S.). David Yu sent us some pictures, they are really worth looking at: http://www.flickr.com//photos/66798555@N03/sets/72157628793033735/show/

-Last week we received sad news of the passing of two eminent colleagues, whose work shaped UWM in its formative years:

-Martin Haberman, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Curriculum and Instruction, whose tenure at UWM lasted 43 years. The Memorial Service will be held on Sunday, January 15, 2012 at Goodman-Bensman Funeral Home, 4750 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Whitefish Bay. Visitation will begin at 11:00 a.m. and the service will begin at 1:00 p.m. His biography is at http://www.habermanfoundation.org/DrMartinHaberman.aspx?sm=a2 and

-James Sappenfield, Professor Emeritus of English (see http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/jsonline/obituary.aspx?n=james-a-sappenfield-jim&pid=155324393 )

- I will be in New Orleans on Saturday attending an alum event.

Take care and have a good week,

Johannes

--

Johannes Britz
Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

December 2011 UWM Report Article "From the Provost" online

The December 2011 issue of the UWM Report is out, and you will find this month's "From the Provost" column – UWM’s reaccreditation: thoughts on student learning outcomes, at: http://www4.uwm.edu/acad_aff/newsevents/report/11december.pdf .

Back issues of the UWM Report's "From the Provost" column can be found on Academic Affairs' web site at: http://www4.uwm.edu/acad_aff/newsevents/report/index.cfm.