News from Academic Affairs

Provost's May 21 Monday Update

Good Morning Colleagues,

Here are this week’s updates from Academic Affairs:

-Reminder of an announcement that went out last week: Request For Proposal To Facilitate UWM Strategic Planning Process: UWM is seeking the assistance of a faculty or staff member (it can also be a team effort!) to serve as a facilitator for a comprehensive strategic planning process.
See http://www5.uwm.edu/news/2012/04/27/request-for-proposal-to-facilitate-uwm-strategic-planning-process/. The deadline is Friday, May 25.

-Last Wednesday a delegation from Kijeon College in South Korea visited UWM. The Kijeon delegation includes the college president, chairman of the board, dean and program coordinator. The School of Continuing Education is hosting 35 Kijeon College freshmen here to study English and visit childcare centers in Milwaukee for the next 6 weeks. The students are Early Childhood majors.
See http://www.flickr.com/photos/66798555@N03/sets/72157629822215420/.

-We had a great bike to work day! Photos: http://tinyurl.com/blmcsk4
And this blog post from the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin:
http://bfw.org/2012/05/17/ridin-with-the-chancellor/

-The following new projects have been approved for funding from the Educational Technology fee:
email support, large format printing, kiosk computer replacement, E-Publishing through a new Digital Commons, WiFi Expansion, expanded PAWS and Pantherfile license fees, and mobile app development. There were many strong submissions this year, and I thank committee members Rick Banks, Woonsop Choi, Daniel Laughland, Ed Mabry, Nik Rettinger and Peter Alexopoulos, Michelle Schartner, Cheryl Andres and Laura Pedrick for their facilitation of the committee's work.

-Meetings this week: a lunch meeting later today with Marquette Provost John Pauly; a retreat in Madison on Wednesday with the Common Systems Review group (focus is on System-wide IT planning); and a visit with representatives from the Education Advisory Board, which does national benchmarking research on higher education issues.

Kudos to:

   -UWM's 3,700+ new graduates, whose hard work and talent have prepared them well for the future.
Three honorary doctorates were awarded at Sunday's ceremonies: Will Allen, founder and CEO of Growing Power; Jacquelyn Fredrick, President and CEO of the BloodCenter of Wisconsin; and Stephen H. Marcus, Chairman of The Marcus Corporation.  
You can see Will Allen's Commencement speech at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7wZiBY0ClE&feature=youtu.be

   -UWM's Upward Bound program, which just received a $444,128 renewal grant from the U.S. Department of Education. See http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2012/05/09/wisconsin-higher-education-programs-to.html

   -Nathaniel Stern, Art and Design, whose upcoming art-science project for the International Symposium on Electronic Art, Tweets in Space, received some major coverage last week: on Forbes.com, Time.com, Scientific American's web site, the NY Daily News, the Daily Mail, and a live interview on BBC Radio 4's flagship morning news program, "Today."

-Chelsea won... with a penalty shoot-out....:(


-Enjoy the Summer break!


Take care,

Johannes

--

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

Provost's May 14 Monday Update

Good Morning Colleagues,

Here are this week’s updates from Academic Affairs: (busy week!)

-Reminder of an announcement that went out last week: Request For Proposal To Facilitate UWM Strategic Planning Process: UWM is seeking the assistance of a faculty or staff member (it can also be a team effort!) to serve as a facilitator for a comprehensive strategic planning process.
See http://www5.uwm.edu/news/2012/04/27/request-for-proposal-to-facilitate-uwm-strategic-planning-process/ .

-On campus visits for the Dean of the School of Continuing Education finish up this week. The final candidate open forum is today:

  -W. Reed Scull: May 14-15, 2012
   Open Forum: Monday, May 14, 3:00-4:00pm, SCE Library Commons, Room 6110

CVs and campus visit schedules are at: http://www4.uwm.edu/secu/news_events/sce-dean/sce-dean.cfm.
Campus forums from last week as well as for this week's candidate can be viewed at: http://bit.ly/IYJt7R

-Welcome to our new Athletics Director Andy Geiger! See http://www.uwmpanthers.com/genrel/051012aab.html.
 
-From Media Relations: Meet some of our outstanding featured Spring '12 grads. Read their stories & watch the video here: http://www4.uwm.edu/grads. Also, tweet along on twitter with #uwmgrad hashtag. Sunday is our commencement ceremony at the U.S. Cellular Arena; as always, this is a great day for the UWM community.

-This evening is Honors commencement at the Zelazo Center and Saturday night is the Alumni Signature event at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts (see http://www4.uwm.edu/alumni/SignatureEvent/signature_event.cfm).
 
-The Zilber School of Public Health social marketing campaign Women 2 Women 4 Healthy Babies was launched last Tuesday at the United Way's annual event. This is a project of the Public Health Impact Initiative, funded by the federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention. See links below.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/social-marketing-video-seek-to-cut-milwaukees-infant-mortality-rate-s55bsj1-150855355.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOK_9y2XP0k

-Mark Schwartz, Geography, and Wendy Volz-Daniels, Social Work, did a terrific job testifying and answering questions last Wednesday at the capital as a part of a UW-System group invited before a meeting of the Special Task Force on UW Restructuring and Operational Flexibilities. The Special Task Force's web page and the agenda are at
http://legis.wisconsin.gov/lfb/UW_Task_Force/Pages/default.aspx
http://legis.wisconsin.gov/lfb/UW_Task_Force/Documents/2012_05_09_Agenda.pdf

-The updated end of semester memo from May 7th is now on the Academic Affairs web site at:
http://www4.uwm.edu/acad_aff/policy/endsemester_memo.pdf
 
-Thanks to the efforts of the Student Success Center, the Center for Instructional and Professional Development, and, most importantly, Professor Rebecca Dunham (English-Creative Writing), UWM is ready to launch a First-Year Common Reading Experience (CRE) at UWM. At their orientation this summer, incoming students will receive The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, a graphic novel as memoir that details the author’s experience growing up in Iran during a time of political revolution and repression. They will read it over the summer and discuss it in small-group sessions led by faculty and staff during Orientation Week, August 27-September 1. The discussions will continue with other events that link to the reading throughout the year. Faculty and staff are needed to lead one or more small-group discussions during Orientation Week. Each 20-student session will last 90 minutes (tentatively scheduled for 2:00-3:30 PM, 8/28-9/1).
Please see the CRE website ( http://www4.uwm.edu/ssc/fyss/common-read.cfm for more details or email Tony Ciccone at CIPD for more information (ciccone@uwm.edu).

-Starting June 1st, Dr. Hemant Jain will serve as the interim director for the Biomedical Health Informatics Research Institute (BHIRI). His service in this position will continue until the search (in process) for a permanent director is successful. I appreciate Dr. Jain's willingness to serve in this capacity and look forward to working with him to advance UWM's informatics initiatives.
 
-From the UWM Libraries: A colonial Mexican manuscript scroll in the collection of the American Geographical Society Library, approximately 7 1/2 feet long and 20 inches wide, was recently identified as a long-lost artifact of extreme importance, as it is one of the few remaining documents containing text in a unique Zapotec dialect. There is also Spanish text and numerous pictorial elements pertaining to genealogy and land ownership. http://www.flickr.com/photos/agslibrary/6915261718

-School of Education Dean Carol Colbeck and Greater Milwaukee Foundation President Ellen Gilligan will discuss  Milwaukee Succeeds--a broad-based community partnership formed to help all city children “from cradle to career”-- tomorrow, Tuesday, May 15 at 5 p.m. in the Golda Meir Library. Chancellor Lovell, a co-chair, will introduce the speakers. http://www4.uwm.edu/libraries/News/folannual_2012.cfm

-The Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Mental Health is coordinating the presentation "When Stress Overwhelms: Coping in Difficult Times." This session will focus on identifying when we are in stress overload, learning positive coping techniques and emphasizing what we are already doing right to manage our stress. The presenter, Lynn Mucha MSW LCSW, is a therapist at Norris Health Center. Campus EAP will be available to answer questions and provide information on their services. The presentation will be offered on two dates:
 
Option 1:
Date: Thursday, May 17, 2012
Time: 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Location: Student Union 191
https://www4.uwm.edu/employeedev/events/calendar/day.cfm?eventid=45585

OR

Option 2:
Date: Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Time: 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Location: Sandburg Flicks
https://www4.uwm.edu/employeedev/events/calendar/day.cfm?eventid=45586

Light refreshments will be served. For more information or to request special accommodations, contact: Dr. Julie Bonner, 229-5684.

-"Learning from Leadership: Getting to Know our new Deans" is the topic of the WWHEL (Wisconsin Women in Higher Education Leadership) final academic year event. UWM's two most recent women Deans will share stories of their leadership journey. Come and join in these discussions with Carol Colbeck, Dean of School of Education and Magda Peck, Dean of Zilber School of Public Health.
May 16, NOON to 1 p.m., 4th floor conference room Golda Meir Library.
Light snacks will be provided.

-Also from Sam & Helen Stahl Center for Jewish Studies: Dr. Steven Harvey of Bar Ilan University, Israel, is an authority on medieval Jewish and Islamic thought. He will speak about the influence of medieval Islamic philosophy on Jewish thinkers at noon on May 14 at the Stahl Center in the Greene Museum.

Kudos to:

    -John H. Schroeder, History, who is retiring from UWM after a distinguished career, including serving as Chancellor from 1991-1998. During his tenure as Chancellor, he saw UWM named one of only 125 Research II universities in the country by the Carnegie Foundation, a designation recognizing its contribution to teaching and research. John's retirement gathering is tomorrow from 3-4:30 in Holton 341.
 
    -Nancy Mathiowetz, Sociology, who has been named as a fellow of the American Statistical Association. This is a highly prestigious award. The designation of Fellow has been a superlative honor in ASA for nearly 100 years.  Individuals are nominated for the honor by fellow members and, to be selected, must have an established reputation and made outstanding contributions in some aspect of statistical work. Congratulations Nancy!
 
-News from the Peck School of the Arts: Eight individuals from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee have been selected to participate in the prestigious 2012 Cannes Film Festival, held May 16-27 on the coast of southern France. Films by Samuel Karow and Jon Phillips, graduates of the Peck School of the Arts Film program; Kellie Bronikowski, Giorgi Mrevlishvili and Julie Wolterstorff, current graduate students; and faculty member Dick Blau, have all been accepted into the Cannes Court Métrage or "Short Film Corner." In addition, MFA student Brian McGuire and BFA student Gregory Bishop will be working as interns at the festival, part of the highly selective “Cannes Film Program” of the American Pavillion.
 
-Thursday is Bike to Campus Day--I hope to see you on the road! For more information, visit
http://www5.uwm.edu/news/2012/05/06/bike-to-campus-day-may-17/

-Mohsen Bahmani, Economics, told me that this Sunday he will graduate his 42nd doctoral student at UWM! I wonder if this is a record...?

Take care,

Johannes

--

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

Provost's May 7 Monday Update

Good Morning Colleagues,

Here are this week’s updates from Academic Affairs:

-Reminder of an announcement that went out last week: Request For Proposal To Facilitate UWM Strategic Planning Process: UWM is seeking the assistance of a faculty or staff member to serve as a facilitator for a comprehensive strategic planning process.
See http://www5.uwm.edu/news/2012/04/27/request-for-proposal-to-facilitate-uwm-strategic-planning-process/ .

-Finalists for Dean of the School of Continuing Education were announced on Friday. Candidates' CVs and campus visit schedules are now on line at: http://www4.uwm.edu/secu/news_events/sce-dean/sce-dean.cfm . Open Forums will be webcast and links to the open forum sessions are posted with the schedules.

  -James Campbell: May 7-8, 2012
   Open Forum: Monday, May 7, 3:00-4:00pm, SCE Library Commons, Room 6110

  -Patricia Arredondo: May 10-11, 2012
   Open Forum: Thursday, May 10, 3:00-4:00pm, SCE Library Commons, Room 6110

  -W. Reed Scull: May 14-15, 2012
   Open Forum: Monday, May 14, 3:00-4:00pm, SCE Library Commons, Room 6110

-I would like to thank Dietmar Wolfram for his excellent service as Interim Dean of the School of Information Studies. Dietmar has announced that he is stepping down as interim dean this summer to return to his faculty position. While the Search and Screen Committee, chaired by Cindy Walker, has begun its work, I will be appointing another interim dean until the next dean is in place. School input on candidates for the interim dean position is being gathered, and I will be making a selection from a list of nominated names within the next couple of weeks.

-The Zilber School of Public Health budget meeting will be held later today.

-The Academic Deans Council meets this Wednesday. Agenda items include the introduction of Greg Adams, Physical Plant Director, accreditation (Dev Venugopalan), Outside Activities Report (OAR) Duties for Deans/Supervisors (Dev Venugopalan), Academic Planning (Carol Colbeck, Gesele Durham, LeeAnn Garrison, Laura Pedrick, Dev Venugopalan), reorganization: University Relations (Tom Luljak), and RGI Analysis Report (Marija Gajdardziska-Josifovska).

-A combined meeting of UWM faculty and academic staff senates will take place on May 8, 2012 at 3:30 p.m. in the Alumni Fireside Lounge. Members of the faculty and academic staff senates, the classified staff council, and the student association are welcome to attend.

-I will be participating in a UW System Provosts videoconference meeting on Friday. Agenda items include a new Systemwide travel program, PK-16 Initiatives, array management role for UW System, flexible degree concept and retreat planning.

-From the Alumni Association: Celebrate UWM’s most outstanding alumni at the Alumni Association’s Signature Event on May 19, featuring a marquee reception, awards ceremony, and special comedic performance by Frank Caliendo ’96. Get your tickets today! If you are unable to attend, sponsor a new grad’s first alumni experience. For more information, visit www.alumni.uwm.edu or call the Alumni office at 414-229-4290.

-From the Sam and Helen Stahl Center for Jewish Studies: World premiere of Stahl Center Director Joel Berkowitz's English translation of staged play reading of Kadya Molodowsky’s After the Desert God. May 8, 7 p.m.: Ritz Theatre, Milwaukee Jewish Community Center.
http://www4.uwm.edu/jewishstudies/news_events/images/2011_Legacy_Heritage.pdf

-Also from Sam & Helen Stahl Center for Jewish Studies: Dr. Steven Harvey of Bar Ilan University, Israel, is an authority on medieval Jewish and Islamic thought. He will speak about the influence of medieval Islamic philosophy on Jewish thinkers at noon on May 14 at the Stahl Center in the Greene Museum.

-The UWM School of Information Studies is holding the 2nd Milwaukee Conference on Ethics in Information Organization (EIO2) on June 15-16, 2012. EIO2 will address important issues from both scholarly and professional perspectives. For more information see the conference web site at http://sois.uwm.edu/ioethics (or contact conference chair Hope A. Olson at holson@uwm.edu ).

Kudos to:

    -UWM's two new Distinguished Professors: Chukuka Enwemeka, Health Sciences, and Ehsan Soofi, Lubar School of Business (we hope to announce a third new Distinguished Professor next week):

     -Chukuka Enwemeka, Dean of the College of Health Sciences, is one of the world’s foremost authorities in the area of photoengineering of tissue repair process with visible and near infra-red light and lasers. He is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the international journal, Photomedicine and Laser Surgery and Past-President of the World Association for Laser Therapy, and Past-Chairman of the North American Association for Laser Therapy. Chukuka has secured millions of dollars in external grant funding and he is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and a Fellow of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery.

     -Ehsanolah Soofi, Professor, Business Statistics, Production & Operations Management/Quantitative Methods, is internationally recognized for his research in developing information measures for statistical analysis and showing their use in economic and business applications. Ehsan has served five terms as an Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Statistical Association and serves as the Associate Editor for statistics and probability papers in ENTROPY, An International Journal of Entropy and Information Studies. He is the recipient of numerous research awards within the Business School and has been honored as an Elected Member of the International Statistical Institute and as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.

    -Ginny Stoffel, Occupational Therapy, who will be recognized as an outstanding leader with the "Women of Influence" award by the Business Journal at a June recognition event.

    -Nancy File and Deb Wisneski, Curriculum and Instruction, co-PIs along with Jennifer Mueller and Raquel Oxford on the five-year "Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers" project, whose proposal to the US Department of Education will be funded for $1.8 million to prepare and support effectively teachers to educate young children who are English learners.

-Athletics Update on track & field:
    -The men's track & field team won four events and four gold medals, shattering a league record en route to winning the Horizon League Outdoor Championships Sunday despite a four-hour rain delay at Wisconsin Lutheran College's Raabe Stadium.  This marks the 18th-straight league title by the Panthers, which stands as the longest active streak in the nation. See: http://www.uwmpanthers.com/sports/m-track/recaps/050612aaa.html

    -The women's track & field team won two events Sunday and fell just short to take second in a rain-shortened meet at the Horizon League Outdoor Championships at Wisconsin Lutheran College's Raabe Stadium. See:
http://www.uwmpanthers.com/sports/w-track/recaps/050612aaa.html

...and for Mark Schwartz, I hope you had a happy Star Wars day on May 4th, and for the French, who got a new President.

Take care,

Johannes

--

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

School of Continuing Education Dean Candidate Announcement

May 4, 2012

I am pleased to announce the finalists for the position of Dean of the School of Continuing Education.


Dr. Patricia Arredondo is Interim Dean of the School of Continuing Education, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Dr. James A. Campbell is Associate Dean of Program and Partnership Development in the Division of Continuing Studies and Professor in the Department of Professional Development and Applied Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr. W. Reed Scull is Director of the Division of Outreach Credit Programs and Associate Dean of the Outreach School at the University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming.


The candidates' CVs are now on line at:
http://www4.uwm.edu/secu/news_events/sce-dean/sce-dean.cfm.
Their campus interview dates and open forum sessions are listed below, and campus interview schedules will be posted later today. Open Forums will be webcast and links to the open forum sessions will be posted with the schedules.

James Campbell: May 7-8, 2012
Open Forum: Monday, May 7, 3:00-4:00pm, SCE Library Commons, Rm. 6110

Patricia Arredondo: May 10-11, 2012
Open Forum: Thursday, May 10, 3:00-4:00pm, SCE Library Commons, Rm. 6110

W. Reed Scull: May 14-15, 2012
Open Forum: Monday, May 14, 3:00-4:00pm, SCE Library Commons, Rm. 6110


I would like to thank the Search Committee for its service to the University and for producing a very strong pool of candidates.

Take care,

Johannes
--

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

Provost's April 30 Monday Update

Good Morning Colleagues,

Here are this week’s updates from Academic Affairs:

-There will be a First Friday gathering sponsored by the School of Information Studies, the Zilber School of Public Health, and the College of Nursing this Friday, May 4, from 4- 6 p.m. in the Northwest Quadrant Student Lounge.

-An update on the University Personnel Systems (UPS): To learn more about the recommended changes to our personnel structure, attend an open forum about the issue, or provide feedback on the draft recommendations, please see: http://www4.uwm.edu/hr/ups/index.cfm.

-This year the Center for 21st Century Studies’ annual conference takes up “The Nonhuman Turn” that has been emerging in the arts, humanities, and social sciences over the past few decades. The conference runs from Thursday, May 3 through Saturday, May 5, with most events taking place in Curtin Hall, Room 175 and first floor classrooms. For further information: www.c21.uwm.edu.

-On April 3rd, over 250 science students and teachers from 11 area high schools came to UWM to participate in the second annual NIH SEPA Student Research Conference, the culminating event which highlighted student research on the impact of environmental toxicants on the biology of living organisms. The conference is part of the Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Center for Research Resources to the Children's Environmental Health Sciences Core Center, lead by co-principal investigators David Petering and Craig Berg.

-From the Sam and Helen Stahl Center for Jewish Studies: World premiere of Stahl Center Director Joel Berkowitz's English translation of staged play reading of Kadya Molodowsky’s After the Desert God. May 6, 3 p.m.: Lecture Hall, Music Building, UWM and May 8, 7 p.m.: Ritz Theatre, Milwaukee Jewish Community Center. http://www4.uwm.edu/jewishstudies/news_events/images/2011_Legacy_Heritage.pdf

-The Student Accessibility Center (SAC) is pleased to announce the 2012 awardees for the annual SAC Excellence Award. Receiving awards are: Ann Williams, Business; Sue Lima, Psychology; Jeanne Wagner - Social Work; Richard Monti, Foreign Language & Literature; and Margaret Kipp, SOIS. The ceremony is Friday, May 11th, at 1:00pm in Union 345. Please come for the festivities!

-The UWM School of Information Studies is holding the 2nd Milwaukee Conference on Ethics in Information Organization (EIO2) on June 15-16, 2012. EIO2 will address important issues from both scholarly and professional perspectives. For more information see the conference web site at http://sois.uwm.edu/ioethics (or contact conference chair Hope A Olson at holson@uwm.edu ).  Register today – the last day at the early bird rate!

Kudos to:

    -The Lubar School of Business, which has been ranked among the top 100 undergraduate business programs by U.S. News & World Report.  The School is ranked 97th in the nation and 70th among public universities by U.S. News & World Report for its undergraduate business program. The U.S. News Best Business Schools list is based on peer assessment from deans and senior faculty at undergraduate business schools accredited by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). AACSB accredits only 5% of business schools in the world. The Lubar School has been AACSB-accredited since 1970.

    -Emily Tyner, a student in the School of Freshwater Sciences, who has just learned that she is being awarded a Fulbright scholarship. This will allow her to work in Malawi after she receives her MS degree, where she will be conducting training and setting up a Lake Malawi monitoring program at a Malawi Fisheries Research lab.

    -The Criminal Justice program, which received high praise from a graduate on Fox 6 news:
http://fox6now.com/2012/04/20/uw-milwaukee-graduate-gets-credit-for-uncovering-terror-plot/

    -And two very happy faculty members in the School of Education: Jennifer Mueller and Raquel Oxford, co-PIs, who were notified last week that their proposal to the US Department of Education will be funded for $1.8 million to prepare and support effectively teachers to educate young children who are English learners. The five-year "Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers" project includes the Early Childhood Education (ECE) program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), the ECE program at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC), the Racine Unified School District (RUSD), and the Council for the Spanish Speaking (CSS) which operates the Guadalupe Head Start sites in Milwaukee. I took their picture on the same day when they heard the news (at the brown bag we held with the SOE).  See: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66798555@N03/6975621510/.

-And remember to submit your feedback on the College of Engineering and Applied Science Dean candidate finalists, using the online form at https://milwaukee.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_cZqQxZaCvoEnk0s. The deadline to submit comments is the end of the day tomorrow, Tuesday, May 1st.  
 
Take care,

Johannes

--

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