The Provost's Corner

As we bring another academic year to a successful close, I want to thank all of you for your efforts in helping our students be successful and reach their goals. As our new UW-W vision states, we aim to provide “transformational and empowering educational experiences” and I see examples of how the members of this community come together to reach this goal every day. I have enjoyed talking with many of you at my office hours this year and look forward to continuing to meet and engage with you at future events.

We will be celebrating the faculty and academic staff who have been nominated for university awards at the 2017 Faculty and Staff Awards Reception on Wednesday, April 26 at 3 pm in UC 275. Please join us to recognize these outstanding individuals! Award winners will be announced at this reception, as well.

I hope you will be able to join us for an Academic Affairs End of the Year Celebration on Wednesday, May 3 in the University Center, 275A from 2:30 – 4:00 p.m. All are welcome to spend some time with colleagues to reflect on the accomplishments of the year.

To close the year, here is a quick update of news and information from Academic Affairs.
For details, see our Academic Affairs http://www.uww.edu/acadaff/provost/academic-affairs-news.

Programs, Policies and Planning

The UW Board of Regents approved our campus Post-tenure Review policy on April 7, 2017. Thanks to all who contributed to the development of this new policy!

Thanks to all for your continued contributions to the development of UW-W’s new Strategic Plan. Final approvals are in process with governance groups and the Chancellor. We are hopeful that we will be able to start the 2017-18 academic year with this new plan in place. Formal approval of our revised Mission statement will require UW Board of Regents approval, which we will pursue next year.

The Academic Plan is in the final stages of drafting, and we anticipate a new draft will be ready for review and approvals at the start of the 2017-18 academic year. Thanks to Dean David Travis and Professor Jeff Herriott, co-chairs, and the entire committee for their work on this plan. Thanks also to those of you who provided feedback on the plan in the online survey. We received over 100 responses and appreciate the time everyone took to provide thoughtful feedback.

We are continuing to plan for the University’s Sesquicentennial Celebration beginning in April 2018. A website with information on celebration events and ways you can get involved will be posted soon.

People

We will be welcoming Dr. Eileen Hayes as the new dean of the College of Arts and Communication, who will join campus on August 1, 2017. Thanks to Bob Mertens who has been serving as interim dean for the past two years.

We will be welcoming a new Sustainability Faculty Fellow, four Inclusive Excellence Fellows and two Administrative Development Program Fellows next year (names will be announced on the Academic Affairs website as they are finalized). We appreciate the interest these individuals have expressed in these programs and look forward to their contributions. Dr. Dale Splinter will continue as our LEAP Fellow again next year, helping us to take a Bigger LEAP.

We are searching for an Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Diversity, Engagement and Success (formerly Multicultural Affairs and Student Success). The position posting can be found here: https://my.uww.edu/employment/jobs/avcsdes13001.html.

We will also be searching soon for a new Director of Admissions. Thanks to Jeremy Reed for his service to the university. We wish him good luck in his new position as Vice President for Enrollment and Student Affairs at Northern State University in South Dakota.

Dr. Seth Meisel will continue to serve as interim dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Continuing Education next year (thanks, Seth!). We will be conducting an internal campus search for an interim Associate Dean for this office to serve next year as well. For information on the search, contact Dr. Meisel.

Welcome Back Week (renamed from Fall Orientation) is scheduled for August 21, 2017 – September 5, 2017. You can view the schedule of events here: http://www.uww.edu/acadaff/facstaff/welcome-back-week. Academic Affairs will be hosting another Fall Forum on August 29. Our Forum this year will feature a keynote address by Dr. David Yeager, entitled, “Student Persistence.” We welcome all to attend!

Best of luck with end of semester projects, finals and grading. I look forward to seeing everyone at commencement!

Best regards,

Susan Elrod, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 21st, 2017 at 5:44 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.