Report by President Ray Cross to the Board of Regents

Students in the UW-Superior Black Student Union honored Superior Police Chief Nicholas Alexander. They presented him with a traditional African sash to show their appreciation for the police department’s support of the African American community.

UW-Stout received a $425,000 grant from the Charles Koch Foundation to establish the Center for the Study of Institutions and Innovation. The center will sponsor speakers, panels, and workshops to facilitate discussions about constitutional civil liberties and their impact on institutions.

A UW-Stevens Point student was selected for a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Brian Hall majored in computer information systems and psychology as an undergraduate, and received this fellowship to support his doctoral studies in human-computer interaction.

The Harmony Bridge community music program is providing music education students at UW-River Falls with hands-on learning opportunities. As early as their freshman year, students can connect with local schools to sharpen their teaching and mentoring skills in a real-world setting.

UW-Platteville faculty were awarded three grants from the WiSys Technology Foundation totaling nearly $130,000. These applied research grants encourage faculty and staff to use their expertise to support economic development in Wisconsin.

Another group of UW-Parkside pre-med students has been accepted to the RUSCH program at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. This program prepares students to work in Wisconsin’s underserved rural and urban areas after medical school.

The UW-Oshkosh ArtsCore program partners with public schools and the Paine Art Center to show teachers how they can integrate art into other school subjects. This helps students retain information and engages students who have learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, and behavior issues.

UW-La Crosse sports are on a roll. The men’s track and field team ran to a third consecutive, and record 15th, NCAA Division 3 national outdoor championship. To top it off, the campus was honored for having the best women’s sports program in their conference, taking home the All-Sports award for the first time in 24 years.

UW-Milwaukee joined a national partnership of universities and companies working to make the U.S. electrical grid more reliable, greener, and less expensive. UWM shared its expertise in microgrids, which integrate renewable energy from multiple smaller sources. This partnership is funded by the National Science Foundation.

A UW-Madison research team was selected as a finalist in Harvard’s “Innovation in American Government” competition. The team created an app to help people recover from alcohol and other addictions. It features a forum to talk to other recovering addicts, as well as a GPS locator to help the person stay away from high-risk areas.

UW-Green Bay celebrated the first graduating class of the Engineering Technology program this year. The university is proud to help meet the need for engineers in the region. The degree offers mechanical, electrical, and environmental tracks and has quickly become the fastest growing major on campus.

Geography professor Dr. Ezra Zeitler from UW-Eau Claire received the 2017 Higher Education Distinguished Teaching Award from the National Council for Geographic Education. His students and colleagues praised his talent for creating compelling learning experiences in the classroom and around the world.

UW-Extension is helping working adults get their degrees. They created an innovative system to help online learners through the degree process. This continuous engagement helps increase student success and decrease time to graduation.

UW Colleges and Extension partnered with northern Wisconsin communities and government agencies to host Preserving Pathways: A Neighborhood Conversation Series. County and government leaders heard directly from audience members about critical issues facing rural communities, such as education, healthcare, and the economy.

UW-Whitewater’s Stephen Gray became the first member of the inaugural Doctor of Business Administration cohort to defend his dissertation in the College of Business and Economics. The first graduates of this program are expected to walk at commencement this December.