MADISON, Wis. —The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents will honor this year’s recipients of the Academic Staff Awards for Excellence June 11 in Milwaukee. This is the highest recognition bestowed on members of the UW System’s academic staff.
The 2010 recipients, including two individuals and one program, are:
- Dale Braun, Campus Planner, Integrated Planning, UW-River Falls. A UW-River Falls graduate, Braun has worked for more than 21 years on campus planning projects affecting nearly every building and area of that campus, as well as for regional and state projects. He helped the UW System develop the first space management program, which has become the core component of all UW institutional development plans. Braun has helped students apply their classroom learning to workplace situations through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE). The grant was used to create the program “Collaboration Across Campus,” linking academic courses with campus planning activities. Dale is the only person to have received both the UW-River Falls Chancellor’s Award for Excellence as a student and as a member of the academic staff.
- Lynn Freeman, Director of Academic Advising, UW-Oshkosh. Since Freeman joined the staff of UW-Oshkosh in 2002, she has developed the university advising program to reflect national standards and continues to improve practices dealing with student success across campus. She worked to develop the Early Alert System, which helps increase student success among underrepresented students. Working collaboratively across departments, Lynn has helped ensure that each student receives the best advising and support services possible. She has been elected to regional and national leadership positions in the area of academic advising.
- The McNair Scholars Program, Academic Success Center, UW-River Falls. The program’s mission is to prepare first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students for Ph.D. programs. Recent innovative strategies to increase the number and quality of the admissions offers the program’s students receive have resulted in more UW-River Falls students being admitted to graduate programs at institutions such as Princeton, the University of Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Vanderbilt, Clemson, the University of California, and others. Since 2001, nine McNair scholars have received the UW-River Falls Chancellor’s Award. The program is coordinated by three staff members.
“These award winners reflect the high caliber and dedication of our academic staff systemwide,” said committee chair Regent John Drew. “Their commitment to academic quality and student success is inspiring, and we are honored to recognize their wide-ranging and significant accomplishments on behalf of our students and campus communities.”
Each winner receives a $5,000 award for professional development to enhance their program or function. Academic staff members and programs from each of the 15 UW institutions were nominated for this year’s awards. In addition to Drew, award committee members included Regent Stan Davis, Regent Kevin Opgenorth, Regent Brent Smith, Regent José Vásquez, and Regent Betty Womack.