August 20, 2018

Working Effectively with Tribal Communities – In early June, I was able to participate in a two-day workshop with some representatives from our Wisconsin Tribal Nations.  The program was co-hosted by Lac Courte Oreille Ojibwa Community College and UW-Extension’s Native American Task Force.  I learned more about Tribal history, cultures, celebrations and methodologies and it gave me a greater understanding of how to build effective working relationships with the Tribes. Access and Affordability – The Chancellor has put a high priority on campus access and affordability.  We are working with a number of our campus partners to share our resources and work in this area as well as crafting communication plans to let potential students and their parents know about the options (grants, scholarships, internships, etc.) available to them to help make the UW affordable.  We will be meeting this week with the Chancellor to update on our efforts. Working Toward the Cloud – I was recently part of the group evaluating presentations by four different vendors who want to work with us on implementation of a Student Management Cloud project.  A substantial amount of work is going on behind-the-scenes to ready the campus for the eventual movement to the Cloud.  The initial pilot project is expected to go live in DCS in mid-2019.  This is a big step in a somewhat uncharted category.  We will continue to update you on our progress as we move ahead. Dean’s Council Presentation – The directors and I were asked to do a presentation at the Dean’s Council last mointh highlighting our divisional achievements and looking ahead to the future.  I am proud to say that the progress that we have made in recruitment, admissions, access and financial aid has been noticed and well received around campus.  We are scheduling individual meetings with the deans this fall to further explore how we can help them attract and retain the type of students that they want to see pursuing their degrees. To that note, our division progress would not be possible without the hard work and outreach efforts that go on daily throughout the division.  Thank you for all that you do to support the students, faculty and staff on this campus.  It is truly a pleasure to work with all of you!