Update on UW-Green Bay Marinette Campus

Following is an email that was sent to all faculty and staff on Friday, January 19, 2024 from UW-Green Bay Chancellor Michael Alexander.

Dear UW-Green Bay Faculty and Staff,

On November 14, 2023, I visited the Marinette campus to discuss with faculty and staff changes that we intended to make for that location.  We discussed a path forward for the Marinette location and that we would immediately begin negotiating with Marinette County on how we would achieve our goals.  Our discussion centered on acknowledging the enrollment challenges we are having in Marinette, but that we had a plan to reframe what success means to us in Marinette.

We learned yesterday that someone released the internal meeting notes to the Marinette County Board and the media.  Our conversations with the County are still occurring, but our internal conversation has become public prior to us completing negotiations.  We will not comment on the ongoing discussions.  However, today I am sending you the draft communication we were working on that reflects the internal conversations we had back in November so that we are transparent internally and externally on our intentions.

In collaboration with Marinette County, we are working to make a paradigm shift to redefine how we will measure success, provide value to our constituents, and invest in UW-Green Bay’s location in Marinette.

Since the merger of the former UW Colleges, we have thought differently about how to embrace our locations in Manitowoc, Marinette, and Sheboygan.  We were leaders in openly stating that we would not compete with the technical colleges in our region for associate degree offerings and instead highlight select 4-year degrees on each campus that could best serve each distinct community.  We declared that all students at any location we serve are in fact all UW-Green Bay students and therefore, we equalized pay for all our faculty and staff that serve each location and created one governance and administrative structure for us all to exist under.  We added the Rising Phoenix program which now educates 367 students primarily in rural areas who can earn an associate degree with us while still in high school.  We have experimented and tried to find the right collection of offerings at each location that honors the investment and trust that each county has placed in us to be locally relevant.

These actions have placed our locations in Manitowoc and Sheboygan on positive trajectories of increasing enrollments and stable futures.  Our location in Marinette has not experienced the same trajectory.  Despite initial enrollment gains, we recognize that persisting on the current path will inevitably lead to closure.  Instead of waiting for a closure, we have chosen to proactively rethink our approach to maintain a meaningful presence in Marinette.

Beginning in the fall of 2024, we will suspend in-person classes at the Marinette location.  But this is just a small part of the story.  It is important to note that only 14 of our classes this fall at Marinette were taught purely in person.  The rest were online or streamed across multiple locations.  In the fall, we will keep classrooms with streaming capabilities active for courses that are taught at Marinette or coming to Marinette from other UW-Green Bay locations.  These changes will also deepen our connection to the Northeast Wisconsin Technical College campus that is down the road from our location.  We have articulated programs with NWTC that connect to UW-Green Bay degrees and will seek to expand the pipeline of students in Marinette who start at NWTC and finish with us at any location.  Rather than compete with them, we should complement the outstanding work NWTC is doing and provide streamlined educational options for people to choose from.

We will increase our investment in Marinette based on three pillars.  First, we know that the people in Marinette value the Herb Williams Theatre.  We do, too, and therefore will invest further to make it the flagship theatre northwest of Green Bay.  Just like UW-Green Bay has revitalized the Weidner Center on the Green Bay Campus, we will do the same for the Williams Theatre in Marinette and provide programming including art exhibits, events, lectures, performances, and education that engages people of all ages.  We already see this working based on attendance at recent events.  Second, the location will serve as an access point for students and community members for educational resources.  We will expand camps, non-credit educational offerings that are responsive to the requests of the community, and learning opportunities through our Lifelong Learning Institute.  These additions will help increase the number of people benefitting from a UW-Green Bay education and advance the quality of life and economy for all people that live in the region, not just primarily those of traditional college age.  Third, we plan to invite third party access to facilities that can enhance the capital investment Marinette County has made at the location.  We are working to sign a new agreement with Marinette County that will ensure that we can make great use of the infrastructure at the campus.

We acknowledge this will be a painful transition for those in Marinette that have endured countless campus management changes, but we must embrace a new model rather than trying to cling to the past.  It is our job to be responsible stewards of our resources.  Rather than try to perpetuate a broken economic model, we will reallocate our resources to the benefit of the most people possible in the area.  Having a UW-Green Bay location in Marinette is central to our mission as a regional comprehensive university with a 16-county footprint that spans the coastline from Sheboygan to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  We are not leaving.  Yes, it will look different, but it will not close.  We want our campus in Marinette to be an educational asset for generations to come.  This change directly addresses the tremendous upheaval that is happening right now in higher education as referenced in this article from the Chronicle of Higher Education.  It is why it is not a good strategy to do the same thing and hope for a different result.  Instead, we are creating the opportunity for a brighter future for our location by listening and learning from our experience thus far in Marinette and redefining a path forward to focus on a likely path to success.  We are proud to make this shift in collaboration with Marinette County to best meet the needs of the community as a higher education partner.

Best,

Mike

Didn’t attend convocation? Here are the highlights

Hundreds of faculty and staff gathered at The Weidner for Convocation on Wednesday, August 23, 2023. Prior to announcing the Founders Awards, Provost & Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Kate Burns and Chancellor Michael Alexander addressed the group with their thoughts on how to help UW-Green Bay students, faculty and staff have the ‘Power to Rise’ in the 2023-24 academic year. In short, helping students become great, making higher education and learning accessible for all and staying community-oriented through these pursuits.

Below is a highlight reel from Convocation. Please take a few minutes to listen and decide how you can Rise this year!

Vice Chancellor for Inclusivity & Community Engagement

Dear UW-Green Bay Faculty and Staff,

I am thrilled to announce that Dr. Dawn Crim has accepted our offer to be UW-Green Bay’s Vice Chancellor for Inclusivity and Community Engagement. She will begin on August 9.

Dr. Crim is currently the consultant for the Equity, Inclusion and Employee Well Being unit within the Office of Human Resources at UW-Madison after serving most recently as the Cabinet Secretary for the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services. She brings more than 20 years of experience in higher education, governmental and civic leadership and is recognized state-wide for her passion and expertise in supporting inclusion in large organizations. Her proven track record in civic engagement, community partnerships, and economic development, positions her perfectly to help us continue the forward momentum we have on our strategic priorities of inclusion and community engagement. It is apparent from the moment you meet Dr. Crim that she has an energetic and engaging outlook combined with thoughtfulness and compassion, which will make her an incredible addition to our University.

Please join me in thanking the search committee comprised of internal and external stakeholders for their important and timely work on this search. I would also like to thank Gail Sims-Aubert for her tireless efforts in the interim role.

The ability for us to constantly grow as a welcoming institution and engage in meaningful ways with all of the communities we serve is essential for us to move forward as an institution. Dr. Crim is the right leader to guide us in that endeavor. Thank you for your willingness to help us reimagine this position as one that is both internally and externally focused. Our collective commitment to this work will continue to evolve us in ways that will benefit our region for generations to come.

Best,
Michael Alexander
Chancellor

Assessment of Additional Campus Locations

Dear UW-Green Bay Faculty and Staff,

A few weeks ago, I was sent a letter from UW System President, Jay Rothman, regarding our locations. The same letter was sent to all universities in the System with multiple locations. It is likely that in the coming days the letter will be discussed in the press. The letter broadly required that we consider the future of our locations and report back to President Rothman with our plans, similar to the process the Provosts went through this past fall. In light of recent events, I know this sounds ominous, but to me it is just a continuation of what we have been doing for years. We will continue to find the right path for each of our locations understanding that when we think as a region and as one university, we make a powerful whole. Our four locations allow us to be close to our students across our 16-county footprint and live out the Wisconsin Idea in a way that reflects the needs of each community we serve.

I did not want you all to read about this in the press without hearing from me first. If you have questions, I am happy to answer them and I hope that everyone is doing well.

Best,
Mike

Michael Alexander
Chancellor

UW-Green Bay Literacy Initiative

Dear UW-Green Bay Faculty and Staff,

Following up on the Chancellors December email asking us to come together as a University to support student literacy efforts in our region, we are very excited to share some additional resources and information.

Literacy Initiative Webpage

The Literacy Initiative webpage provides great background information on the UW-Green Bay Literacy Initiative and UW-Green Bays opportunity to be a part of the solution facing our communities.

Reading Mentor Prep Course

UW-Green Bay education faculty members, Dr. Cory Mathieu and Dr. Samantha Meister have finished designing a self-paced, online reading mentor prep course available in Canvas at no cost to students, faculty, staff, and the community. The course is a tremendous resource for anyone interested in learning strategies to use while reading with children. It offers insightful tips for before, during, and after reading guidance as well as links to additional resources. We are incredibly grateful to Cory and Sam for their time, expertise, and support!

Volunteer Information & Guidance

Working with several school districts and other organizations, we have identified specific ongoing volunteer opportunities and will continue to add more as they become available. We also want to encourage you to reach out to your local schools, libraries, or other organizations for more possibilities. Please know that each organization will have its own procedures to follow including asking for information to conduct required background checks.

Like the UW-Green Bay Day of Service, employees must have their service hours agreed upon between themselves and their supervisor to ensure adequate operational coverage. However, unlike the Day of Service, service to this initiative would be unpaid (true volunteering) through flexibility in work schedules, and may not occur all within a 4-hour block of time. Flexible hours can inadvertently cause unique complications for hourly employees, including differential and overtime pay. To ensure that we are properly supporting hourly employees, supervisors are welcome to consult with HR when a request is made by an hourly employee to flex their hours to volunteer for this endeavor. If you have additional questions about the service hours, please also contact hr@uwgb.edu. There can be no reimbursement for employee travel for these hours. We sincerely hope this will lead to continued interest in volunteering on your own time.

Voluntary Logging of Hours

CUEGB.com will be available to log volunteer hours in support of this initiative. Please see the site for more information on the UW-Green Bay Literacy Initiative. For more information about how to log your hours, please review this video and reach out to Ben Dresdow at dresdowb@uwgb.edu with questions.

We hope you will find this initiative rewarding on so many levels, and that together we make a difference for future readers (who become leaders!) as they rise.

Respectfully,

Susan Grant Robinson
Chief of Staff

Inclusivity and Student Affairs

Dear UW-Green Bay Faculty and Staff,

Due to the advances we have made in Inclusivity and Student Affairs, we need to restructure this area in order to continue our progress after Dr. King’s departure.  The following adjustments will be made:

  1. We will begin a search for a new Vice Chancellor of Inclusivity and Community Engagement that will be chaired by Provost Kate Burns.  Inclusivity and Community Engagement are university strategic priorities for UW-Green Bay and therefore we must have a vice chancellor that is entirely dedicated to these two efforts.
  2. This change does not diminish the importance of Student Affairs, but rather also gives the opportunity for more focus on student success in this area.  Gail Sims-Aubert will retain her current title and position as Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, but will sit on the Cabinet and report directly to me so that student issues are always at the heart of our conversations.  This will also allow us to continue the tremendous momentum we have in thinking holistically about students between Student and Academic Affairs.
  3. We will also make changes to Student Affairs to enable us to continue serve our students to the best of our ability. Erin Van Daalwyk will become a full-time Dean of Students, a position that we have not had a single person dedicated to for some time.  In addition, we will increase two 80% student service positions on our locations to 100% in order to make sure we can handle the growing caseload that the Dean of Students deals with on a regular basis.  We will also unite all of Student Engagement under Student Affairs with Katie Lesperance serving as Director of that unit.
  4. As a result of locating all of Student Engagement with Student Affairs, the Union will move under Business and Finance.  The Union is one of our most prominent business functions, has done tremendous work to evolve, and needs to continue to be able to develop in this manner under Matt Suwalski’s leadership.
  5. Finally, we will move University Recreation under Athletics to unite the Kress Center as a facility that provides wellness opportunities to all of our students and serves as a key way that we engage the community.

I want to thank everyone for their flexibility to embrace these changes and to keep our momentum moving forward in all of the areas discussed above. We are able to make these changes now because of the tremendous work that has occurred over the years in the Division of Inclusivity and Student Affairs.

Best,
Mike

 

Dr. Corey King

Dear UW-Green Bay Faculty and Staff,

It is with immense pride that I share the news that Dr. Corey King will be the next Chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Dr. King has made a tremendous impact during his tenure at UW-Green Bay. Under his leadership, we have quickly become the third most diverse university in the UW System and have been recognized as a First Gen Forward Institution. He has made enormous strides in transforming Student Affairs to meet the needs of an access institution and he has modeled how collaboration with his colleagues and the community can lead to impactful opportunities for our students and the overall advancement of our university and region. Perhaps more importantly, I appreciate the gracious spirit and positive manner with which he championed and accomplished his goals.

Despite being sad to lose Corey, we should celebrate this appointment in all ways. It means we made a great hire and he will now take his extensive experience in higher education to further advance our state and its people through his work in his new role. I am eternally grateful to him for being an amazing and trusted colleague.  Please join me in congratulating Dr. King on his new appointment.

Dr. King’s last day will be February 13. Gail Sims-Aubert has agreed to serve as Interim Vice Chancellor for Inclusivity and Student Affairs and will begin on February 14.  I am grateful for her leadership and willingness to help keep the momentum going in the Division.

Best,
Michael Alexander
Michael Alexander
Chancellor

Mission Alignment and Economic Sustainability Project

Dear UW-Green Bay Faculty and Staff,

To meet the pace of change within higher education and from forces external to us, we embark on a Mission Alignment and Economic Sustainability Project to consider how we would build UW-Green Bay if we were opening a new university today with our current mission. The questions below have been shared with university governance and were developed to guide campus units in considering opportunities to align the work we do to our strategic priorities and our commitment to providing access to education for all who want it, solving problems, embracing diversity, and empowering our region.

To begin, we will ask unit chairs and area leaders to work with all faculty and staff in their departments to answer these questions collectively by Monday, April 3. Area leaders will be expected to honor all voices as responses are gathered. After April 3rd, groups will be engaged one by one for more in-depth conversations. We will iterate in numerous ways the information we receive collaboratively with shared governance to determine what actions we might consider from the responses.

Staff Questions

  1. Provide a brief list of things your department does that help us most to achieve our mission and strategic priorities of student success, inclusivity, digital transformation, community connections, sustainability & environmental work, Athletics & the Weidner Center.
  2. Provide a list of things your department does that are less connected to our mission and strategic priorities. What would happen if your area stopped doing these things?
  3. What are some things your department does that could be reconfigured or created to better serve our mission and strategic priorities?
  4. Do you have any ideas for how your department or the university could reduce the financial cost of doing business so that your area can focus more time and resources on items that are more connected to our mission?
  5. List the opportunities that your department or the university has to generate new revenue. What initial resources, if any, are needed to generate the new revenue?
  6. Are there people or places inside or outside of the university that your department is not currently collaborating with but would like to be? Please briefly describe any opportunities.
  7. List two things your department could do to recruit or retain students better. What university resources would you need to be able to do them?
  8. Are there any processes that your department believes are related to UW-Green Bay or UW-System policies or required procedures that are complicated or could be simplified to create efficiencies?  Please advise on the process and, if known, the applicable policy.
  9. In a perfect world, if you were to build UW-Green Bay today from the ground up with our current mission and strategic priorities, what might you do differently?What would your unit look like?

Faculty Questions

  1. Provide a brief list of things your department does, in addition to teaching, that helps us most to achieve our mission and strategic priorities of student success, inclusivity, digital transformation, community connections, sustainability & environmental work, Athletics & the Weidner Center.
  2. Provide a list of things your department does that are less connected to our mission and strategic priorities. What would happen if your area stopped doing these things?
  3. Are there things your department/unit does that could be reconfigured or created to better serve our mission and strategic priorities? For example, what if your department or unit was structured in a different way? What if your courses or curriculum were structured in a different way? What would it look like for your program to focus even more on regional needs? Is there a way you can better serve our students and your teaching, research, and service goals by thinking differently about your curriculum?  Would it free you up to do other important things if your major were streamlined into a minor or a certificate?
  4. Do you have any ideas for how your department or the university could reduce the financial cost of doing business so that your area can focus more time and resources on items that are more connected to our mission?
  5. List the opportunities that your department or the university has to generate new revenue. What initial resources, if any, are needed to generate the new revenue?
  6. Are there people or places inside or outside of the university that your department is not currently collaborating with but would like to be? Please briefly describe any opportunities.
  7. List two things your unit could do to recruit or retain students better.  What university resources would you need to be able to do them?
  8. Are there any changes your department would like to see in practices, policies, or procedures (in the faculty handbook or elsewhere) that can help us evolve as an institution and better achieve our mission? Please describe any changes and why.
  9. In a perfect world, if you were to build UW-Green Bay today from the ground up with our current mission and strategic priorities, what might you do differently?What would your unit look like?

We invite you to attend one of three upcoming meetings where the Chancellor will outline the project goals in more detail and take your questions.

Academic/Limited Staff Meeting
Wednesday, January 18
1:30-3 pm
Click here to join the meeting

University Staff Meeting
Thursday, January 19
10-11:30 am
Click here to join the meeting

All Instructional Faculty Meeting
Wednesday, January 25
3-5 pm
Click here to join the meeting

We look forward to your ideas and engagement in the project,

Susan Grant Robinson
Chief of Staff

UW-Green Bay Literacy Initiative

Dear UW-Green Bay Faculty and Staff,

While attending the recent Brown County Reading Success Summit, I was deeply moved and concerned by the following data:

  • During the 2016-2017 school year, 41% of Brown County students were reading at a proficient level.
  • The most recent 2020-2021 shows a 14% decrease in reading proficiency, with only 27% of Brown County students meeting 3rd-grade reading proficiency targets.
  • Reading proficiency scores in Brown County also reveal massive equity gaps between children of marginalized populations and white students. These range from 16% – 31.3%, with the largest gap existing between Latinx and white students.

Our institutional priorities include supporting student success for all students, making education more inclusive, and being community-engaged to solve problems for our region.  They also include creating equity in educational opportunity by reducing the gap in educational attainment for white and non-white students and aspiring to be a Hispanic Serving Institution.  We pride ourselves on being a resource in the region for life-long learning.

Therefore, we must act to help solve an issue that will undoubtedly affect UW-Green Bay in the future and also impact the economic capacity and equity of our region for generations to come.  We must be part of the solution to solve this problem and be a force for the common good to engage and support improved literacy rates in the region we serve.

As a first step in this work, beginning next semester, I am imploring all faculty and staff to use flexible hours to volunteer to read to students in 1st-3rd grade.  If all faculty, students, and staff at UW-Green Bay volunteered to read for 4 hours to a child, we would be able to provide over 40,000 hours of reading time to kids from Sheboygan all the way to Marinette.

In order to best prepare those interested in volunteering to support students’ literacy skills, Dr. Cory Mathieu and Dr. Samantha Meister – experts in language and literacy education – are developing a reading tutor training (online, self-paced). A link to register for the training through our Division of Continuing Education and Community Engagement will be shared early in the spring semester along with links to schools and districts that want to partner with us in this endeavor.

I realize that this is a first of many steps to solving this systemic problem. Our faculty experts are continuing to consider other action steps to address the ongoing literacy crisis in our community.  Please join me in the new year with this initiative to increase the literacy rates of our region, help ensure a more equitable future for all children, and show the value of what happens when a university engages with the community in a mission to work toward the common good.  More soon.

Best,

Mike

How You Can Make A Difference

Dear UW-Green Bay Faculty and Staff,

We share a common bond every day when we arrive on campus and dedicate our efforts toward the educational betterment of our student body. We see the constant change of higher education played out in many ways around us but our alignment around access and student support is critical to our mission and our relevancy to Northeast Wisconsin.

A walk through campus reminds us how important our personal gifts really are to the growth of the University. The new Willie Davis Finance and Investment Laboratory and the Charles Schwab Foundation Center for Financial Planning are remarkable learning environments that bring excitement to the learning process. Stocked shelves in the Campus Cupboards on our four campuses demonstrate our collective commitment to making sure no student endures food insecurity. Many of our students are recipients of need-based financial aid provided by caring donors, including several of you.  These enhancements help us to better serve our students and our community — visible signals that we’re a vibrant university on the right path!

Earlier this year the University announced a bold and ambitious effort, the Ignite the Future Campaign, a $20 million campaign to fund key strategic University initiatives. The community immediately embraced the effort, already gifting $12.3 million to get the Campaign rolling. Now I ask you to join the ranks of our friends and alumni as supporters of the Campaign. Gifts of any size are a meaningful way to help students and support the strategic initiatives of the University.

See Ignite the Future Campaign giving link.

UW-Green Bay also embraces community partners like United Way in reaching others in need in our region. United Way helps numerous social service agencies meet the needs of families who need a helping hand. I encourage you to consider a gift to the annual United Way Campaign, as helping people in our community is an extension of our vision for improving the quality of life for all.

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Link: https://portal.epledge.browncountyunitedway.org/