Chancellor's News and Notes

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 3^rd, 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

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 1^st-3^rd 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