Education has been the vehicle to a better life for Mickey Peasley. Last month, the soon-to-be 70-year-old earned her bachelor's degree in business from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. It's a journey that has spanned decades and is far from finished.

"Every time I went back to school, my life got better," said Peasley. "Every time I go back, it just gets better. So how do you stop? When do you stop?"

Peasley earned her first associate degree in 1977. The single mother of two became a licensed vocational nurse to provide a better life for her kids. In 1985, she went back to better her life again, this time becoming a registered nurse.

After decades living in California, she returned to Grant County, Wisconsin, to take care of her mother as she dealt with health issues.

The Pettit National Ice Center, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, will be hosting The Road to the Olympics Runs Through Milwaukee, the 2022 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Long Track, Jan. 5-9, 2022. Among the athletes who have qualified for the trials is UW-Platteville alumnus Brian Bullard ’17.

Bullard, who is currently a supply chain analyst at Amcor, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, was looking for something to keep himself busy and found it at the Pettit National Ice Center, where he started skating. He is now in his fourth year speedskating and falls under speed skating’s age classification as an MSA, meaning he is a male athlete between the ages of 23-28.

Bullard says that it takes a lot of time, but he’s been able to find a good balance between working full time and training for the Olympic trials. He goes to work early in the morning and heads straight to the gym or to train on the ice afterwards. He practices six times a week.

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville's online and graduate programs are ranked amongst the best, according to Intelligent.com. The rankings are based on flexibility, faculty, course strength, cost, and reputation.

Ten of UW-Platteville's programs earned high rankings, including seven in the top 25 in their area. That includes being the top-rated university for the Master's of Science in Organizational Change Leadership, second-place ranking for the online Master's of Science in Criminal Justice category, and third in the Master's of Science in Project Management category.

As part of its ongoing investment in student success, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville announced that its Merit Scholarship is now renewable for all four years of a student’s education, offering a potential for up to $8,000 in savings. 

Merit scholarships are available to incoming on-campus freshman students admitted to the Platteville campus, based on their unweighted high school GPA at the time of their admission. In the past, these scholarships were awarded for only one year. They are now renewable, and full-time UW-Platteville freshman students studying on the Platteville campus, with a GPA of 3.57 or higher, are eligible. Students with a GPA of 4.0 at the time of their admittance to UW-Platteville will receive an $8,000 merit scholarship, dispersed evenly over four years. Neither ACT nor SAT scores are required for eligibility for fall 2022. 

University of Wisconsin-Platteville engineering students have had a hand in some of the new or redesigned household appliances recently hitting the market and industry trade shows, thanks to a partnership between Spectrum Brands and the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science’s Senior Design program. 

The Senior Design program pairs groups of engineering students with industry partners to solve real problems or create new products under the supervision of both the industry partner and a faculty member. Over the past five years, Spectrum Brands has partnered with UW-Platteville on more than 25 projects. Products that students have worked on include a cold brew coffee maker, smart blender, griddle, hair dryer, hair straightener and a pressure cooker, among others.  

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville celebrated more than 600 students as they walked across the stage to receive their diplomas and hoods at the 207th commencement held on Saturday, Dec. 11. The three ceremonies took place inside Williams Fieldhouse.

Chancellor Dennis J. Shields encouraged the graduates to remain lifelong learners. He emphasized the importance of how a true education should enable a person to listen without judgement. 

“The ability to step outside of oneself and view an issue or topic from someone else’s perspective is incredibly useful and practical in our lives,” said Shields. “It’s what some refer to as being capable of empathy.”

Shields also addressed how the pandemic, in some ways, has prepared the graduating class in how to deal with future challenges. 

A group of animal science students at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville spent a portion of this semester designing and conducting a feeding trial in broiler chickens, with the goal of helping Wisconsin growers better understand how to use and market hazelnuts. When the trial ends next week, students will partner with the Southwest Wisconsin Community Action Program to donate the 60 processed chickens to local food pantries across the Driftless region. 

The American hazelnut is a perennial shrub that is being developed for commercial nut production in Wisconsin and other parts of the upper Midwest. Producers have found, however, that if the hazelnut is too small, it is ineffective to run through the cracking machine and cannot be processed. 

Ashley Lundt was already working in the childcare field, but recently took the opportunity to develop her expertise and skillset with the University of Wisconsin-Platteville’s Infant-Toddler Credential program, offered through the Continuing Education Institute. Lundt completed her credential in December and, along with other teachers, was honored at a ceremony on Dec. 4, 2021. 

Lundt will now take what she has learned back to her childcare center. In addition to the knowledge and skills she gained in the program, it has helped her to become more confident in her role. “I made huge gains through this credential and feel very good about the teacher I am becoming,” she said. “I would recommend this program to anyone who works with infants or toddlers.”

Dr. Andrey Ivanov, associate professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, received two awards for his recently published book, “A Spiritual Revolution: The Impact of Reformation and Enlightenment in Orthodox Russia” (University of Wisconsin Press, 2020). The awards were presented at the recent annual convention of the Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) that met in New Orleans in-person and virtually on Nov. 18-21 and Dec. 1-3. 

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville recently hosted nearly 100 high school students from across the tri-state area for Medical Exploration Day. The event focused on prospective students interested in becoming health care professionals. Students toured Boebel Hall and the Cadaver Lab, along with learning about potential careers. 

“It went fabulously,” said Dr. Amanda Trewin, biology department chair and professor. “I enjoyed the high energy and seeing so many students on campus learning about UW-Platteville.”

The visit included students who have applied to UW-Platteville and showed interest in the areas of biology and pre-health. Throughout the day, students attended mini sessions where they conducted activities showcasing different areas of the medical field. 

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville community is coming together to give back this holiday season by stocking the shelves at Pioneer Provisions. To help raise awareness, the UW-Platteville Alumni Association is partnering with Pioneer Provisions, a free pantry and grocery service on campus for students experiencing food insecurity. According to Stephanie Young, UW-Platteville Dining Services registered dietitian, Pioneer Provisions has seen a 22% increase of pantry users this past year.

“Our alumni have been big supporters of Pioneer Provisions. Some have reached out to donate in the past, describing a desire to help current students who are struggling,” said Young. “Collaborating with the Alumni Association helps us reach out to alumni who may not be aware that food insecurity exists at their alma mater and may be able to help.” 

Globally-recognized and renowned keynote speaker, author, leadership educator and executive coach Maya Hu-Chan will be speaking on Tuesday, Dec. 7, from 6-7 p.m. on the topic “Saving Face: How to Preserve Dignity and Build Trust in Global Business.” The topic is based on her newly published book to facilitate future leaders with a global mindset. This speaking event is open to the public and will take place via Zoom. Access the Zoom link here.

Three University of Wisconsin-Platteville civil engineering students recently conducted research at MnROAD, the largest full-scale pavement research facility of its kind in the world, located near Albertville, Minnesota.

The research project, led by Dr. Danny Xiao, associate professor of civil engineering, gave Dylan Notsch, Will Straka and Nic Oesau the opportunity to investigate the impact of anti-icing on concrete durability and how to protect concrete infrastructure from the impact.

“MnROAD is a prodigious facility with worldwide impact,” said Straka, a freshman from Mineral Point, Wisconsin. 

“Visiting MnROAD was a great experience to learn about concrete and pavement outside and get hands-on, real-world experience,” added Notsch, a junior from Sartell, Minnesota.

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville hosted several specialty visits this fall, bringing dozens of students from across the tri-state area to campus. The events included Spanish Visit Day on Oct. 16, a Darlington [Wisconsin] High School ESL group visit on Oct. 21 and, most recently, a Multicultural Visit Day on Nov. 13. The outreach events gave prospective students with similar backgrounds the opportunity to tour campus, interact with current students and learn about different resources and student organizations. 

UW-Platteville alumna and Darlington High School bilingual teacher Kalee Crist brought 35 of her Spanish-speaking students to observe the classroom of Dr. Chris Schulenburg, professor of Spanish. The school visit was through the Paths to Platteville program. Schulenburg called it a valuable experience for everyone involved.

Corey Young, advisor in the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, received the 2021 Dr. P.B. Poorman Award for Outstanding Achievement on Behalf of LGBTQ+ People. The annual award recognizes LGBTQ+ people or their allies who have helped to create a safer and more inclusive climate for LGBTQ+ people. This year, UW System selected 11 honorees who were recognized at a Nov. 4 ceremony held in Madison, Wisconsin. 

“I’m humbled by the opportunity to receive this award,” said Young. “While being recognized is nice, I don’t do what I do for recognition. I do it because it’s important work. Students need to see the work being done.”

Young emphasizes the importance of having an inclusive environment for all UW-Platteville students. As the world becomes more diverse and inclusive, Young acknowledges how representation matters.

Created over a decade ago, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville’s Midwest Culturally Inclusive Conference will return this March to offer workshops, presentations and panels on various topics related to diversity, equity and inclusion. Open to students, faculty, staff and community members, the conference has, in past years, drawn nearly 1,000 attendees from across the Midwest. Conference organizers are currently accepting program proposals through Dec. 29. 

Following last year’s fully virtual series, this year’s conference will be held in a hybrid format. In-person keynote speakers will bookend the conference on March 1 and 31, and a variety of virtual workshops and presentations will be offered throughout the month. According to conference organizers, the hybrid approach was determined by survey results showing that participants enjoyed the flexibility and recording capabilities of a virtual setting, while also looking forward to some in-person engagement.

Having a passion for Division III athletics, and experiencing an NCAA Division III basketball tournament berth himself, University of Wisconsin-Platteville alumnus Mike Shaw ’10 had an idea: create an NCAA Division III football bowl game to give one team from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) and the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) an opportunity to play one final game.

“I am a big supporter of Division III athletics,” said Shaw, Founder and Director of the Culver’s Isthmus Bowl. “I always noticed teams in the WIAC and CCIW would have their seasons end so abruptly but should be playing in the national tournament— not just football but all sports. These two conferences are so good. Teams that finish in the middle of the pack could win games in the national tournament. That led me to wanting to start a bowl game. I actually thought of it during COVID quarantine boredom.”

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville will hold its 25th annual Holiday Gala on Dec. 3 and 4 in the Richard and Helen Brodbeck Concert Hall, Center for the Arts, at 7:30 p.m.

“We’re excited to be able to host a live event again this year,” said Dr. Laura Anderson, chair of the Department of Performing and Visual Arts. “It’s always a great way to start the holiday season.”

The concert will feature the UW-Platteville Symphony Orchestra, Jazz Band, Choirs, Chamber Ensembles, and special guests the Platteville Chorale. There will also be an audience sing-a-long featuring holiday favorites “Deck the Halls” and “Joy to the World.”

Fourteen University of Wisconsin-Platteville education students recently spent two weeks in Bayfield, Wisconsin, for a unique practicum experience, giving them the opportunity to learn more about culturally-responsive teaching practices and implementing Act 31 in the classroom.  

Act 31 is a legislation that requires Wisconsin schools to educate students about the history, culture and tribal sovereignty of the 11 federally-recognized tribes in the state, at least twice in elementary school and once in high school. Approximately 80% of the students at Bayfield Elementary School are Native American, and the school works closely with the Red Cliff Tribe to provide instruction on Anishinaabe culture. Dr. Jen Collins, director of UW-Platteville’s School of Education, said this presented an opportunity for the students to see Act 31 modeled in a more authentic way. 

University of Wisconsin-Platteville instructor Susanna Swenson accompanied 12 students from her Methods in Elementary Physical Education course to the Wisconsin Health and Physical Education (WHPE) Convention in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, Oct. 27-29.

Among the UW-Platteville students in attendance were two groups that had enrolled in Swenson’s Methods in Middle/Secondary Physical Education class last spring. They were tasked with creating a conference-worthy virtual interactive unit plan specific for a new concept within physical education. Swenson was impressed with the ideas of the two groups and recommended they apply for the proposal to present. They were accepted and were the only undergraduate presenters at the convention.

The two presentation topics were Infusing Critical Thinking into Physical Education and All Sports Golf.

UW-Platteville’s Department of Performing and Visual Arts-Theatre and Pioneer Players will present Christopher Marlowe’s classic tale of a man who sells his soul to the devil, “Doctor Faustus.”  Performances are Dec. 1 at 11 a.m., Dec. 1-4 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 5 at 2 p.m.  All performances are in the Center for the Arts Theatre. The Dec. 1 performance at 7:30 p.m. is also the Benefit Wednesday performance.  All tickets for Benefit Wednesday are $7, and the proceeds go to the Platteville Food Pantry and Family Advocates, an organization that provides prevention and intervention services to victims and survivors of domestic, sexual, child and elder abuse in Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Counties.

Building on its strong legacy of being the first teacher preparation institute in the state, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville’s School of Education has a long history of looking toward the future and anticipating and responding to the needs of the communities and schools it serves — and in recent years, those needs are increasingly revolving around technology. That is why UW-Platteville education students are leading the way in pursuing voluntary Google for Education certification, long before they even graduate. 

More than 70 criminal justice students currently enrolled in Corrections and Criminology courses at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville recently had the opportunity to enhance their coursework when they engaged in Zoom sessions with a panel of inmates from the Prairie du Chien Correctional Institution.

UW-Platteville’s Department of Criminal Justice has collaborated with the Prairie du Chien Correctional Institution for more than half a decade. In past years, students have had the opportunity to facilitate restorative justice courses and victim impact programming. While the COVID-19 pandemic restricted that in-person interaction this year, Dr. Camie Morris, a lecturer of criminal justice at UW-Platteville, and coordinator of the sessions, said that this unique experience is still essential for the students’ learning. 

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville will celebrate its 207th commencement on Saturday, Dec. 11. The ceremony will start at 9 a.m. with the College of Business, Industry, Life Science and Agriculture. The College of Liberal Arts and Education and graduate programs will hold their ceremonies at 12:30 p.m.; and the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science will follow at 4 p.m. All ceremonies will take place in Williams Fieldhouse.

The College of BILSA will recognize 182 candidates. The senior speaker is Amber Brand, an accounting, integrated supply chain management and management triple major, from Kieler, Wisconsin. Dawn Drake, who retired from UW-Platteville in 2018, will deliver the principal speaker address. Drake worked in the UW System for 33 years and was central in developing the university’s first online programs. She oversaw distance and continuing education at UW-Platteville from 1999 until her retirement.

University of Wisconsin-Platteville senior Spencer Butterfield is one of only two student-athletes nationwide handpicked to represent the United States at the International University Sports Federation (FISU) World Forum in Costa Rica this spring. This biennial forum brings together students, officials and other partners from more than 60 countries to engage in discussions on education, culture and sport. Butterfield, originally from Shawnee, Kansas, is a member of the men’s soccer team and president of the Pioneer Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.  

Internationally-renowned bioregional herbalist Linda Conroy has signed on to teach three courses for the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Continuing Education Institute this winter and spring. 

Conroy, a practicing herbalist, owns the herbal business Moonwise Herbs located in Albion, Wisconsin. She is also the community organizer and founder of the well-known Midwest Woman's Herbal Conference, as well as the Mycelium Mysteries Conference, designed to teach women about locating and foraging wild mushrooms. 

However, her path to plants was a passion that took years to cultivate and grow. In fact, Conroy worked for nearly 20 years as a social worker and holds two master's degrees, Master of Social Sciences and Master of Law and Social Policy. Yet, it was through her work as a medical social worker that she found her green thumb.

The 2021 University of Wisconsin-Platteville Pioneers Day of Giving, held Oct. 14-15, received over 640 donations totaling more than $143,000 from alumni and friends. This year’s Day of Giving spanned two days, allowing for 1,866 minutes to give in honor of the university’s founding year. A record number of people participated this year, including more students than ever before.

"I am so proud to be part of this Pioneer family,” said Scott S. Baumgartner, chair of the UW-Platteville Foundation and 1972 UW-Platteville graduate. “The outpouring support of our alumni, friends and corporate partners is truly inspiring. Thank you to everyone who participated in Pioneers Day of Giving. Your generosity will have a profound difference."

Syrian refugee Mariela Shaker will perform and speak on the topic of civil liberties at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville on Monday, Nov. 22. Shaker was originally scheduled to perform at UW-Platteville in March of 2020, but the event was cancelled due to COVID-19. Shaker, who fled the war in Syria, is a motivational speaker, violinist and professor at Monmouth College. She was granted asylum in the United States in 2013 and has since traveled across the world sharing her story. 

Shaker’s presentation will be held in the Richard & Helen Brodbeck Concert Hall in the Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. Admission is free.

The Distance Education Alumni Board selected students Luis Cano and Wara Pirzada as the 2021 recipients of its scholarship. The scholarship was created by the board in 2016 to help provide additional financial support to distance education students as they complete their degree.

The Distance Education Alumni Board represents the Distance Education Alumni Chapter of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Alumni Association. 

“The scholarship program is an important part of the Distance Education Chapter’s outreach to both current and former students. It provides an opportunity for alumni to support current students while highlighting the important work of the Alumni Association,” said Vice President Joe Roy, an alumnus of UW-Platteville’s distance education program, who earned his Bachelor of Science in criminal justice in 2014 and Master of Science in criminal justice in 2016.

Spencer Butterfield had a summer internship experience like few others. Combining his double majors in sustainability and renewable energy systems and Spanish, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville senior from Shawnee, Kansas, spent two months in the Amazon Rainforest, conducting research on solar panel policy in the rural community of Monterey, Peru.  

After his initial internship for summer of 2021 was cancelled due to COVID-19, Butterfield found a nonprofit organization called Alliance for a Sustainable Amazon (ASA), which hired him as one of its summer interns. Being located in Spanish-speaking Peru was the perfect fit for Butterfield, giving him the opportunity to also fulfill his internship requirement for his Spanish major.

As Melynda Vang, a senior from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, prepares to graduate next month, she reflects on the opportunities the University of Wisconsin-Platteville offered her, setting her up for success and a job before graduation. Vang is majoring in computer science with a minor in business administration, and recently accepted a position at Travelers, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. 

Vang is the youngest of six children and credits her family as being the biggest influence and motivator for her academic pursuits. 

“My parents were immigrants from Laos and always encouraged us to do well academically to have better lives,” said Vang.  “All of my siblings are great role models. We all took different paths so we can help each other out in a variety of areas.”

The fall play at UW-Platteville Baraboo Sauk County, “The God Committee,” by Mark St. Germain, dramatizes a hospital transplant committee's deliberation and the ethical issues its members face.  

“Upfront it’s a play tackling a bunch of moral and ethical questions, but underneath it’s a character-based drama that takes you inside the heads and hearts of these particular people, dealing with the decisions they, collectively, have to make,” said the director Molly Maslin Arbogast, when discussing “The God Committee.” Described by the publisher as a cross between “Twelve Angry Men” and hospital dramas like “ER” or “Grey’s Anatomy,” the play features a cast of seven students and community members, whose characters make up a committee at a hospital assigning an available donor heart to just one of several patients in need.   

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville Foundation is the recipient of a $3,000 grant from the Green Bay Packers Foundation. The grant will help to enhance the Pioneer Leadership Institute, thereby having a direct impact on Pioneer student-athletes’ leadership and career development opportunities.  

Unveiled in 2020, the Pioneer Leadership Institute is a collaborative partnership between the Department of Athletics and the greater campus community. Its mission is to develop, challenge and support students and staff via leadership and career development initiatives, interactive workshops and impactful peer mentorship programming.

During a ceremony at the State Capitol on Oct. 29, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville’s Department of Campus Climate was honored with the 2021 Ann Lydecker Educational Diversity Award from the State Council on Affirmative Action. 

The award honors institutions of higher learning for exceptional efforts in preparing people with marginalized identities, women, and persons with disabilities for employment in the state of Wisconsin. The State Council on Affirmative Action noted the Department of Campus Climate’s commitment to the recruitment, retention and promotion of a diverse workforce through various initiatives and programs. 

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville will host its 10th annual Horrific Crime Scene Revisited event on Saturday, Nov. 6 and Sunday, Nov. 7. The event will take place at the Forensic Investigation Crime Scene House at Pioneer Farm. Drawing several hundred attendees in years past, this popular tradition provides an opportunity for students and the community to learn more about the field of forensics.

Each year, a true-life crime scene is recreated and staged with evidence. Visitors will have the opportunity to examine the house, find evidence and make determinations about the case. Once they gather as much information as possible, they can check their findings against a list of evidence that was present in the house. The event, which is sponsored by the Criminal Justice Association, aims to provide an educational experience to participants, showing them a glimpse into the fields of criminal justice and forensic investigation.

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville online programs have earned national recognition once again. This month, the university was named one of the 50 Top Online Colleges by CollegeValuesOnline.com.

College Values Online ranked each university on a points system based on return on investment, tuition cost, scholarship opportunities and accelerated program availability. UW-Platteville earned the fifth-highest score at 14 points, tying fellow in-state school, the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Hundreds of high school students from across the Midwest packed the University of Wisconsin-Platteville campus for the third annual Construction Career Day held on Oct. 6. The event featured nearly 300 students from 14 schools and dozens of construction companies. Construction Career Day gives ninth through 12th-grade students the opportunity to learn about careers within the construction industry.

“It was a huge day for the UW-Platteville Construction Management program,” said Gretchen Bockenhauer, lecturer and program coordinator. “We had over 30 sponsors from all different construction companies. Students participated in hands-on activities, went off-site, did hands-on labs and companies got to do hands-on activities with them.”

Familiar traditions returned this year when the University of Wisconsin-Platteville celebrated Homecoming last week – many of which would not have been able to take place without the support of the community partners who have contributed to the success of UW-Platteville’s Homecoming year after year.

This was the 11th year the UW-Platteville Alumni Association and Culver’s of Platteville teamed up for the Homecoming Custard Creation Challenge, in which Culver’s of Platteville accepts custard creation submissions. After finalists are chosen, the public, alumni and UW-Platteville community vote on their favorite flavor. The winning flavor is announced the week of homecoming and enjoyed at the Alumni Homecoming Luncheon.

It’s a celebration of lasting friendships, memories, and stories from the days spent on the UW-Platteville campus. For 40 years, Mike Kopf ’79 and his wife Kathy (Littel) Kopf ’80 have been organizing reunions for their fellow Pioneers. The weekend gatherings have been held every five years since graduation, starting in 1985. The latest reunion was postponed a year due to the pandemic and held in July, bringing more than 65 friends back to the Southwest corner of the state.

“It’s awesome,” said Kathy. “We have a mailing list, and in the early part of the year, we send a save the date. About 6-8 weeks before the reunion, we send out a registration form so we know how many people will attend. For the people who come from far away, they go all out. It’s so much fun.” 

University of Wisconsin System Interim President Tommy Thompson visited the University of Wisconsin-Platteville on Oct. 18 to help kick off Homecoming week and encourage students to get the COVID-19 vaccination. More than 200 students gathered in the Markee Pioneer Student Center to hear Thompson, who is also the former governor of Wisconsin, as well as celebrate the grand opening of Pioneer Sweets – UW-Platteville’s newest on-campus, student-run ice cream production business. 

Thompson began by thanking faculty for their hard work during the past unprecedented year. 

Led by the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, a consortium of four universities (UW-Platteville, Virginia Tech, Colorado State University, and Lafayette College) recently received a $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. Under the direction of Dr. Philip Parker, interim dean of the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science, the Center for Infrastructure Transformation and Education (CIT-E) will use the grant to transform the approach to diversity, equity and inclusion in the field of civil and environmental engineering education.

Community partners have stepped up to provide support for the University of Wisconsin-Platteville’s new FIRST LEGO League, a program that introduces STEM to children ages 4 to 16. Corporate and organization donations so far have included $1,750 from Walmart, $1,500 from Veridian Homes, $1,000 from the Rotary Club of Southwest Wisconsin and $250 from Kraemer North America. In addition to these monetary donations, Envision Tees has also agreed to be the FIRST LEGO League T-shirt sponsor. Five individual donors have contributed a combined amount of more than $400.

"Walmart is proud to be part of the Platteville community and strives to be a part of its development whenever possible," said Josh Ovsak, general manager of Platteville Walmart.

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville announces another milestone achievement for one of its distinguished alumni. Dr. Michael O’Connor, a 2006 graduate of the Master of Science in Project Management program, was recently recognized as a winner of the 2021 Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Eric Jenett Project Management Excellence Award. This award recognizes and honors an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the project management field or its practice through leadership, technical project management, and strategic and business management expertise.

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville recently extended its Pioneer Pledge program to students in Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota, guaranteeing that the cost of undergraduate, on-campus tuition and fees will be covered for any Pell-eligible, new freshmen attending the Platteville campus. Extending this program to the neighboring states is the university’s latest in a number of recent commitments to ensure an affordable education. In August, UW-Platteville announced that it waived the enrollment deposit fee, which followed last year’s waiving of the electronic application fees.

Dr. Gana Natarajan, assistant professor of industrial and mechanical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, is being honored with two awards from the American Society for Engineering Management (ASEM). Natarajan will receive the 2021 ASEM William Daughton World Headquarters Service Award and Fellow Award at the virtual International Annual Conference held Oct. 27-30.

“It feels great. It means my work and service has been recognized by the society,” said Natarajan. “I joined the American Society for Engineering Management in grad school. I’m originally from India and came to Texas Tech University for grad school and joined. It’s stuck with me.”

Dr. Amanda Tucker, professor of English and director of General Education at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, and Dr. Katie Kalish, professor of English at UW-Platteville Baraboo Sauk County, and director of First-Year Writing, were awarded a planning grant from the Teagle Foundation and National Endowment for the Humanities to develop an integrated liberal arts certificate. The role of the grant is to revitalize humanities and to expose students to different areas of liberal arts by creating purposeful pathways of study within the general education program. The first version of the certificate will go through faculty governance this month, with the hope of it becoming a program students can opt into in the fall of 2022.

When a champion tree on the University of Wisconsin-Platteville campus was damaged in a storm last summer, faculty teamed up with an industry partner to turn the chance to save it into a one-of-a-kind learning opportunity for students. 

The more than 100-year-old Northern catalpa tree, just south of Karrmann Library, was designated as a Wisconsin Champion Tree in 2004, recognized as the largest in the state of that species. Known for its large leaves and trumpet-shaped white flowers in early summer, the Northern Catalpa is native to the Midwestern United States.

“It is really exciting to have such an amazing tree on campus,” said Dr. Donita Cartmill, professor and program coordinator for environmental horticulture. “It is located in a prominent location, and most in the area are aware of its presence.”

Dr. Pete Lammers, associate professor in the University of Wisconsin-Platteville School of Agriculture, is contributing to a $10 million project, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and led by Purdue University, to make Midwestern agriculture more resilient by diversifying farms, marketing and the agricultural landscape. 

The main objectives of the five-year project, titled “#DiverseCornBelt: Resilient Intensification through Diversity in Midwestern Agriculture,” are threefold. The project team seeks to identify a viable set of economically, environmentally and socially sustainable cropping systems that are more resilient to market volatility and environmental stressors and then deliver these new, diversified approaches to farmers, landowners and communities through a network of tools, training and resources.

Dr. Lucie Kadjo, assistant professor and coordinator of the Agribusiness Program at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, and Kathleen Kerr, academic advisor and coach at UW-Platteville, were recently recognized by the Wisconsin Academic Advising Association for excellence in advising.

Kadjo is receiving the 2021 WACADA Faculty Advisor Excellence Award. She teaches several agribusiness courses and is the advisor of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) club. 

“I am very honored to receive the WACADA Advising award,” said Kadjo. “This award is a recognition of my contribution towards students’ success, and I am very grateful and thankful to the students and people who have acknowledged my work.”

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville Collegiate Soils Team took first place in the 64th annual Region 3 Collegiate Soils Contest, held Oct. 5-8. The event was held in McLean and Tazewell counties in Illinois and was hosted by Illinois State University. Participating in the event were 38 students from four universities: UW-Platteville, UW-Stevens Point, Purdue University and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.