University News

Fall Engineering Seminar Series announced

Written By: Alison Parkins | Published On: | Featured in: STEM

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science is bringing real-world engineering projects to students, faculty and the public, through the fall 2020 EMS Engineering Seminar Series.


UW-Platteville hosts STEMStart Summer Institute

Written By: Ruth Wendlandt | Published On: | Featured in: Education, STEM

Area high school teachers from across Wisconsin met virtually with engineering professors from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science for the STEMStart Summer Institute. STEMStart is an early college credit program for engineering.


Student takes top prize in state research competition

Written By: Alison Parkins | Published On: | Featured in: Agriculture & Dairy, STEM, Research

Joseph Creanza, a junior soil and crop science major at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, scored first place at the recent 2020 Student Research and Innovation Showcase for his project, “Plant Essential Oils as Natural and Safe Pesticides for the Control of Soybean White Mold Disease.”


UW-Platteville partners with College Pads to provide an off-campus housing marketplace

Written By: Ruth Wendlandt | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville is partnering with Rent College Pads, an off-campus marketplace and search engine for students navigating their housing options. The UW-Platteville Off-Campus Marketplace helps students with rental resources, including connecting with landlords, off-campus pricing, finding roommates and subleasing options.


Pioneer Spotlight: Tom Antczak

Written By: Jason Piddington | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community

Tom Antczak is in his 29th year as head coach of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville women’s and men’s cross-country programs, making him the longest tenured coach in the athletic department. In the past 20 years, Antczak has seen the men’s program have great success, qualifying for the NCAA III national meet eight times, having three individual champions and a program best fourth-place team finish in 2010.


High ranking reaffirms university’s commitment to sustainability

Written By: Alison Parkins | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community

Reaffirming the institution’s long-term commitment to sustainability, UW-Platteville recently earned a silver rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. STARS, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, measures and encourages sustainability in all aspects of higher education.


Pioneer Spotlight: Dr. Douglas Selent

Written By: Ruth Wendlandt | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community, STEM

Dr. Douglas Selent, assistant professor of computer science and software engineering, joined the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in 2018. He also serves as the software engineering program coordinator. His interests include bringing active learning into his classroom through different activities and gamification.


Pioneer Spotlight: Dr. Brandon Fetterly

Written By: John Christensen | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community, Richland

Dr. Brandon Fetterly is dean of the UW-Platteville Richland campus. As dean, he leads the operation of the campus, from academics and student affairs, budget and administration, and management of facilities and other operations; to external relations with alumni, the campus’ Foundation, local government, and other stakeholders.


Lerner receives Outstanding Faculty/Instructional Academic Staff Academic Advisor Award

Written By: Ruth Wendlandt | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community

Dr. Anne-Marie Lerner, University of Wisconsin-Platteville assistant department chair and professor of mechanical engineering, calls advising her students one of the most gratifying parts of working in higher education. Lerner is being honored with the 2020 Outstanding Faculty/Instructional Academic Staff Academic Advisor Award.


Gurira recognized with Outstanding Woman of Color Award

Written By: Alison Parkins | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community

Josephine Gurira, reference services librarian at the UW-Platteville’s Karrmann Library, is being honored with the university’s 2020 Outstanding Woman of Color Award.


High-performance computing server opens new research possibilities

Written By: Alison Parkins | Published On: | Featured in: STEM, Research

Big data and artificial intelligence are increasingly ubiquitous in society, with an estimate of more than 2.5 million terabytes of data generated worldwide every day. Analyzing this data can help answer fundamental research questions, and thanks to a recent collaboration with IBM and OpenPOWER Foundation, spearheaded by Dr. Arghya Das, UW-Platteville is now home to a high-performance computing server to assist in this effort.


State-funded Dairy Innovation Hub hires first faculty members

Written By: Maria Woldt, Dairy Innovation Hub program manager | Published On: | Featured in: Dairy Innovation Hub, Agriculture & Dairy

Ryan Pralle and Joseph Sanford have been hired as faculty members by the UW-Platteville School of Agriculture, representing the first tenure-track faculty positions funded by the Dairy Innovation Hub.


Ivanov presents his research in Moscow

Written By: Andrey Ivanov | Published On: | Featured in: History

Dr. Andrey Ivanov, assistant professor of history, recently presented his research on the topic of “David and Goliaths: Wartime Sermons in Russia 1700-1815” in a seminar organized by Moscow's German Historical Institute.


Montgomery honored with Woman of the Year Award

Written By: Alison Parkins | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community, Agriculture & Dairy

Dr. Tera Montgomery, professor of dairy and animal science at UW-Platteville, was selected for the 2020 Carol Sue Butts Woman of the Year Award.


Halfmann honored with Early Career Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence

Written By: Ruth Wendlandt | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community, Psychology

Dr. Kameko Halfmann, assistant professor of psychology, is this year’s recipient of the Early Career Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence.


Foundation breaks $4 million in donations for first time

Written By: Alison Parkins | Published On: | Featured in: Alumni, Campus & Community

The UW-Platteville Foundation is celebrating a new milestone, as it recently announced record fundraising for the 2020 fiscal year, which ended on June 30. UW-Platteville alumni, friends and corporate partners donated more than $4 million for the first time ever, exceeding the previous year’s total by $1 million.


Udelhofen receives University Staff Award for Excellence

Written By: Ruth Wendlandt | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community

Amy Udelhofen, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville academic department associate for Performing and Visual Arts is receiving the 2020 University Staff Award for Excellence.


McLanahan receives Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence

Written By: Ruth Wendlandt | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community, STEM

Dr. Aric Ranen McLanahan, University of Wisconsin-Platteville assistant professor of mechanical and industrial engineering, was selected for the Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence. The purpose of the award is to recognize a tenure-track faculty member who has made distinguished contributions to the mission of UW-Platteville as an outstanding teacher.


Pioneer Spotlight: Jeff Gard

Written By: Jason Piddington | Published On: | Featured in: Alumni, Campus & Community

Jeff Gard just finished his 11th season as head basketball coach of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Being in athletics was always Jeff’s dream and goal as a young man growing up in Cobb, Wisconsin. He was surrounded by coaches who helped mentor and guide him along the way, and coaching was his opportunity to stay in athletics.


Partnership in nationwide engineering network to bring new opportunities

Written By: Alison Parkins | Published On: | Featured in: STEM

Building on its tradition of offering active, hands-on and problem-based learning, the UW-Platteville College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science recently affirmed its place as a leader in engineering education with its acceptance as a partner in the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN).


Pioneer Farm cow takes grand champion at district show

Written By: Ruth Wendlandt | Published On: | Featured in: Agriculture & Dairy

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville Pioneer Farm took home the top honor of grand champion for its four-year-old cow Wiscit Defiant Maya at the Wisconsin District 3 Show in Lancaster, Wisconsin, on June 19. Registered dairy producers from Grant, Lafayette, Iowa, Richland and Crawford counties participated in the competition, which featured 187 cows.


UW-Platteville leads public institutions for value

Written By: Paul Erickson | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville is the top public institution in the state for best value, according to the 2020 Payscale ratings.


Pioneer Restore announces launch of new online sales platform

Written By: Joshua Chamberland and Ruth Wendlandt | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community

The Pioneer Restore at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville announces the launch of its new online storefront. The sleek, easy-to-use website is designed to make unwanted university-owned items available to the community at affordable prices.


Pioneer Spotlight: Dr. Yan Shi

Written By: Ruth Wendlandt | Published On: | Featured in: STEM

Dr. Yan Shi, associate professor of computer science and software engineering joined the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in 2011. Besides teaching, she is researching several topics related to data mining in social networks.


Grant to help empower young women in computer science field

Written By: Alison Parkins | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community, STEM

Donna Gavin, a senior lecturer in computer science and software engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, and founder of Platteville’s Girls Who Code Club, recently received a grant of more than $1,500 from the Platteville Community Fund, which will help support new opportunities for both the middle and high school-aged girls in the club and their college mentors.


Faculty, student respond to the call for innovative solutions during pandemic

Written By: Alison Parkins | Published On: | Featured in: STEM, Research

The creative concepts of five University of Wisconsin-Platteville faculty and one student were recently selected by WiSys in the organization’s Innovation Challenge: COVID-19.


Gordon to give two presentations on recently published book to mark Pride Month

Written By: Alison Parkins | Published On: | Featured in: Arts & Culture

Dr. Phillip Gordon is scheduled to give two online presentations in the coming weeks to discuss his recently published book “Gay Faulkner: Uncovering a Homosexual Presence and Beyond” (December 2019, University Press of Mississippi).


Pioneer Spotlight: Nancy Hammermeister

Written By: Laurie Hamer | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community

Ever since Nancy Hammermeister began teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville about 10 years ago, she always encouraged her students to be curious and to ask questions. She is a lecturer of political science and mainly teaches introduction level, general education courses in American government.


Grant leads to new research for glove design

Written By: Alison Parkins | Published On: | Featured in: STEM, Research

Dr. Vettrivel Gnaneswaran, assistant professor of industrial engineering, was recently awarded a Research Infrastructure Program grant by the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium for his research exploring the use of gloves and their effect on performing tasks – the results of which could potentially influence glove redesign in manufacturing, aerospace and healthcare industries, helping people select gloves to maximize safety and productivity.


UW-Platteville students organize Black Lives Matter protest

Written By: Ruth Wendlandt | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community, Diversity Equity and Inclusion

Black Lives Matter is the message two University of Wisconsin-Platteville activists are spreading in Southwest Wisconsin in response to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. On June 7, Alvin Watts and Alexandria Lara organized a peaceful protest at City Park in Platteville to bring awareness to systemic racism and police brutality.


Faculty fellowships funded by state-sponsored Dairy Innovation Hub

Written By: Maria Woldt, Dairy Innovation Hub program manager | Published On: | Featured in: Dairy Innovation Hub, Agriculture & Dairy, Research

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville recently awarded seven faculty research fellowships to help increase dairy-related research capacity through the Dairy Innovation Hub initiative.


UW-Platteville celebrates national Pride Month

Written By: Alison Parkins | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community, Diversity Equity and Inclusion

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville is organizing virtual events throughout June, national Pride Month, to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.


Pioneer Spotlight: Dr. Kevin Bernhardt

Written By: Alison Parkins | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community, Agriculture & Dairy

As a professor of agribusiness at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and a UW-Extension farm management specialist, Dr. Kevin Bernhardt helps make an impact on both the current and future generations of the local agriculture industry.


Future teachers use technology to provide critical support to more than 100 students during COVID-19 crisis

Written By: Laurie Hamer | Published On: | Featured in: Education

During the COVID-19 crisis, more than 70 UW-Platteville education majors took on the challenge of providing more than 100 homebound K-12 students in 11 school districts in Southwest Wisconsin with online tutoring support to ensure they continued gaining knowledge in a wide variety of subject areas.


Pioneer Spotlight: Dr. Scott Melin

Written By: Ruth Wendlandt | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community

University of Wisconsin-Platteville Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Dr. Scott Melin joined UW-Platteville in 2017 and encourages his students to take away these important concepts: a lifelong learning approach, growth mindset and professional skills.


UW-Platteville re-inventing youth summer camps virtually

Written By: UW-Platteville Continuing Education staff | Published On: | Featured in: Continuing, Press Release

The UW-Platteville Continuing Education Institute is re-inventing its summer youth series, rolling out 11 virtual camps in place of its traditional face-to-face offerings.


Equipment donation enhances student experience in building construction programs

Written By: Alison Parkins | Published On: | Featured in: Industrial Studies

Thanks to a recent donation from industry partner Kraemer Brothers, LLC, the UW-Platteville building construction programs now have a piece of new equipment to offer students additional hands-on experience. The commercial construction firm in Plain, Wisconsin, recently donated a 753 Bobcat skid steer.


A message to the campus community

Written By: UW-Platteville Leadership | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community

A message to the UW-Platteville community from university leaders.


No application fee to UW-Platteville branch campuses through June 15

Written By: John Christensen | Published On: | Featured in: Baraboo Sauk County, Richland

The already-reduced application fee to attend UW-Platteville Baraboo Sauk County or UW-Platteville Richland will be completely waived from June 5-15, making it even easier for students to explore UW-Platteville’s two branch campuses as they start or continue toward their education goals, according to Assistant Provost for Branch Campus Operations Dr. Michael Compton.


Manuel receives award for research paper on post-Apartheid South African economy

Written By: Laurie Hamer | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community

The UW-Platteville Department of Social Sciences recently recognized Elliott Manuel, a soon-to-be senior political science major at UW-Platteville, with the Outstanding Social Sciences Paper Award. The award included a $200 stipend.


Pioneer Spotlight: Krista Eiseman

Written By: Alison Parkins | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community, Agriculture & Dairy

Krista Eiseman has been interested in the field of animal science from a young age. While attending UW-Platteville, she developed a particular interest in meat science. After earning her master's degree from North Dakota State University, where she studied meat science and muscle biology, she returned to UW-Platteville as an assistant professor of animal science in 2017.


Herman lends invaluable medical advice to university

Written By: Paul Erickson | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community

Rachel Herman, the UW-Platteville administrative director of Student Health Services, is a board-certified pediatric nurse practitioner who counts public health infectious disease among her expertise. She has been instrumental in not only offering leadership to the UW-Platteville Emergency Operations Center team but also to the UW System, as her pandemic planning was used as a blueprint for the 170,000 students across the state.


Roth receives UW System award for project exploring authentic membership of marginalized identity

Written By: Laurie Hamer | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community, Diversity Equity and Inclusion

UW-Platteville alumnus Jason Roth, who earned a Bachelor of Arts in women, gender, and sexuality studies this May, recently received the UW System Women’s and Gender Studies Consortium undergraduate research award for a workshop he developed, “Who Gets to Represent Whom? Authentic Membership, Organic Voices, and Allyship.”


UW-Platteville continues to grow in online education; celebrating 42 years of experience

Written By: Ruth Wendlandt | Published On: | Featured in: Baraboo Sauk County, Campus & Community, Distance Education, Richland

For more than 40 years, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville has been an institutional leader in distance education. In 1978, UW-Platteville started a print-based program and then in 1999 the institution became the first public university in Wisconsin to offer degrees online. This experience in leadership helped make a smooth transition when the university and the branch campuses went into alternative delivery mode in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


Mueller wins UW-Platteville’s WiSys Quick Pitch @ Home competition

Written By: Laurie Hamer | Published On: | Featured in: Psychology, Research

Dana Mueller, a senior psychology major at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, recently won the university’s WiSys Quick Pitch @ Home competition.


Pioneer Spotlight: Nicole Ryan

Written By: Ruth Wendlandt | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community

Nicole Ryan, a University of Wisconsin-Platteville senior regional admission advisor connects prospective students to the university.


Matching gift supports Pioneers Helping Pioneers fund

Written By: Alison Parkins | Published On: | Featured in: Alumni, Campus & Community

Joshua Boots, assistant vice chancellor of development and alumni engagement, announced today that the UW-Platteville Foundation has received a $15,000 matching gift donation from an anonymous couple. This gift will match donations made to UW-Platteville’s $100,000 initiative in support of the Pioneers Helping Pioneers fund.


Mechanical engineering students turn recycled plastic into respiratory face masks

Written By: Ruth Wendlandt | Published On: | Featured in: STEM, Research

To help combat the shortage of personal protective equipment during this COVID-19 crisis, Dr. Jodi Prosise, chair of the UW-Platteville Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, and a team of undergraduate researchers are designing a system to turn recycled plastic into respiratory face masks.


Pioneer Spotlight: Scott Steder

Written By: Laurie Hamer | Published On: | Featured in: Campus & Community, Arts & Culture

Scott Steder, a lecturer of art at UW-Platteville since fall 2017, teaches courses in sculpture, drawing, professional practices and all levels of ceramics. He was first drawn to the field of art in high school, when he took a ceramics class, and he never looked back.


Alumnus finds success in innovation at UW-Platteville, now supports others

Written By: Alison Parkins | Published On: | Featured in: Alumni, Business & Leadership, STEM

Recent graduate Caleb Dykema is taking the experiences in innovation he found at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and inspiring others to achieve the same through his new podcast, Just the Bulb.