Three current and former staff members at UW-Platteville are being honored with the 2021 Excellence in International Advising Award for their significant positive impact on the international student population at the university.

Christine Wunderlin is being honored with the 2021 Limited Term Employee Staff Award for Excellence. The award recognizes a staff member who has provided essential services to the university while demonstrating excellence of performance, personal interaction, and initiative and creativity. 

Dr. James Hampton, associate professor and program coordinator in the School of Agriculture is the recipient of this year’s Innovations in Teaching with Technology Award.

New inventions poised to make an impact in a variety of fields are getting their start on the UW-Platteville campus, being designed, prototyped and tested by faculty and students. Thanks to a partnership between WiSys and Dr. John Obielodan, associate professor of mechanical engineering, half a dozen inventions have gone from idea to reality over the past two years.

Dr. Andrey Ivanov, associate professor of history, was selected for the 2021-22 Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars Program. His project, “Live from the Red Square! Virtual Education Travel in History Classroom” explores how the application of hybrid-virtual approaches to experiential field trip teaching will affect the student learning outcome of international awareness.

WiSys, the technology transfer arm of the 11 UW System regional comprehensive campuses, was recently awarded a U.S. patent for an invention disclosed by Dr. Fang Yang, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering. Yang, and her co-inventor Zhao Li, of LY Grid Innovation, created a software-based micro-grid energy management system with proactive and comprehensive control.

Mitchell Cotter, a junior political science major, is spending his summer gaining firsthand experience working with the Wisconsin State Legislature. Cotter is interning with Rep. Jodi Emerson, where he is contributing research related to current and future legislative proposals.

Jessica Brogley, a senior lecturer in the School of Education, was selected to receive UW-Platteville’s 2021 Academic Staff Award for Excellence.

Patti Mitch, IT support specialist for the UW-Platteville Baraboo Sauk County branch campus, is receiving this year’s UW-Platteville University Staff Award of Excellence.

This summer, 10 School of Education students were selected to work for the Pecatonica Area School District. Since June, UW-Platteville students have been receiving hands-on learning experiences at Camp Pec, a summer school program for grades 4K-5th grade.

Chancellor Dennis J. Shields announced that UW-Platteville is welcoming students, faculty and staff back in full face-to-face capacities, on all three campuses, for the 2021-22 academic year.

Change is always constant. For most people this statement rings true, but it’s a way of life for Jonathan Yancy. While many simply accept and react to change, Yancy is one who optimizes it – channeling change into progress on a daily basis.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers visited UW-Platteville on Monday, July 19, where he met with university leaders, toured the site of the soon-to-be-completed 2.4 megawatt solar array and the newly renovated Boebel Hall.  

Dr. Evan Larson, professor of geography, and his collaborators have been paddling the lakes of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness for the past 15 years to conduct a sprawling research project, the results of which have been recently published in the journal Ecosphere.

Dr. Lucie Kadjo, assistant professor and coordinator of the Agribusiness Program at UW-Platteville, says that working with students is her passion. She is being recognized for this work as the recipient of the 2021 UW-Platteville Outstanding Faculty/Instructional Academic Staff Academic Advisor Award.

Dr. Tammy Evetovich, provost and vice chancellor of Academic Affairs, and Dr. Kristina Navarro, assistant chancellor and director of Athletics and Recreation, announced today the launch of a Master of Science in Sport Administration on the UW-Platteville main campus. The graduate program is built to provide students with the comprehensive leadership skills needed for careers in professional, collegiate, nonprofit, amateur, and recreational sport with a specific new focus on the global influence of sports.

Dr. Holly Attenborough, associate professor of mathematics, was selected as one of four recipients across the UW System of the 2021 Alliant Energy Underkofler Excellence in Teaching Award. The award, funded by an endowment from the Alliant Energy Foundation Inc., recognizes extraordinary undergraduate teachers at UW System universities within Alliant Energy’s service area. 

Kathleen Kerr, academic advisor and coach at UW-Platteville, is being recognized with the 2021 Outstanding Professional Academic Advisor Award. Kerr who mostly works with freshman and sophomore students calls it an honor to build relationships and help students successfully transition into college.

Valerie Wetzel, who retired in February as assistant director of the Markee Pioneer Student Center, is one of two recipients to receive the 2021 Dr. Carol Sue Butts Woman of the Year Award.

Caitlin Warren had a plan to become a veterinarian from a young age, and now having just completed her junior year at UW-Platteville, she is enrolling in the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Program at UW-Madison this fall, thanks to a new articulation program created by UW-Platteville. 

Elizabeth Schaal, executive assistant for the Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor, calls it humbling to be receiving the Carol Sue Butts Woman of the Year Award. Named for the provost emeritus and former interim chancellor who served at UW-Platteville from 1998 until 2010, the award recognizes female employees and students who make a difference in the lives of women. 

Never forget where you come from is the ongoing theme running through The Midwest Girl, a Dubuque, Iowa T-shirt brand founded by University of Wisconsin-Platteville alumna Marissa (Droessler) Hoffmann and her sister Marah Odgers.

Dr. Chelsea Lancelle, assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is one of four UW-Platteville faculty members selected for the 2021-22 Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars Program.

Assistant Professor of art Dr. Tyler Ostergaard is grateful for the opportunity to participate in the 2021-22 Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars Program which supports outstanding educators from across the UW System in pursuing teaching and learning questions emerging from the classroom.

Three University of Wisconsin-Platteville student veterans will complete their college careers with more than a diploma. In addition to earning their master’s degrees this spring and summer, they will also graduate as members of the S.A.L.U.T.E. Veterans National Honor Society.

Dr. Bidhan Roy, an associate professor of mechanical engineering was selected as a UW System Teaching Scholar, and his research has been extended to the 2021-22 academic calendar due to the pandemic.

Dr. Becky Doyle-Morin, professor of biology at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, is being honored with the 2021 Nimocks Family Faculty Appreciation Award.

We all know earning a degree is important for enhancing one’s career, but it’s not the only step students can take to better position themselves for success. Knowledge of the workplace and the ability to make strong connections can prove just as valuable, which is why the University of Wisconsin-Platteville is pleased to offer the Alumni Mentee-Mentor Program—a resource for those seeking additional support outside of their studies.

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville is several steps closer to the launch of a new partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Physician Assistant Program.

Daniel O’Brien, University of Wisconsin-Platteville lecturer of art, will have three of his paintings on display at the Dubuque Museum of Art (DuMA) Biennial Exhibit running from Saturday, June 26-Oct. 31.

UW-Platteville, in partnership with UW Extended Campus, will offer two new online certificates starting in September 2021. The graduate-level, semester-based certificates in Applied Bioinformatics and Senior Living and Services Leadership were intentionally designed to align with industry needs and high-growth occupations. 

One local company is partnering with UW-Platteville to help bridge the communication gap between their English and non-English speaking employees. Allisa Cardella is the training and development generalist at Lactalis American Group, Inc. and completed her Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) certificate in May from UW-Platteville.

Dr. Austin Polebitski, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at UW-Platteville, is being honored with the 2021 Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence.

UW-Platteville's Pioneer Farm is now home to two new state-of-the-art robotic milkers, enabling more opportunities for research and engagement across campus and the tri-state region.

Dr. Chelsea Lancelle, assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is this year’s recipient of the UW-Platteville Early Career Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence. The award recognizes a tenure-track faculty member who has made distinguished contributions to the mission of UW-Platteville as an outstanding teacher. 

UW-Platteville received a donation on Friday from Kimberly-Clark totaling more than 280 boxes of diapers and period products, benefiting several campus and community programs. The donation will be distributed to The Red Basket Project at UW-Platteville, Pioneer Provisions, the Children’s Center, and partners of the Southwestern Wisconsin Community Action Program, Inc.

UW-Platteville Richland will be expanding three of its new Professional Pathways programs, thanks to a new grant from the We Energies Foundation.  The $5,000 grant, all targeted for the UW-Platteville Richland’s service area, will fund outreach efforts for programs for area high school students, particularly in traditionally underserved communities working toward enrolling in college.

A group of UW-Platteville students ranked among the top teams, nationwide, in the recent Student Steel Bridge Competition, sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction. Twenty-five teams competed in this year’s event. The UW-Platteville team ranked eighth overall and achieved a second-place ranking in the efficiency category and third place in the lightness category. 

Husco International, a manufacturing and engineering company in Waukesha, Wisconsin, is giving UW-Platteville mechanical engineering students the opportunity to work full-time while pursuing their education. It is part of the Husco Scholars Program, through which the company will pay 100% tuition assistance for students earning degrees through UW-Platteville Engineering Partnerships.

UW-Platteville's reputation as a destination for online learning has been bolstered again. The school has been recognized as one of the top five Technology Savvy Online Schools in 2021 by Online Schools Center.

UW-Platteville announces the launch of the Pioneering Forward Athletic Fund. This innovative fundraising initiative will enhance both the experience of donors and all 550 Pioneer student-athletes. 

Ever since she was young, April Vaassen had a passion for helping people. After numerous volunteering and tutoring experiences within the education field growing up, Vaassen slowly developed this passion into a profession.

With 31 years of experience in the safety profession, Mark Miner, who is currently the program safety coordinator in UW-Platteville's Industrial Studies Department, is always looking for new ideas to incorporate into the program’s curriculum. During National Safety Week, he found inspiration just down the road from UW-Platteville in the Potosi (Wisconsin) School District.

The UW-Platteville School of Education recently announced plans to offer a loan repayment assistance program (LRAP) to incoming new freshmen elementary-middle level education majors starting in fall 2021.  

Angela Yang, the TRIO student support services advisor and SUCCEED coordinator, is being honored with the 2021 University of Wisconsin-Platteville Outstanding Woman of Color Award.