Campus & Community | UW-Platteville News

Pioneer Spotlight: Dr. Vettrivel Gnaneswaran

Authored on: Jan 01, 2021, Written by: Alison Parkins

Dr. Vettrivel Gnaneswaran is an assistant professor of industrial engineering, with research and teaching interests in biomechanics, statistics, quality control, supply chain, engineering management and engineering education.

Update Coronavirus

Authored on: Jan 01, 2021, Written by: Paul Erickson

The health and safety of our students, faculty and staff is a top priority, especially in response the COVID-19. This site tracks all the messages and updates sent to the university community during the pandemic. The site also features links to register for COVID-19 tests and the dashboard that is updated each business day.

Pioneer Spotlight: Alison Thompson

Authored on: Jan 01, 2021, Written by: Eric Herbst

Alison Thompson, an instructional designer for the Office of Professional Program Support, began her career in higher education after starting at a local community college in the Chicago area. Here, Thompson began assisting faculty in course design and quickly found that instructional design allowed her to combine her interests in teaching, design, and technology to help create powerful learning experiences for students.

Pioneer Spotlight: Dr. Joshua Anderson

Authored on: Dec 12, 2020, Written by: Ruth Wendlandt

Dr. Joshua Anderson, assistant professor of English, is bringing his experience in rural classrooms to the School of Education. Anderson joined UW-Platteville in 2016 and made the transition from the Department of Humanities to the School of Education this year.

Pioneer Spotlight: Samantha Birkicht

Authored on: Dec 12, 2020, Written by: Jason Piddington

Samantha (Rogers) Birkicht is currently in her fourth year as head volleyball coach for the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

Students adapt to online learning, credit professors with transition

Authored on: Dec 12, 2020, Written by: Ruth Wendlandt

To assist with hybrid and online learning, the Teaching and Technology Center created professional development opportunities to help instructors develop familiarity with tools that facilitate blended learning. More than 90% of UW-Platteville instructors took advantage of these opportunities over the summer, and UW-Platteville students are now crediting their professors with helping them adjust to new learning modes.

Pioneer Spotlight: Dr. Asad Azemi

Authored on: Nov 11, 2020, Written by: Ruth Wendlandt

This summer, Dr. Asad Azemi joined UW-Platteville as the department chair and professor of electrical and computer engineering. Prior to his move to the Midwest, Azemi was an associate professor of engineering at Penn State. His research interests are in the areas of estimation and signal processing with agriculture and health science applications.

Pioneer Spotlight: Dr. Afzal Upal

Authored on: Nov 11, 2020, Written by: Alison Parkins

Dr. Afzal Upal joined UW-Platteville in July as the chair of the Computer Science and Software Engineering Department. He has more than 20 years of experience in the computing field, with an expertise in artificial intelligence and cognitive science. Upal has held several technical and leadership positions in the computer science and software engineering industry and government, however his love for education brought him back to academia.

UW-Platteville continues to be a pioneer in distance education

Authored on: Nov 11, 2020, Written by: Stephen Kelley

UW-Platteville is known as the Pioneers, but the moniker is much more than a nickname. The university has been a pioneer and industry leader in distance education since 1978, when it began offering degrees through its print-based program.

Pioneer Spotlight: Angela Yang

Authored on: Nov 11, 2020, Written by: Ruth Wendlandt

Growing up as the oldest of seven, Angela Yang was the first in her family to earn a college degree. Yang, an alumna of UW-Platteville, now hopes to inspire students throughout their collegiate journey. As a TRIO Student Support Services advisor and SUCCEED coordinator, she works with incoming UW-Platteville students and assists them with accessing campus resources.

Pioneer Spotlight: Clint Nemitz

Authored on: Oct 10, 2020, Written by: Eric Herbst

As the lead admissions specialist for the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Center for Distance Learning, Clint Nemitz works with his team to connect prospective students with their desired academic programs.

Pioneer Spotlight: Dr. Hynek Boril

Authored on: Oct 10, 2020, Written by: Alison Parkins

Since joining UW-Platteville in 2015, Dr. Hynek Boril, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, has been instrumental in providing students with unique research opportunities on campus, particularly through his creation of the Pioneer Speech Signal Processing Laboratory.

Fields honored with UW System award for teaching excellence

Authored on: Oct 10, 2020, Written by: Alison Parkins

Dr. Kristina Fields, professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was named one of four recipients across the UW System of the 2020 Alliant Energy Underkofler Excellence in Teaching Award.

Pioneers Day of Giving raises more than $141,500 for student success

Authored on: Oct 10, 2020, Written by: Ruth Wendlandt

UW-Platteville alumni and friends celebrated Pioneers Day of Giving by raising $141,514 on Oct. 9. The university surpassed its goal with more than 290 donors.

Pioneer Spotlight: Heather Burkholder

Authored on: Oct 10, 2020, Written by: Jason Piddington

Heather Burkholder grew up in Platteville and began working at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in 2007 in the Admission and Student Affairs office before moving over to Athletics in 2010, where she is coordinator for internal operations.

Pioneer Spotlight: Dr. Jenna Zucker

Authored on: Oct 10, 2020, Written by: Ruth Wendlandt

Dr. Jenna Zucker joined the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Department of Psychology in 2019 and teaches courses focused on development.

Family legacy honored with renaming of Busby Hall of Engineering

Authored on: Sep 09, 2020, Written by: Alison Parkins

For more than 50 years, the Busby family has helped transform and enrich UW-Platteville and the greater Platteville community. To honor their family legacy, UW-Platteville will rename Engineering Hall to the Busby Hall of Engineering.

UW-Platteville Foundation covers application fees for prospective students

Authored on: Sep 09, 2020, Written by: Ruth Wendlandt

The UW-Platteville Foundation is giving future Pioneers the opportunity to submit their college application at no cost until Saturday, Oct. 31.

Pioneer Spotlight: Demi Vetesnik

Authored on: Sep 09, 2020, Written by: Eric Herbst

After growing up in Canada, Demi Vetesnik, program manager for the UW-Platteville Continuing Education Institute, made the jump to the United States for college when a soccer scholarship led her to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In 2019, she joined the CEI team at UW-Platteville Richland Center. As part of her responsibilities, Vetesnik provides quality programming for the community she now lives in.

UW-Platteville to celebrate Pioneers Day of Giving

Authored on: Sep 09, 2020, Written by: Ruth Wendlandt

UW-Platteville will celebrate 154 years since becoming an institution on Friday, Oct. 9. In honor of Founder’s Day, alumni and friends are invited to participate in the annual Pioneers Day of Giving. The all-day event raises funds to support student success.

UW-Platteville Online Advisor Earns Award for Excellence

Authored on: Sep 09, 2020, Written by: Stephen Kelley

Nicole Ruchotzke may be one of the newest advisors to join the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Center for Distance Operations, but she’s already left her mark. This week, Ruchotzke will officially be awarded the Advising Profession Impact Award by the Wisconsin Academic Advising Association.

aerial view of downtown Platteville and campus

Highly-competitive federal grant to bring $1.1 million new investment to region

Authored on: Sep 09, 2020, Written by: Alison Parkins

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville and Southwestern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SWWRPC) have been selected as co-applicants to receive a highly competitive grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration that will bring nearly $1.1 million of new investment to the region.

Pioneer Spotlight: Dr. Carolyn Keller

Authored on: Sep 09, 2020, Written by: Alison Parkins

Dr. Carolyn Keller joined UW-Platteville in 2018 as the director of Academic Assessment. While she still oversees the area of Academic Assessment, Keller is now interim assistant provost. Her background is in the field of sociology – a discipline that she still teaches every chance she can.

Two advisors honored with statewide awards

Authored on: Sep 09, 2020, Written by: Alison Parkins

Dr. Anne-Marie Lerner, assistant department chair and associate professor of mechanical engineering, and Karen Brenner Drees, academic advisor and coach, are both being recognized by the Wisconsin Academic Advising Association for excellence in advising.

Student volunteers help bring learning outside

Authored on: Sep 09, 2020, Written by: Alison Parkins

As UW-Platteville welcomes students back to campus this week, faculty and staff are rethinking concepts of traditional learning space and bringing classrooms outside. Earlier this week, a group of 30 student volunteers built and installed 50 wooden benches, over a two-day period, to create a series of outdoor class spaces in time for the first day of the semester.

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