UW-Whitewater is strong, campus on the move

WHITEWATER ­– The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is a university on the
move.

Chancellor Richard Telfer demonstrated that by arriving at the State
of the University address on a purple and silver motor scooter to the sound
of ³Born to Be Wild² and cheers from a packed audience of students, faculty
and staff.

After parking the scooter on stage at the Young Auditorium, he told the
audience that he¹s learning as chancellor a person is required to do a lot
of different things to get people¹s attention.

³The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is moving in the right direction,
the state of the university is strong and we are well positioned to maintain
our momentum,² Telfer said.

³I have been going to the chancellor¹s address for a good many yearsŠthis
one was the best,² Carol Miller, director of financial aid, said. ³What a
great sport our chancellor is coming in on a scooter. It set the stage for a
Œlighter mood¹ in the auditorium. A little humor goes a long way in keeping
your audience with you.²

Tuesday¹s event was a celebration of the past academic year¹s
accomplishments and a chance to focus on the future. Telfer hopes that
campus will have another banner year.

Some of the successes he pointed to include:

– the College of Business and Economics was again named a ³Best Business
School² by the Princeton Review;

– Professor Robert Benjamin, with help from current and former students, was
recognized for three major findings regarding the Milky Way Galaxy;

– David Cartwright, Ed Erdmann and Jo Ellen Burkholder of the College of
Letters and Sciences received $185,000 in grants from the National Endowment
for the Humanities, the most awarded to any university in the state.

– Sue Messer, Teresa Faris and Ben Strand from the College of Arts and
Communication received grants from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA)
totaling $38,000. These are the first grants to be awarded to
UW-Whitewater.

– UW-Whitewater¹s athletics program was recognized as the sixth best program
in the nation according to the Director¹s Cup competition.

To remain a university on the move, Telfer said it is important for campus
to:

– Implement the strategic plan;

– Consider whether and how to grow;

– Become more entrepreneurial;

– Expand its commitment to diversity;

– Become a model of sustainability.

³I think the chancellor did an excellent job at highlighting the progress
that the campus is making in terms of the strategic plan,² Kyle Naff,
reference and instruction librarian, said.

³I think that all of the campus
units really are moving forward while taking slightly different paths.²

The complete State of the University address is available at
http://www.uww.edu/chancellor/speeches.php