In spring 2022, the new UWL Community Engagement Ambassadors group was formed. This group of UWL employees have volunteered to help promote the university at community events throughout the year.

In July 2022, UWL was selected to receive the 2022 AASCU Excellence and Innovation Award for Civic Learning and Community Engagement. The Community Engaged Learning program was selected by the awards committee for its outstanding results and potential to influence and serve as a model for other institutions. Here’s a link to the courses that have received a CEL designation.

In August 2022, the Community Engagement Coordinator worked in collaboration with the Center for Teaching and Learning (CATL) to host a workshop on the Community Engaged Learning program as part of CATL’s Kickstart event.

In September 2022, the Community Engagement exhibit display kit was established. UWL employees are invited to reserve this free display kit to use any time they are presenting or hosting an event in the community.

In December 2022, the first UWL Community Engagement Newsletter was distributed. The quarterly newsletter is intended to highlight three community-focused stories and promote upcoming UWL events that are open to the public. Anyone in the community is invited to opt-in.

The UWL Community Engaged Learning (CEL) program continues to grow. You can find a current list of courses with CEL designations here.

In January 2023, the Community Engagement Coordinator partnered with University Centers and IRAP to start marketing UGetConnected as a university-wide community service data tracking tool for both UWL employees and students. 

In April 2023, the new “Introduction to Community Engagement” Canvas module was adapted for use at UWL from a course developed at the Morgridge Center for Public Service at UW-Madison. 

• Equity Liaison Program: This year, the EL Program added the Inclusive Teaching Specialist and the Academic Fellows.
• Queer Coffee: During the 2022-23 school year, the Pride Center hosted monthly gatherings of queer faculty and staff to bolster connection.
• Fostering Success for Independent Scholars (FSIS) is a new program that serves students who have no living parents, have experience with foster care, and/or have been a dependent ward of the court. This program is designed to serve up to 50 students who receive scholarships and holistic support through SSS including regular outreach, personalized events, and peer mentorship.
• Affirmative Action in Admissions Task Force: The EAAO served on the Affirmative Action in Admission Task Force to assess and prepare to respond to legal consequences of Supreme Court cases.
• Flexible Attendance and Due Dates: In 2023, the ACCESS Center implemented accommodation for students with chronic/episodic disabilities, which allows for proactive faculty-student interaction.
• Review Intake & Documenting Disability: In 2023, ACCESS Center staff reviewed and revised their policies and procedures in respect to student intake and documentation. Specific attention was given to removing barriers and increasing access.
• SSS and FSIS Career Tour at University of Minnesota – Twin Cities: Participants traveled and attended the Governmental and Non-Profit Career Fair and engaged in a Graduate School Tour as part of Career Readiness Competency and Workforce development.
• Let’s Talk in CTJ: A collaboration with Counseling & Testing Center to offer brief, counseling consultation to students of color.
• Know Your Rights: Title IX created a series of posters were put in every academic and residence hall building. One set focused on students knowing their rights about sexual misconduct, and the other set was focused on pregnant/expecting parents.
• ADL Workshops / Free Speech Work: Implementation of the Anti-Defamation League's Hate/Uncycled curriculum for employees and students on how to identify and challenge bias in educational settings as well as free speech.
• Emergent Strategy Campus read: All Equity Liaisons, various campus partners, D and I staff are reading Adrianne Marie Brown’s text, Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds, to ground our DEI work across UWL departments.
• Supporting Autistic Students UW-System Working group: ACCESS Center Director served on the Cultural Competency training developing three sessions with five guest speakers to talk about creating inclusive educational spaces for autistic students.
• Launched Access Connect Instructor Portal: In 2023, the ACCESS Center launched a portal for accommodation information and coordination.
• Pregnant/Expectant Parent Flyers for Faculty: Flyers were made specifically for faculty to explain the rights that pregnant/expectant parents who are students have in the classroom. These were given to students who asked for them, handed out at Academic Chair training, and are available to download on the Title IX website.
• Athletics Inclusivity Night for D&I: Tabling event to educate on division and various departments within, at various sporting events.
• Bias Support Education Team: Charged with providing students bias education through workshops to classrooms and new student orientation. Offers support to individuals impacted by bias and offers mediation when requested.
• Invisible Disability Faculty Panel: The ACCESS Center hosted a panel of faculty with invisible disabilities who talked about navigating higher education with a disability. The faculty panel shared stories of community and hope to an audience of 20 people.
• Giving Day: The Pride Center raised $1,430.00 during the 2022 Giving Day. This money will go directly into the Pride Center Scholarship Fund which funds 4 scholarships each year totaling ($3,000.00.)
• You Belong Campaign: Nearly 700 You Belong posters with translations of “you belong” in multiple languages were distributed throughout campus.
• Trans Task Force: Re-launch of the Trans Task Force. The Task Force will meet three times during the Academic year. We updated the language of the Preferred Language policy to the Name in Use policy. This language is consistent with other institutions of Higher Education.
• Title IX Lunch and Learn A set of 3-4 sessions in conjunction with AAO were conducted in order to discuss Title IX/AAO and answer any questions. A mixture of employees and students attended the sessions.
• Baby Changing Stations (Title IX): Baby changing stations were updated and new additions were included on the website.
• Family Lactation Rooms (Title IX): A better system for keeping family lactation rooms unlocked and accessible was created. A plan was put in place for if one room was offline at any point.
• Queer Night at the REC: The Pride Center partnered with the REC to set aside one night a month for the LGBTQIAAA+ community to engage in activities. The nights consisted of inviting LGBTQIAAA students to attend and take part in a specific activity planned for the hour that Rainbow Unity meets (Tuesdays 7-8 pm). This event takes place once a month.

The University implemented two 1% one-time merit pay awards to employees in Fiscal Year 2023 for retention purposes as well as to recognize the work and many contributions of faculty and staff. The cost of the retention lump-sum payments was $1,229,099.

The university conducted its second survey of Engagement for our employees in 2022.  The survey reported that overall, employees have high levels of engagement focused on the university’s mission and student success.

In addition, employees identified areas in which the university can continue to enhance their working experience. The Human Resources Advisory Committee has begun working with Shared Governance on implementing ways in which the university can enhance our employees’ overall experience.

Appointment scheduling in Navigate has been expanded to include the Financial Aid office, Scholarship Resource Center, Office of Multicultural Student Services, and the Murphy Learning Center. Our PRO@UWL early alert participation rates reached 95.8% of the Gateway+ instructors. This gave us a 99.4% knowledge rate of students that may be struggling in those important courses. Through the Master Advisor Certification program, we have continued to grow the number of faculty advisors utilizing the Navigate platform for their advising work with students.

In Fall 2022, Tim Dale began a three-year term as General Education Coordinator where he is providing leadership on General Education initiatives. The General Education Committee and Faculty Senate approved the Gen Ed Working Group's revision of the General Education program in March/April 2023. The Gen Ed revision includes new descriptions for each of the required categories and sets the stage for writing learning outcomes and assigning courses to categories. The new program structure will begin with the Fall 2025 new student cohort.

Impactful changes to the General Education program include the addition of a "Global Experience" requirement which will prepare students to become responsible global citizens and thrive in an increasingly connected world. The revised program also includes a "Planet that Sustains Us" requirement where students will learn about environmental issues by exploring the scientific, ethical, and cross-cultural context of the complex interactions between society and the natural world.

The General Education Assessment Committee is developing fully online, self-paced training for instructors via Canvas, focused on five VALUE rubrics: Critical Thinking, Global Learning, Inquiry & Analysis, Intercultural Knowledge & Competence, and Written Communication. The committee has also revised the assessment plan process in Canvas and is working with the General Education Committee to use VALUE rubrics for assessing the General Education program.

UWL International Education and Engagement has been progressing back to pre-pandemic levels of campus programming, education abroad enrollment, international student recruitment, and efforts to better internationalize the university curriculum.   One such effort includes identifying and creating defined pathways for science and health science students to study abroad.  These pathways will allow for easier transferability of required credits from UWL's international partner institutions, therefore, developing more education abroad awareness across the College of Science & Health.

Graduate stakeholders worked in many contexts to move forward on action items identified in the 2021 UWL strategic plan for graduate education. Graduate Assistant salaries were raised by close to $3,000 for a 50% school-year position, effective FY24. IRAP completed development of a new dashboard providing easy access to data on graduate student demographics. The data provide important insights for programs and the institution. Subcommittees of the Graduate Council worked on projects related to the strategic plan, including surveys to gather information related to student recruiting and retention and graduate faculty workload. Finally, the Credit for Prior Learning policy revision created new pathways for programs to grant graduate credit to incoming students with relevant experience beyond transcripted courses.