The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Police Department and two of its officers earned recognition by state and national agencies last fall. The University Police Department was recognized by the state for its involvement in the Click It or Ticket program, which focused on enforcing the state’s mandatory safety belt law. Officer Brad Hanson received a Wisconsin Department of Transportation award for his commitment to traffic safety and outstanding effort to keep Wisconsin’s roads safe during the Click It or Ticket mobilization. Officer Trent Morgan received a similar award from the U.S. Department of Transportation for his commitment to traffic safety and outstanding effort to keep Wisconsin’s roads safe during Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.

Colleen Merrill ’09 and ’10 MBA, recently took the lead as director of the UW Oshkosh Small Business Development Center. The organization is within UW Oshkosh’s fleet of offices strategically created to help support, sustain and enhance the community’s, the region’s and the state’s budding and long-standing small, large and family-owned enterprises.

UW Oshkosh Chancellor Emeritus John E. Kerrigan, who led the institution through a period of remarkable academic achievement and success from 1990 to 2000 while forging ground-breaking educational partnerships at home and in countries around the globe, died Nov. 5 in Dallas, Texas. He was 76.

Renewable-energy and academic partners with UW Oshkosh, Viessmann Group CEO Martin Viessmann, and his wife Annette, pledged a generous gift in December to the UW Oshkosh Foundation to create the University’s first fully endowed chair, which will support UW Oshkosh’s new Sustainable Technology Program. The Viessmann Endowed Chair in Sustainable Technology will, for decades, allow UW Oshkosh to play a visionary and international academic leadership role in renewable energy technologies.

UW Oshkosh Titans alumnus Andy Moriarty ’08, returned to his alma mater Saturday, Nov. 3, as honorary football captain. Moriarty, who majored in communication at UW Oshkosh and set several records playing running back for the Titans between 2003 and 2007, led the coin toss to start the game against UW–Stevens Point.

Places

Construction is underway for the Alumni Welcome and Conference Center, which is located at the corner of Wisconsin Street and Pearl Avenue. The finished conference center, including a 440-person ballroom, breakout rooms and a 50-person executive board room, will serve as a gathering place and front door to campus. The Welcome Center, which will provide a 30-percent increase in large-group campus meeting space, should be ready to hold events in spring 2014.

Kolf Sports Center was rededicated on Feb. 9, after a recent renovation and update to the main field house. Renovations brought the facility up to date, making it more guest friendly.

Pride

UW Oshkosh was named the seventh most military friendly college in the country by Military Times’ Best for Vets review.

UW Oshkosh stood out among a record 650 schools and was acknowledged for its care toward military veterans and active-duty service members.

The UW Oshkosh Titans football team had a flawless regular-season. The storybook season sent the team to the playoffs for the first time in program history while coaches and teammates earned national recognition.

The UW Oshkosh Dance Team earned top honors at the Dance Xtreme USA 2013 AmeriCup competition in Minneapolis in February. The team won first place in the competition’s collegiate-level “Pom”routine category and second in the “Lyrical” dance category. The tournament pitted the UW Oshkosh dancers against collegiate teams ranging from Wisconsin and the upper Midwest to Mexico.

Sage Hall is, officially, as good as “Gold.” UW Oshkosh’s newest academic building, which opened in fall 2011, earned LEED Gold Building Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. That distinction puts the 191,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art academic center at the top of a short list of buildings in the New North region and state of Wisconsin to reach LEED’s Gold echelon.

The Arbor Day Foundation named UW Oshkosh a 2012 Tree Campus USA in honor of its commitment to effective community forestry management. This is the third consecutive year of recognition for UW Oshkosh.

To read more UW Oshkosh news, visit UW Oshkosh Today.

Viessmann Group CEO Martin Viessmann visits Allen Farm

The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh is undergoing an era of collaboration that, simply put, turns waste—true waste, like food scraps, lawn clippings and even cow manure—into energy and learning.

First, there was the first-in-the-Americas dry fermentation anaerobic biodigester located on Witzel Avenue that produces actual energy from food waste (including waste collected from Reeve Memorial Union), yard waste and crop residuals. Then, in late 2011, a small farm biodigester named Titan 55 was conceived and planned for the 150-head, family-owned Allen Farm; the biodigester there turns its waste into energy.

And now, the planning for a second, large-scale biodigester (nicknamed BD2) with energy innovators the Viessmann Group is underway at Wisconsin’s largest dairy farm, Milk Source’s Rosendale Dairy.
Once operational, BD2 will turn the farm’s livestock manure waste into energy while simultaneously creating an on-site lab for energy scientists at UW Oshkosh. The process involves anaerobic digestion, the bacterial decomposition of organic matter that occurs in the absence of oxygen. In the odor-controlled environment of the biodigester, the gas produced is safely combusted and turned into electricity. The revenues that will come from the energy’s return to the grid will advance UW Oshkosh’s operations and educational mission. A groundbreaking will be held in late spring.

Rosendale Dairy, Wisconsin's Largest Dairy Farm

“In Wisconsin, education and agriculture go hand in hand. Partnering with the UW Oshkosh Foundation and UW Oshkosh to help turn modern agriculture into energy in such a cutting-edge way is exciting for Rosendale Dairy and the state’s dairy and ag industries,” said Jim Ostrom, co-founder and partner of Milk Source. “This is an extension of a long-formed bond between education and farming in this state. This project is a testament to the type of innovative thinking and practices we strive for on a daily basis.”

Once completed, Rosendale Dairy will be home to one of Wisconsin’s most dynamic research, renewable energy production and public education facilities in the state, said UW Oshkosh Foundation President Arthur H. Rathjen.

“This is a multifaceted win for our students and the state of Wisconsin, and it is the kind of innovative, entrepreneurial project the UW Oshkosh Foundation believes is essential to the future of our thriving institution,” Rathjen said. “We’re
addressing a real need for real people.”

To learn more about collaborations and partnerships at UW Oshkosh, visit the UW Oshkosh Foundation website.

It reads like a movie script…

… A coach leads his team to an undefeated, regular-season record, a first conference title since the 1970s and storybook playoff run… A record-breaking, nationally recognized hometown quarterback with a rocket-engine arm and an aptitude for escaping the pocket, racks up yards… A campus and community fan base awakens to the talent before them and rides an unprecedented surge of Titan Pride.

From its first kickoff to its last tick of the clock, 2012 was a season for the record books for the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Titans football team.

A flawless regular-season record, punctuated by the defeat of the national-champion UW-Whitewater Warhawks (on the team’s Homecoming field, no less), led to a thrilling bid by the Titans for their own national crown.
A week after traveling across the country to defeat No. 3-ranked Linfield College in overtime on that team’s Oregon home field, the Titans football team fell to the University of St. Thomas squad on that team’s home field 28-14 Saturday, Dec. 8. St. Thomas would eventually lose to perennial football powerhouse Mount Union in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Football Championship.

While it ended short of the ultimate goal, the Titans’ journey was incredible.

Cerroni earns national, D3 Coach of the Year candidacy

Pat Cerroni’s focus and determination in leading the Titans to their historic year earned him a place as one of five finalists for the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award. Around the country, coaches were rated on a series of criteria, including fan voting, wins, team penalties, sportsmanship, academic performance of their athletes and charitable contributions. Quickly, as the Titans climbed the D3 rankings, so did their coach’s ascent toward the award.

In the end, Cerroni’s bid came up short. However, the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and D3football.com named him their 2012 NCAA Division III West Region Coach of the Year. He also earned CaptainU’s, the largest youth and college sports network’s, 2012 NCAA Division III Football Coach of the Year title.

Wara posts legendary year

UW Oshkosh quarterback Nate Wara became one of four candidates for the Gagliardi Trophy, the NCAA Division III’s equivalent to the Heisman Trophy, awarded to the most outstanding player in the division nationally.

The senior from Oshkosh led UWO to its most successful season in the program’s 118-year history and, despite falling short of the Gagliardi honor, earned Offensive Player of the Year from D3football.com. He additionally received NCAA Division III All-America honors from the AFCA— the first Titan to be recognized since the AFCA All-America program began in 1945, according to UW Oshkosh Athletics.

The Titans averaged 37.5 points per game with Wara behind center. The team effort was enough to earn several Titans All-American D3 honors: Fourteen Titans were selected for four All-America squads, including cornerback Tim Filter (a senior from New Berlin) and running back Cole Myhra (a junior from Menomonee Falls) as second-team honorees. UW Oshkosh Athletics noted tackle Brandon Peter (a senior from Allenton) was picked for the third team and linebacker Taylor Goodman (a senior from South Wayne), center Ben Strehlow (a senior from Brandon) and defensive end Andrew Thompson (a senior from Greendale) earned spots on the fourth team.

Check out more photographs of the UW Oshkosh Titans in action.
To share your Titan Pride, visit UW Oshkosh Athletics.

Dexter Filkins, a reporter for The New Yorker and The New York Times who has reported on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001, will speak on Nov. 10 at the “Iraq War in Retrospect” symposium planned in UW Oshkosh’s Reeve Memorial Union.

The free, public symposium, co-sponsored by Military Veterans Museum, Inc., is the culmination of a week-long lineup of UW Oshkosh programming and events titled “War Through Their Eyes: Eyewitnesses, Combatants & America’s Newest Veterans.” Speakers, film screenings, art exhibits and forums will take place on campus throughout Veterans Week 2012, November 6 through November 10. Veterans Day is Sunday, Nov. 11.

The Saturday symposium welcomes a broad audience of participants to publicly examine and help preserve the diverse experiences of the Iraq War, said UW Oshkosh Department of History Prof. Stephen Kercher.

“Dexter Filkins is recognized, and has been rightly honored, as one of our era’s most skilled, exhaustive and thorough war correspondents and storytellers,” Kercher said. “He and his work embody what the Iraq War in Retrospect is all about.”

“Our special objective with this symposium is to really give a broad range of analysis, in a scholarly yet accessible way,” he said. “We are inviting a diverse audience to join us and consider the experience of journalists in Iraq and Afghanistan, the way filmmakers interpret the experience of these wars, the experience of the medical professionals who served, the experience of people who objected to the wars. And, finally, we need to provide a context for the geopolitical forces that accounted for these wars taking place in the first place. You can never talk about the experience of veterans without examining why they were sent to war in the first place.”

The Oshkosh-based, nonprofit Military Veterans Museum, dedicated to educating the public about the experience of war veterans, worked with UW Oshkosh to secure the grant making Filkins’ keynote visit and the Nov. 10 symposium possible. The partners’ collaboration is funded by a $10,000 major grant from the Wisconsin Humanities Council.

Military Veterans Museum is also working to raise funds and complete its new “Fields of Honor” museum honoring and preserving the experiences of U.S. war veterans south of Oshkosh, near U.S. Highway 41 and State Highway 26.

“Dexter Filkins has dedicated himself and his work to sharing the experience of war through the stories, service and sacrifice of its veterans,” said Larry Smerling, vice president of Military Veterans Museum’s board of directors. “Both his presentation and the rest of the Iraq War symposium’s programs are strongly aligned with the mission of our organization and, most importantly, they will deeply involve the public, educators, historians and veterans themselves.”

• Free, online registration for the Nov. 10 symposium will be available starting the week of Oct. 8 at the UW Oshkosh Veterans Week website, www.uwosh.edu/veteransweek.
  

Dexter Filkins, contributed photo by James Hill

Before his tenure with The New York Times, Filkins worked for the Los Angeles Times, where he was chief of the paper’s New Delhi bureau, and for The Miami Herald. In 2009, he was part of a team of Times reporters who won a Pulitzer Prize for covering Afghanistan and Pakistan. He has received a George Polk Award and two Overseas Press Club awards. Most recently, he was a fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University. He lives in New York City.

Filkins’ presentation is just one component of the day-long Nov. 10 symposium. Students, staff, war veterans and archivists from the UW Oshkosh Department of History, UW Oshkosh Veterans Services Center, Military Science Department, American Democracy Project and Forrest R. Polk Library are also involved in the event’s sponsorship, coordination and content.

“A veteran’s war-time experience is a seminal moment in his or her life,” said Shawn Monroe, Veterans Resource Coordinator at UW Oshkosh. “An opportunity to better understand that moment is an opportunity to frame veterans’ personal stories within the larger canvas of the human experience. The Iraq War Symposium provides a rare opportunity to examine the factors, the players, the effects and experiences of our society in near-real time.”

The symposium will include six, 90-minute sessions moderated by UW Oshkosh professors, featuring special panelists, including Iraq War veterans who attend UW Oshkosh and who are members of area communities. The sessions’ subjects range from the role of women in the war, the work of war journalists and correspondents, how media and film have portrayed the war and the preservation of veterans’ memories and records in a digital era.

Kercher said the symposium will also feature a “memory corps” project, encouraging veterans of a digital, and often delete-able era, to preserve their artifacts and experiences for the sake of their historical value. UW Oshkosh Archivist Joshua Ranger is helping coordinate the effort.

“It will ultimately be an interdisciplinary program, looking at the Iraq War through different lenses but prioritizing the lens of the veteran,” Kercher said. “We want to make sure we have eyewitnesses — the reporters are those people with the eyes and ears we’ve relied upon to develop our sense for what these wars were like for everyone involved. The symposium also addresses the experience of veterans, both on the battlefield and in their difficult transition on the home front.”

Registration for the free symposium will be available soon.

The UW Oshkosh Veterans Week lineup leading into the Saturday, Nov. 10 symposium and Veterans Day will be equally engaging. The list of speakers and events follows:

• Tuesday, November 6, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. (Reeve Union Theater); Vietnam War Veterans panel discussion led by Greg Olson, Department of Communications.
• Wednesday, November 7 (time TBD) (Sage Hall, 1210) Co-sponsored by the Women’s Advocacy Council; Screening of the film “Lioness,” with a talk-back panel led by female Iraq War veterans.
• Thursday, November 8, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. (Sage 1210) Co-sponsored by the International Film Series; Screening of the film “In the Valley of Elah,” with talk-back led by Kelly Wilz, UW Marshfield film professor who has written about Iraq War films), Troy and Frances Perkins and war veterans.
• Friday, November 9, 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., (Reeve Union Theater and Steinhilber Gallery); “War Through Their Eyes: Warriors & Nurses at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh” event coordinated by UW Oshkosh’s Grace Lim and Shawn McAfee, who, in collaboration with UW Oshkosh students, developed the original “War Through Their Eyes” multimedia project in 2009.

Learn more:

• Military Veterans Museum Inc.
• UW Oshkosh Department of History
• “War Through Their Eyes: From UW Oshkosh to the Middle East and Back”
• Wisconsin Humanities Council

Slated to open April 1, Oshkosh’s downtown hotel (the former City Center Hotel) will re-open its doors with a brand new everything. The 176-room waterfront property is currently undergoing from-the-ground-up renovations. Upon its reopening, it will be a state-of-the-art business hotel anchoring the city’s downtown and serving as an economic catalyst for the entire community.

The UW Oshkosh Foundation and local hoteliers Richard Batley of RB Hospitality in Neenah and John Pfefferle of Pfefferle Companies Inc. in Appleton took over ownership of the hotel last February. The dedicated partners—with the rallying efforts of the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation—are bridging campus and the Oshkosh community, said UW Oshkosh Foundation President Arthur H. Rathjen.

To complement the downtown hotel,another state-of-the-art facility—a 22,000-square foot Alumni Welcome and Conference Center—will be built just blocks away along the water on the southern edge of the UW Oshkosh campus. A groundbreaking ceremony will be held Oct. 13.

“Both projects expand the synergy of the partnership between the University and the community,” Rathjen said. “A renovated, full-service convention hotel will enhance our community, serve area businesses, support scholarships and internships and complement our plans for the Alumni Welcome Center.”

To-date, the hotel has been gutted of its original interiors, the elevator has been modernized and the lobby has been opened up for a living room area and business center, said Mark Spielbauer, construction project superintendent.

The interior design phase begins this fall; individual hotel rooms, the ballroom and the restaurant along the waterfront will be beautified with a modern-day look.

Once up and running, the UW Oshkosh Foundation, in collaboration with its private sector partners, will oversee and manage the investment in the project. No state or tuition dollars will be used in the renovation or the project’s financing, Rathjen said.

To learn more about the UW Oshkosh Foundation, visit uwosh.edu/foundation

The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Alumni Association’s Board of Directors elected seven new members to serve three-year terms, beginning in fall 2012. The new members include Stephanie Masaros Briggs ’00 and MSE ’02, of Madison; Ann Duginske ’11, of DePere; Bret Goodman ’71, of Glendale; Mark Joel ’98, of Oshkosh; Colleen Merrill ’09 and MBA ’10, of Oshkosh; Jason Richter ’00 and MBA ’12, of Menasha; and Russ Weyers ’82, of Mount Pleasant.

The UW Oshkosh Athletics Department welcomed five new coaches into the Titan family in July.

The coaches are Pat Juckem for men’s basketball, Brad Fischer for women’s basketball, Eamon McKenna ’04,for both men’s cross country and men’s track and field, Drew Ludtke for women’s cross country and Wytse Molenaar’06, for men’s soccer.

Professor Susan Cramer took her post as the new dean of Graduate Studies on July 1. Increasing the visibility of graduate school-level education is among Cramer’s goals in her new role. Cramer has been a member of the UW Oshkosh faculty since 1990 and has expertise in instructional technology, curriculum, leadership and program planning and evaluation.

Bob Keller, J. J. Keller chairman of the board and president/chairman of the J. J. Keller Foundation, has been named Executive in Residence for the UW Oshkosh College of Business. The Executive in Residence Program integrates a regional senior executive into the life of the college. Keller will assist with classes and student organizations; participate in college programs, centers and initiatives; mentor students and faculty; and share professional experiences in and outside of the classroom. Keller graduated from UWO in 1969 with a degree in economics and received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2004. He was president and chief executive officer for J. J. Keller from 1988 until 2006; during his tenure, which began in 1957, the firm grew from approximately $10 million to $200 million in sales revenue. J. J. Keller currently employs about 1,200 associates.

Places

Horizon Village opened its doors to students this academic year. The five-story, 340-bed residence hall has been under construction since November 2010 and replaced the former Breese, Clemans and Nelson residence halls. The building was formally dedicated during Fall Fest on the Fox.

Kolf Sports Center underwent a renovation in summer 2012. The main field house athletic floor and the bleachers were replaced to make the facility more up-to-date and guest friendly.

Renovations are underway at Oshkosh’s downtown hotel. Last February, the UW Oshkosh Foundation along with local hoteliers closed on the sale of the property. Now, the 176-room waterfront property is being transformed into a state-of-the-art business hotel, which is intended to anchor the city’s downtown and serve as an economic catalyst for the entire community. Read more here.

Pride

UW Oshkosh and Fox Valley Technical College joined forces with a new agreement that allows students in aeronautics pilot training and aircraft electronics programs at FVTC to transfer credits into a UWO aviation management emphasis. The agreement became official in July.

UW Oshkosh awarded its first-ever doctoral degrees at the institution’s 138th spring commencement ceremony in May. Four students—Morgan Bailey, of Oshkosh; Amber Geocaris Carriveau, of Green Bay; Anna Christian, of Appleton; and Vicki Ray, of Appleton—are the first to obtain a Doctor of Nursing practice (DNP) degree. See photos from commencement here.

In April, the Arbor Day Foundation named UW Oshkosh a 2011 Tree Campus USA in honor of its commitment to effective community forestry management. This is the second year of recognition for UW Oshkosh.

A second group of students from Oman’s University of Nizwa “graduated” from UW Oshkosh in July. More than 20 Omani students studied at UW Oshkosh for several weeks as part of a business cultural exchange program partnership called Global Horizons. The program is part of a long-lasting partnership and friendship that has existed between the two academic communities and schools since the mid-1990s. While in Oshkosh, the group visited New North businesses and industries and met with leaders and legislators.

In this video, hear Povletich talk about his latest book, published by the Wisconsin Historical Society (Photos courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ndBjzU0IbQ

“It’s a very dynamic, growing campus,” said Steve Buss ‘86, president of the UW Oshkosh Alumni Association. “It’s a great place to learn, it’s a great place to come back to.”

The center—“the University’s new front door”—is slated to be built along Oshkosh’s Fox River, adjacent to the Wisconsin Street Bridge, on the southern edge of campus. It will offer the more than 80,000 UW Oshkosh alumni a home away from home.

Alumna Linda Bailey Boilini ’74, who also is a board member, gets excited when she thinks about a finished UW Oshkosh Alumni Welcome and Conference Center.

“If we utilize the beauty of the Fox River and build along it, we can make this campus even more spectacular than it already is,” she said.

The center will house a 460-person ballroom, four breakout rooms for 70 to 80 people and a 48-person executive board room, making it the ideal spot for meetings, educational conferences, lectures, weddings, corporate dinners and receptions.

The facility also will house the UW Oshkosh Alumni Relations, Foundation and Business Success Center offices.

• UW Oshkosh Alumni Welcome and Conference Center
• New UW Oshkosh Foundation Funds
• UW Oshkosh Foundation

Contribute online or mail your gift to the UW Oshkosh Foundation, 842 Algoma Boulevard, Oshkosh, WI 54901.

Blevons Northwestern Mutual Insurance Scholarship will be awarded to students with an insurance major, minor or emphasis, based on grade-point average, letters of recommendation, personal statement and interest in an insurance career.

Delta Sigma Phi Scholarship will be awarded to incoming male freshmen with a cumulative high school grade-point average of at least 3.5 and a history of leadership and involvement in extra-curricular activities. Delta Sigma Phi is a national social fraternity dedicated to making a difference in the lives of young men.

Faculty and Staff Sponsored Nursing Scholarship will be funded through contributions from College of Nursing faculty and staff, and will recognize and aid nursing students.

Golden Titan Endowed Scholarship is funded through contributions from Golden Titans—alumni who have graduated more than 50 years ago. The scholarship will be awarded to full-time students with a minimum grade-point average of 2.5. Preference will be given to first-generation college students and applicants with financial need.

Kenneth W. Morrison Memorial Scholarship honors a former professor in the College of Education and Human Services who taught at UW Oshkosh 1967-2000. The scholarship will be awarded to graduate students majoring in counseling who demonstrate potential for becoming an effective counseling professional.

Oshkosh Community Dragon Boat Scholarship is a financial need-based scholarship available to Winnebago County residents seeking to fulfill their personal, academic or career goals through a UW Oshkosh degree program. The award is funded through proceeds from the annual Oshkosh Community Dragon Boat Race and Festival, held each September in downtown Oshkosh.

Schierstedt Scholarship was established by Bruce and Susan Schierstedt, both of whom are UWO alumni and retired staff members. Bruce spent 23 years in academic computing and the College of Education and Human Services. Sue was executive director of the Wisconsin Family Business Forum for 15 years. The scholarship will be awarded to a full-time undergraduate student enrolled in the College of Education and Human Services who is in need of financial support.

Soo-Young Moon

Miles Maguire, an associate professor of journalism and the faculty adviser for UW Oshkosh’s David J. Lippert Chapter of Kappa Tau Alpha, was awarded a $1,000 research grant from the national organization of the journalism honor society in December 2011. He will use the grant to continue his research of “genius journalists” who have received “genius grants” from the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

UW Oshkosh’s College of Business welcomed David Krause ’89, as its new director of development and alumni relations. In his new role, Krause will work with staff to develop college advancement initiatives, coordinate events and establish and cultivate relationships with alumni.

The Wisconsin Family Business Forum welcomed Cathy Huybers as its new executive director. Huybers will work to establish and maintain relationships with community partners.

Places
On Oct. 22, 2011, UW Oshkosh invited “graduates” of the former Swart elementary school back to campus for the historical dedication of Swart Hall. UW Oshkosh (formerly known as the Oshkosh State Normal School) was a leader in educating teachers and broke new ground when it became the first of its kind in the nation to start an actual kindergarten.

UW Oshkosh is moving forward in planning for a state-of-the art Alumni Welcome and Conference Center. The riverfront center will serve as the new front door to the University and will house UW Oshkosh Alumni Relations, Foundation and Business Success Center offices. Read more about the Alumni Welcome and Conference Center.

An innovative new Veterans Resource Center, designed to support military veterans entering or coming back to school at UW Oshkosh, was dedicated on Nov. 7, 2011, in honor of Veterans Week. Read more about the Veterans Resource Center and its new coordinator here.

Opened in 2007, the award-winning, $21-million, 104,000-square-foot Student Recreation and Wellness Center (SRWC), welcomed its one-millionth user on Dec. 16, 2011. Staff and students greeted the lucky visitor, Steven Seidl, with a mini-celebration and a handshake.

Pride
UW Oshkosh’s student-run radio station 90.3 WRST-FM participated in the first-ever College Radio Day on Oct. 11, 2011. College Radio Day was part of an initiative to get people listening to the creative spirit of student-run broadcast stations.

The UW Oshkosh public relations program, housed in the journalism department, has become the first in the state to be certified through Certification in Education for Public Relations (CEPR), an outside review sponsored through the Public Relations Society of America. So far, only 29 universities have received the certification and UW Oshkosh is the only Wisconsin school included on the list.

Last September, the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS) chapter at UW Oshkosh set a record when it earned its 24th Gold Award, more awards than any other chapter. Each chapter is eligible to apply for a gold, silver or bronze award each year and after achieving five Gold Awards in five consecutive years, the chapter receives the Platinum Award. The student organization also received its 20th consecutive Platinum Award this year.

UW Oshkosh’s Integrated Marketing and Communications (IMC) team was awarded the inaugural American Marketing Association Higher Education Team Award for its leadership and achievements in higher education marketing. The IMC focus began in 2005 in order to strengthen and realign the University’s identity and image while re-engaging alumni, impacting student recruitment and faculty and staff retention as well as improving donor relations.

The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program, the first doctoral degree offered at UW Oshkosh, earned accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, the best outcome possible for a new program.

Early this year, UW Oshkosh launched a new version of UWO—Everywhere You Go, a mobile app available for both Apple and Android smartphones, as well as the iPad, with great new features. The free mobile app offers students access to things they use most like dining menus, TitanCard balances and to quicklinks to TitanWeb and TitanMail. The new app also allows users to search maps to find campus locations and parking. Download the app.