Orange & Blue Updates

STANDOUT STUDENT

Senior Spencer Butterfield is one of only two student-athletes nationwide handpicked to represent the United States at the International University Sports Federation World Forum in Costa Rica this spring. This biennial forum brings together students, officials, and other partners from more than 60 countries to engage in discussions on education, culture, and sport. Butterfield, originally from Shawnee, Kansas, is a member of the men’s soccer team and President of the Pioneer Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Filling in the gaps

Like most states, Wisconsin has experienced a shortage of substitute teachers—an issue that has been around for years but reached critical levels during the pandemic. This spring, UW-Platteville initiated a plan to help address this shortage, offering students an opportunity to have an associate degree conferred, while in the process of earning their bachelor’s degree, in order to meet the state’s substitute eligibility requirements. Wisconsin requires substitute teachers to hold an associate degree or higher and complete an approved substitute training program. UW-Platteville’s School of Education offered the substitute training program to interested students this spring and covered the cost for the training. Students will have their associate degree conferred in May so that they can start substitute teaching in the fall.

“We know our K-12 partners have been struggling to find substitute teachers for some time now,” said Dr. Jen Collins, Director of the School of Education. “We can not only help them find someone to cover a classroom in a teacher’s absence, we can actually send them a future teacher, someone with an aligned skillset and a passion for this work. We owe our local K-12 partners a great deal; they are the application piece to our campus classroom theory. We could not develop and train our future educators without their assistance, so any opportunity we get to support our rural schools and communities, we jump at.”

From our labs to your kitchen

Engineering students have had a hand in some of the new or redesigned appliances hitting the market and industry trade shows, thanks to a partnership between Spectrum Brands and the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science’s Senior Design program. The program pairs groups of engineering students with industry partners to solve real problems or create new products. Over

Pioneers Day of Giving breaks another record

The 2021 Pioneers Day of Giving reached another new milestone, with a record number of people participating, including more students than ever before. The UW-Platteville Foundation received over 640 donations, totaling more than $143,000 from alumni, students, and friends. For the first time, the annual event spanned two days, from Oct. 14–15, allowing for 1,866 minutes to give in honor of the university’s founding year. Mark your calendar for this year’s Pioneers Day of Giving, to be held Oct. 6-7!

2021

INSPIRING PROGRAMS IN STEM AWARD

FROM

MAGAZINE

the past five years, Spectrum Brands has partnered with UW-Platteville on more than 25 projects, giving students the opportunity to work on a cold brew co ee maker, smart blender, griddle, hair dryer, hair straightener, and a pressure cooker, among others.

A 2019 project that tasked students with finding a solution to eliminate excessive steam on the George Foreman grill resulted in the release of the new George Foreman Smokeless Grill series—which hit the consumer market in 2020. UW-Platteville students also played a role in another recent Spectrum Brands product design—the Russell Hobbs Steam Genie 2-in-1 Handheld Steamer, which has been receiving outstanding trade feedback.

PIONEER PRIDE

UW-Platteville’s Women in STEM program received the 2021 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the largest and oldest diversity and inclusion publication in higher education. The award honors colleges and universities that encourage and assist students from underrepresented groups to enter the STEM fields.

In its recently released report, Payscale ranked UW-Platteville as the top public institution in the state for best value. Payscale studies the total four-year tuition, graduation rate, number of years to graduate, average loan amount, and 20-year return on investment.

UW-Platteville was named one of the 50 Top Online Colleges by CollegeValuesOnline.com, which ranked each university on a points system based on return on investment, tuition cost, scholarship opportunities, and accelerated program availability. UW-Platteville earned the fifth-highest score at 14 points, tying fellow in-state school, UW-Madison.

UW-Platteville’s Department of Campus Climate was recognized with the 2021 Ann Lydecker Educational Diversity Award from the State Council on Affirmative Action. The award honors institutions of higher learning for exceptional efforts in preparing people with marginalized identities, women, and persons with disabilities for employment in the state of Wisconsin.