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Greeting's
from Green Bay's University of Wisconsin! And to many of you, I also say, “Welcome back.” This is the time of year when I have the opportunity and privilege to share the excitement of our students and their families as they arrive on campus and prepare for another school year. I see the newcomers — this year, numbering a record 1,032 freshmen and 530 transfer students — taking their tentative first steps on campus. I see the growing confidence of our upperclassmen and women only a few years removed from a time when they, too, were filled with apprehension as they visited the campus for the first time. One of our great traditions at UW-Green Bay is freshman Move-In Day. Cyndie and I joined many others from across campus last Thursday to help our freshmen move into the residence halls. There were more than a few tears shed as students said good-bye to Mom and Dad. But I could sense the excitement as those students settled in to their home for the next nine months. For me, Move-In Day is one of those events that reinforces my belief that higher education is more of a calling than a profession. Another such event is the annual Faculty and Staff Convocation. When I no longer have trouble sleeping the night before Convocation — excited about the day to come and the privilege of offering inspiration to the assembled campus community — I will know it’s time to end a career that started in 1972. But, after 34 years, the intensity of the anticipation only increases. We welcome a freshman class of high achievers again this year. Freshmen entering UW-Green Bay have an average high-school grade point average close to 3.3 on a 4.0 scale. About 38 percent of them come to us with grade point averages above 3.5. I find one other item especially interesting: Nearly a third of our freshmen have completed at least one college-level course while in high school. How times have changed since most of us went off to college! |
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Progress on the Kress Events Center is changing the face of the campus. As we open the academic year, landscape changes could be both literal and figurative, with the 'Growth Agenda' and our own challenge to create the 'next UWGB' promising to reshape the University. Clearly, bright and talented students have chosen this University because they recognize the many good things happening here. Now it is our job to help them connect learning to life and use their abilities to grow as individuals and citizens. As our students, faculty and staff return to campus, they will notice a major change to the physical campus, one that represents the kind of progress that makes me so proud. Remarkable progress has been made on the Kress Events Center. This campus landmark, which will be completed a year from now, will significantly improve student life by creating more opportunities for recreation, student events and NCAA Division I athletics. But it also represents the unwavering support for UW-Green Bay from our community and state. This kind of support and the result it produced fill me with confidence as I look ahead to one our greatest challenges of the coming year. I have devoted many words in previous issues of “Chancellor’s FYI” to Northeastern Wisconsin’s Growth Agenda, a plan to grow UW-Green Bay to meet the demands and needs of our dynamic region. TO NEXT PAGE |
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