UW-P Alumni

It's Cold Outside and there's Chili Inside!

This year is the sixth annual Chili Cook-off sponsored by the Parkside Employee Alumni Chapter.  This Fun Filled event will take place Monday, February 11 at Noon in Main Place!

I encourage ANY alumni to participate...we would Love to try YOUR chili...or, come taste what our campus chefs are dishing out!  Either way, you support this group and their efforts to beautify our campus!

If you'd like to share your special recipe and support a great cause, you can register online at:

http://uwp.edu/~knautz/chilicookoff/

Basketball Recap

Wow!  I swear to you...I have absolutely no influence over UW-P basketball players.  You're all going to start thinking I fix these games!  I don't...it's just that serendipity kicking in again, and again, and again!

We had a GREAT day at the SAC today!  THANK YOU to the 100+ alumni and families that attended today and enjoyed food, fun, special treats AND two Fabulous basketball games! 

If you're not already signed up for the March 1 'Alumni Day at the Basketball Game', now is the time!  Email me (to the right) or call 595-2443 to RSVP.  The first 150 get a special gift and there will be more prize drawings and more food...and, I'm sure, MORE Great basketball!  It's the last game of the season, so we'll want to go out with a Bang!  It's also 'Senior Day', so the graduating seniors will be recognized (read:  New Alumni!!!).

Join Us!

On Board

Tuesday was the Annual Meeting of the Alumni Association!

Let me first apologize that you only received the information in the mail ON Tuesday!  Believe me, it was more frustrating for me!  I had the info on this site though, so that's all the more reason to keep watching it!

It was a nice meeting!  We bid farewell to our president of the past four years (and board member for seven!), Ken Schuh.  Ken has put in many miles and countless hours into leading the board and we so appreciate what he has contributed.

The composition of the Board changed overall...the two new board members are Sabrina Morgan '03 and Rachel Scheidegger '03 (Welcome!).  The Executive Team is now President Mike Phegley '84, Vice President Gary Smith '94, Secretary Jim Kramer '79, Treasurer Heather McGee '90!

So....since I seem to be jinxed by the mail monster...PLEASE mark your calendar for the NEXT Annual Meeting of the Alumni Association which will be Tuesday, January 20, 2009!

Lions, Tigers, BEARS...oh yeah!

OK, so maybe I have a thing for bears!

Last week I attended a meeting for the Council of University of Wisconsin System Alumni Directors!  We met at the Wilderness Resort in the Wisconsin Dells!  Always good bear encounters around there!

Anyway, it was great to hear about what's going on in Alumni Relations around the state!

This is a big week around here though...here are some great opportunities for alumni:

Friday, January 25, 2008 ~ 7 p.m.

At the Communication Arts Theatre

Free and open to the public!  For more information contact (262) 595-2731.

Saturday, January 26 ~ Complimentary lunch @ noon, 1 p.m. Women's Game, 3 p.m. Men's Game

Alumni Day at the Basketball Game

Sports and Activities Center (RSVP to university.advancement@uwp.edu or 595-2443)

9th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration

An evening extravaganza featuring essay and community awards, music and readings.

The Week in Review

Well, we started the week on a crazy note by being narrowly missed by a tornado...it hit a mere eight blocks away! 

Then, we proceeded to have a taste of all four seasons throughout the week...the spring-like tornado, near summer temperatures, a grey, rainy end-of-autumn forest and then a light wintry snow cover! 

What's next?  Who knows!  And, I truly believe that's why we like it here...there's always change, always something different...and things don't always happen when we expect them to!

For me, as a planner and organizer, that's not really my modus operandi, but in some aspects of my life I enjoy surprises...like last week when I ran into Alumna Heidi at the grocery store and was surprised to see Alumnus Jerome on campus since I last knew him to be in Colorado.  Alumnus Manfred also stopped by and we got to chat about how different the campus is since he's been here!

So, yay!, thanks for stopping to chat!  Always great to run into alumni!

Thanks for reading my blog too!  Is there anything special you would like me to 'report' on from here?  Any specific updates I should focus on?  Please, let me know!

Maybe next week could be a little more 'status quo'...I can't take too much excitement!  I have to save it up for our big events on the horizon!  By the way, the RSVPs are streaming in, so email me if you plan to join us!

Happy New Year!

I'm having deja vous!  I think I've started this way before!

You see, in my world there is the 'calendar year', 'fiscal year' and 'academic year'.  Well, OK, that's in a lot of people's worlds, but what I really mean is that I truly live by an academic calendar.  (However, for those of you who ask me how I'm enjoying my 'time off'...there is no official 'time off' for me.  I'm what's considered 'year round' staff, so I use the 'academic calendar' term a little bit loosely...it's really more of a state of mind.  I still get excited when it's 'summer'...even though I still work at that time.)  So, to get back to things, it's really more of a 'new year' for me personally, but not at work.  The 'new year' at work is in September!

So, with that said [ad infinitum, I might say] I want to wish everyone a Very Happy New Year!  I don't have any great words of wisdom and can't share my own 'resolutions' as I'm abandoning that practice, but I hope that you have entered 2008 with a great outlook on all of the possibilities for the year!

I also hope you got a new calendar and will be filling in some important alumni-related dates...

Tuesday, January 22 ~ 6:00pm ~ Alumni Association Annual Meeting in the Galbraith Room

Saturday, January 26 ~ Noon+ ~ Alumni Day at the Basketball Game (part I)

Saturday, March 1 ~ Noon+ ~ Alumni Day at the Basketball Game (part II)

There will be MUCH more!  Watch your mail, watch the web, just keep watching!

Tidying Up!

I am determined to start 2008 in a MUCH more organized fashion!

Here are my pre-blog 'columns' from 2007...

Serendipity  http://www.uwp.edu/news/newstemp.cfm?storyID=1869

Commencement  http://www.uwp.edu/news/newstemp.cfm?storyID=1919

Involvement  http://www.uwp.edu/news/newstemp.cfm?storyID=1943

Happy Birthday, America!  http://www.uwp.edu/news/newstemp.cfm?storyID=1950

Look Both Ways!  http://www.uwp.edu/news/newstemp.cfm?storyID=1992

Do You You Tube?

If you'd like to SEE what's happening at UW-Parkside, I encourage you to check out "UW-P TV" on YouTube.  It's a student organization where the students are taking video footage combined with news coverage to report on campus activities!

There are three editions as well as a 'behind the scenes' episode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmV5bi0__xU

**Please note that there are other "UWPs", so don't confuse their antics for what's really happening here!

I Got Mail!

Guess what I got in the mail yesterday?  A letter from myself!

I asked myself to call a number to update my information because I'm helping UW-P put together a new alumni directory! 

So, as a favor to myself, I called!

The person I spoke with was Very nice...NO, it wasn't ME (thanks Juanette!)!  She was very friendly, but also efficient at verifying the information I have on file for myself!  And that was it! 

Yes, that's all!  We are updating our alumni database!  We haven't done it since 1999 (remember?).  This helps us know where you are and what you're doing.  We want you to receive Perspective magazine to get updates on what's going on here!  (Heck, YOU are also our content!!!)  It also helps me to know what kinds of jobs you have so I can invite you to campus to talk to students (I need to get working on Alumni Career Days for April!).

Please call the 800 number!  It really takes about four minutes of your time.  Of course, they will ask if you want to purchase the directory, but they do not pressure you!  I will say...I get a number of requests from other alumni looking for past classmates.  This is a great resource, so you might want to take advantage!  I did order the book and CD myself.  I think the CD will be very handy!  Hopefully a next step for us will be to offer this information via the web, but until then....

...stay in touch!

Thanks!

I am thankful for so many things in my life, and in the context of UW-P there are a number of things for which I am grateful!

Of course, I'm thankful for the education I received (and continue to receive...for we truly are lifelong learners!).  It was an interesting and challenging curriculum that has prepared me well for all of my endeavors.

I'm thankful for the opportunities (read:  doors!) that UW-P has provided (and continues to provide!).

I'm thankful for the people...SO many UW-P people!

This year...I want to thank everyone who has been a part of my alumni success...the alumni, without whom I wouldn't have a job (sounds like an Oscar speech!)...thanks for keeping in touch, reading the magazine, supporting our events, being a constant cheerleader for UW-P....

You know who you are if you had anything to do with the basketball game last January, the annual meeting, the Fourth of July Parade (especially if you gave us a big cheer when we passed through...and you did!), the Casino Night event, Commencement, Fall Fest (Yes, you...the Schweder Fam!) and the list goes on.  I have to mention the alumni who I run into ALL THE TIME!  Thanks for letting me jump around in excitement when we meet!  Thanks for coming out to campus...to show your daughter where you went to college, to visit faculty and staff, to speak with the current students...THANK YOU!  Thanks for watching this website (stay tuned, new stuff is coming!) and for letting us know when things change...addresses, jobs....and when you have new successes!  Thanks for checking in...to let me know you too appreciated your UW-P experience (it really is more than just an education, isn't it!?) and for offering to come to campus to talk to students (Benjamin!) or to provide a service (Michelle!)...Thank YOU! 

Thanks for making such a good choice...Thanks for choosing UW-P!  We're glad you did!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!