FALL 2008 - UW-Milwaukee

MESSAGE FROM CHANCELLOR CARLOS E. SANTIAGOThrough New Africology PhD Program,We Expand Our HorizonsThe University of Wisconsin–Milwaukeein June 2008 took another significantstep toward providing academic andresearch depth and breadth when it receivedapproval from the UW System Board ofRegents to offer a doctoral degree inAfricology. It was a success 10 years in themaking and, like other recent progress madeat UWM, was the result of a perseverancethat I have very much come to appreciateamong my colleagues.When I arrived on campus four years ago,I indicated that we had too few doctoraldegrees programs. I offered as perspectivethe campus that I came from, which had athird fewer faculty than UWM and yet twicethe number of doctoral programs.I subsequently learned that there was ahistory of difficulties in gaining approval fordoctoral degrees at UW–Milwaukee, includinga 15-year period from the late 1980s throughthe early part of this century when no newdoctoral degrees were approved for thisuniversity — despite several being discussedand some being formally proposed.It was the doctoral degree in history,approved in 2002 after being initially proposedin 1992, that finally got the processmoving again. Since my arrival, I am pleasedto say that faculty and staff have pushedforward to add doctoral programs in medicalinformatics, physical therapy, informationstudies, social work, communication,educational psychology, and now programNo. 26, Africology.To be competitive, I believe we need tohave between 32 and 35 doctoral programs.UW-Madison, it should be noted, has 114doctoral programs. We certainly do not intendto develop that many.Doctoral programs are hugely importantto universities because they attract the verybest faculty. These academicians want to beinvolved in creating the latest knowledge atthe forefront of their respective fields. This isdone through their own work and the newideas that often emerge through interactionwith excellent students attracted to auniversity that will allow them to earn thehighest of all degrees.I am very proud of many people formaking our latest doctoral degree possible.Support came from across campus, but it allstarted with the faculty and staff in theDepart ment of Africology working for adecade to get this program approved. Everypossible objection raised was ably addressedthrough their patience and professionalism. Icommend them all for their commitment.The importance of their work is clear andvery much reminds me of a segment from abook for which I was a co-author, Adiós,Borinquen querida: The Puerto Rican Diaspora,Its History, and Contributions:“The United States, more than ever,needs to develop a global perspective in theface of the increasing transnationalism andrelations of interdependence. Moreimportantly, it has to deal with the diversitywithin its own borders….In order toaccomplish these goals, educators will needto employ a culturally responsive pedagogy,a multicultural curriculum, and continue tochallenge the social structures whichgenerate inequality in the United States.”One more way UW–Milwaukee willaccomplish this is through expanding oureducational horizons, and that is being donethrough our doctoral degree in Africology.I again congratulate all involved in itssuccessfully creation. I believe it will be asuperb program.— Carlos E. SantiagoChancellor