News & Events

The Universities of Wisconsin recently announced the selection of the 2025–2026 Wisconsin Teaching Fellows & Scholars.

This year’s Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars (WTFS) participants include 21 faculty and instructors from the Universities of Wisconsin’s 11 comprehensive universities, nominated by Provosts for their excellence in teaching and learning.

The WTFS program provides UW faculty and teaching academic staff a unique opportunity to collaborate with other exceptional teachers from across the Universities of Wisconsin and from various disciplines. In addition to discussing effective evidence-based teaching and learning approaches, participants are guided through systematic research focused on improving student learning through a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) project. The yearlong program begins in May and will culminate with a research presentation in Spring 2026. 

Wisconsin Teaching Fellows & Scholars is one of three signature programs offered by the Universities of Wisconsin’s Office of Professional and Instructional Development (OPID). OPID supports the Universities of Wisconsin’s’ 13 Centers for Teaching and Learning in fostering a culture of teaching and learning excellence in Wisconsin. Together they offer professional development programs that seek to enhance student learning in face-to-face, online, and blended learning environments. Fay Akindes is the OPID Director.

The Wisconsin Teaching Fellows & Scholars program is directed by two faculty leaders, Valerie Barske, a history professor at UW-Stevens Point, and Heather Pelzel, a biological sciences professor at UW-Whitewater.

The two 2025-26 Teaching Fellows & Scholars selected from the UW-Whitewater faculty are:

Steve Girard, Associate Professor, Chemistry
Lauren Zepp, Assistant Professor, Special Education

Gov. Evers Orders Flags to Half-Staff in Honor of Milwaukee Police Department Officer Kendall Corder

Gov. Tony Evers today issued the following statement on the passing of Milwaukee Police Department Officer Kendall Corder and ordered the flags of the United States and the state of Wisconsin to be flown at half-staff immediately in honor of Officer Corder, who was killed in the line of duty on June 29, at the age of 32. “Officer Corder was responding to a shots fired call last week and ran toward danger when he was shot in the line of duty and ultimately passed away from his injuries. Our hearts break for Officer Corder, his family, loved ones, colleagues at the Milwaukee Police Department, and the greater Milwaukee community, and we join Milwaukeeans and Wisconsinites in honoring the life of this dedicated public servant,” said Gov. Evers. “Kathy and I will continue to keep his family and loved ones and all those who knew Officer Corder in our thoughts and our prayers as they mourn his loss and this merciless tragedy.”   Gov. Evers is also ordering the flags of the United States and the state of Wisconsin to half-staff across the state immediately until sunset on Tues., July 1, 2025, as well as the date of Officer Corder’s interment, which has not yet been announced. An executive order will be forthcoming.

Photos courtesy of Tom Ganser

The following area students were named to the UW-Whitewater Dean’s List for the 2025 spring semester. [Unless otherwise noted the student is a Whitewater High School graduate.] These students have demonstrated their academic abilities by receiving a grade point average of 3.4 or above in a single semester.

“We’d like to congratulate all the students who were recognized on our Dean’s List for the spring semester,” said Robin Fox, UW-Whitewater’s interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. “Making the Dean’s List is a tremendous honor and a testament to the hard work and dedication of our students – their success is paramount to the strength of our university.”

The university’s Registrar’s Office reports 3,506 students were selected for the Dean’s List for the spring semester. More than 11,700 students are currently enrolled at the university’s Whitewater and Rock County campuses.

Michelle Abarca
Madelynn Buehler
Canyon Caputo
Lucas Castro-Huempfner
Anders Clarksen
Christopher Cortes
Sebastian Cuellar Meza
Alejandra Diaz-Gallegos
Charlie Eckert [Milton High School]
Jaciel Flores [Delavan-Darien High School]
Brock Grosinske
Reagan Hammons
Jake Hintz
Cali Kopecky
Andrea Kuhl
Niles Long
Aiden Murray
Lexi Nelson
Emily O’Donnell
Brianna Ophime
Johan Perez
Charlotte Pham [Milton High School]
Mel Prince
Yovanni Rojas-Reyes
Cody Rupke
Tyler Schneider [Delavan-Darien High School]
Holly Shannon [Milton High School]
Connor Sharlow
Jazmin Soto [Palmyra-Eagle High School]
C.J. Tomomitsu
Dejaney Valles
Tania Verduzco
Emma Wade
Molly Wade
Carter Waelchli

Editor’s note: This press release was received from UW-Whitewater. This link leads to a section on the UW-Whitewater website where you can find information such as the major of each student, and in some cases, there is also a photo.

​​Starting June 1, 2024, Wisconsin residents have had the option to add one emergency contact to the driver license or ID card record. This contact information could be available to law enforcement agencies in the event that you are in a collision or are experiencing a medical emergency. This information may save crucial time if ever it becomes necessary to contact your family members or other loved ones.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation says 82,100 Wisconsinites added their emergency contact information to their DMV record in the first year of the “To Inform Families First” Act. An average of a little over 1000 people add the contact to their file every week.

As part of every application for a Wisconsin driver license or ID card, the applicant will be asked if they would like to include emergency contact information in their file. Adding the information is voluntary. If you would like to have an emergency contact listed, you will be required to provide the contact’s name, residential address, phone number and their relationship to you. This information will not be printed on the driver license or ID card.

If you would like to add an emergency contact to your file, click here.

You will need to enter:

• Your first and last name
• Your Wisconsin Driver License or ID Card number
• The last 4 digits of your Social Security number  
• Your date of birth

​AND

• Your emergency contact’s name
• Your emergency contact’s address
• Your emergency contact’s phone number
• Your relationship to the emergency contact

The Walworth County Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS] is offering discounted private well water sample kits for the entire month of July to help residents protect their health and ensure the safety of their drinking water.

Well owners can purchase individual test kits at the following reduced prices:

• Bacteria: $10 per sample
• Nitrate: $10 per sample

Arsenic and lead water tests may also be purchased for the regular rate of $20 per sample. Well water test kits may be purchased and dropped off during regular business hours at Walworth County Health and Human Services. Only cash or check payments will be accepted.

Unlike municipal water systems, private wells are not regularly monitored, which means it’s the responsibility of the homeowner to test their water. Contaminants like bacteria, nitrate, lead, and arsenic are often invisible, tasteless, and odorless—but they can pose serious health risks, especially for infants, children, pregnant individuals, and those with weakened immune systems.

DHHS hours are: Mon/Wed/Thurs/Fri 8-4:30, Tues 8-6
The office is located at 1910 County Road NN, Elkhorn.

Visit www.co.walworth.wi.us/430/Well-Water-Testing for water-laboratory hours or call (262) 741-3200 for more information.

Carol McCormick writes, “Had to look this one up! It is an immature double-crested cormorant. Surveyed Trippe Lake for a few minutes, then took off.”

Our thanks to Carol McCormick for sharing another nature photo.

— Our Readers Share: We hope that you might have something that you’d be willing to share.  Anything that’s been created by someone else should, of course, be credited, and you should ask their permission if you’re able. We cannot post copyrighted material without permission. We can’t guarantee that we’ll have space for all submissions, and contributions will be subject to editorial board approval. The one definite exclusion is anything politically oriented. We will assume that you’re willing for us to include your name as the submitter unless you indicate that you prefer to remain anonymous. Send to whitewaterbanner@gmail.com. Thanks for thinking about this!

Written by Chris Lindeke | Photos Submitted

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Enactus team, an organization that uses business as a force of good to improve people’s lives and their communities, was named the 2025 Enactus USA champion in late May at the Enactus United States Expo in Kansas City, Missouri.

This group of Warhawks will now represent the country as Team USA at the Enactus World Cup, set for this September in Bangkok, Thailand. They’ll compete alongside the top teams from more than 30 countries around the world.

UW-Whitewater last claimed the Enactus national title in 2021. The team is supported by the College of Business and Economics and advised by Choton Basu, professor of information technology and supply chain management.

Basu said the chapter’s two primary collaborations — an existing international project that empowers women, and a new project focused on supporting rural America — set the UW-Whitewater Enactus team apart from others in the nation and propelled it to win the 2025 national championship.

ProChapina

Students and faculty have been working with ProChapina, a nonprofit organization that serves to support, educate, uplift, and empower women in Guatemala through professional training programs and other services, since 2019.

Last year, Enactus teamed with UW-Whitewater’s American Marketing Association chapter — the 2025 International Chapter of the Year — to build a sustainable business plan with marketing and fundraising services for ProChapina. Two students from each group, along with AMA faculty advisor Lauren Drury, visited Antigua, Guatemala, for one week last summer to discuss product development and sales and to immerse themselves in Guatemalan culture.

The team turned its focus to marketing this past year, working with the university and businesses in the area to gauge interest in selling ProChapina products, which include hand-crafted goods and other services.

RenewTowns

Over the last year, UW-Whitewater students and faculty have worked with three Wisconsin cities as part of Enactus’ RenewTowns project.

The goal of the project is to drive sustainable economic growth and revitalization in communities. Enactus has teamed with organizations and business leaders in Fort Atkinson, Cambridge, and Wauwatosa to build business pitch competitions that offer free rent and other incentives to small businesses who set up in the downtown areas of those communities.

For example, Enactus worked with Collaborative 532 on the Cambridge Storefront Competition to bring a small business to one of the vacant spaces in downtown Cambridge. In Fort Atkinson, the latest winner of the RenewTowns storefront competition was Tidy Tails, a dog grooming business that captured the community’s heart.

As with other participating towns, the winning entrepreneur received a year of free rent — a powerful incentive designed to jumpstart small business growth on Main Streets across rural America.

The student-led initiative is more than just the prize. RenewTowns is sparking a movement that unites community members, unlocks local resources, and creates a ripple effect of sustainable growth by bringing life back to vacant storefronts. It’s an economic — and emotional — revival.

“What’s unique about this project — and what continues to impress the Enactus judges — is its unwavering focus on rural America,” Basu said. “The direct beneficiaries are the small towns, the mom-and-pop stores, and the wonderful communities that are the country’s beating heart. We’re using cutting-edge business tools to support the places and people we care about. We’re working to uplift the folks you hear about in a Springsteen or Mellencamp song.”