Campus Issues Action Team Notes low Student Morale After Int. Student Troubles and Lacking Student Association

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UWM Campus. Credit: Jack Laude

Recent international student distress has contributed to low campus morale at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a campus-wide action team says they wish the Student Association was more active in giving students a voice.

The Campus Community Issues Action Team held a meeting on April 23 which looked at the morale of the campus along with questions about their role and future impact.

“Everybody knows this, the campus climate morale is low,” said Alan Singer, an associate teaching professor at UWM.

In April, UWM released information about 13 students having their student visas revoked or terminated.

The news didn’t only cause a stir for international students.

“My students are scared, and they’re not international students,” said Singer. “They hear international students talking, they hear everything that’s going on.”

Recently, the 13 students and recent graduates who had their visas terminated have been restored, but that hasn’t completely healed the uncertainty caused by the situation.

The role of the Student Association is to represent and be the voice of the student body at UWM.

The website showing the members of the legislative branch shows only one of the 38 senator spots being filled, while the rest are vacant.

Levi Valentine is the current diversity and inclusion director for the student association and was a part of the Campus Community Issues Action Team meeting.

“It sounds like there is a lack of clarity as to what Student Association’s role is,” said Valentine. “I think that in part has been due to our rapidly shifting leadership.”

UWM Chancellor Mark Mone will be replaced by current Stevens Point Chancellor Thomas Gibson for the 2025-2026 school year. The CCIAT plans to continue its work once the new regime takes over.

One change they would like to see is the ability to know that their efforts were seen and used by the administration.

The CCIAT seeks to “provide guidance on campus issues to foster a safe and inclusive campus where UWM’s Guiding Values and the university’s commitment to freedom of expression are realized,” according to their mission statement.

The members consist of staff, students and faculty.

The UWM Student Association

In addition to representing the student body to the UWM staff, faculty and administration, the Student Association also oversees student fee allocation and decides how much money registered student organizations are given.

Voting for the Student Association is happening April 29 – May 1. Winners will be announced on May 2. Of the people running, all of them are running uncontested.

“I think there have been a number of places that Student Association hasn’t been involved in this year that I would have very much wished us to be involved in,” said Valentine.

Valetine said that things talked about at the CCIAT meeting would be brought to the next Student Association meeting.

A discussion in the meeting was to make sure the team wasn’t working or taking on responsibilities of other offices or groups on campus, such as the Student Association.

The team talked about how the Student Association is supposed to be the main voice of the students, but that it is also important for campus faculty, staff and administrators to reach out to the student body.

This includes members of the CCIAT reaching out and conversing with students.

International Students’ Visa Revocations/Terminations

On April 11, UWM sent out an email to all students.

“As of this morning, April 11, we are aware of 13 UWM international students and recent graduates whose visas have been revoked or their status terminated. UWM played no role in these revocations or terminations,” said part of the email.

The email also said the reason for the revocations or terminations was unclear. And the Center for International Education at UWM would contact the people affected.

After this news, there was discussion about the university’s lack of action and transparency, and how that could be influencing the negative morale on campus.

“If [students] understand what choices are being made [by administration] and why, then they can make more effective choices and how they navigate their lives and their education,” said Valentine.

Looking Forward to the New Regime

The team hopes the change in administration from Mone to Gibson will bring more clarity and engagement to the work they do.

“Even though we don’t know what was done with what we shared, we still see value in the work that we did and we still see a role to play,” said Elizabeth Drame, a UWM professor.

The team also hopes for a meeting with both Mone and Gibson to help bridge the shift to the new administration, to make sure their role on campus is noted by the new administration.