New UWM Dean Looking to Change Requirements

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The new dean of UWM’s College of Letters and Science (L&S), Scott Gronert, met with faculty on Oct. 19 on the UWM campus and announced that the university will be looking to lowering the grade point average (GPA) requirements of L&S.

Currently there is a minimum 2.5 GPA requirement in L&S, but Gronert is looking to “limit these hurdles and roadblocks that are preventing graduation.” According to Gronert. this is a barrier for L&S that limits enrollment, and he stated that other schools, like UW-Madison, do not have such a restriction. The change will go from a 2.5 to a 2.0 GPA for L&S. The average grade point average at UWM is 3.13.

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Gronert detailed that the College of L&S is currently performing above expectations compared to other institutions, which would include enrollment, graduation rates and budget. He emphasized spending on faculty and research that will help students at UWM succeed for graduation. The presentation lasted around 20 minutes with an emphasis of more time be allowed for faculty and staff to ask questions about his approach and how to address their current issues.

“The current graduation rate is not sustainable,” said Gronert.

Since 2010, UWM’s graduation rates have been trending downwards. 2016 graduation rates were 14 percent for four years and 40 percent for six years. Gronert indicated that a college similar in size and likeness to UWM usually doesn’t see higher than a 30-percent graduation rate for four years. He also mentioned retention rates, which for full time students is 72 percent and for part-time is 37 percent. Half of the students who leave go to another institution. The graduation rate for African Americans for six years is half of the normal average at 20 percent. Even though graduation rates are low, UWM is “strong” with PhD production versus other institutions by producing around 100 PhD’s a year since 2016, according to Gronert.

“A lot of students live on the edge,” said Gronert.

He was referring to student financial aid. Gronert stated that although tuition is lower than other institutions, student aid is also lower than it should be. Tuition at UWM is around $11,000 per year and financial aid is around $7,000 per year. Student loan debt was not detailed during the presentation, but current figures show that UWM student debt by graduation is around $37,000. The plan to assist with this was not detailed in the presentation.

“UWM punches above its weight,” said Gronert.

 According to Gronert, enrollment this year is up. It has been trending downwards since 2012 and projected high school graduation will be trending downwards for 2019 as well. Gronert indicated this will impact UWM’s enrollment opportunities. In-order-to keep enrollment from trending downwards, Gronert stated that there will be more hiring of faculty and staff, and he indicated that this will help keep UWM’s research up. A goal stated was to bring in a more “diverse faculty to represent a diverse student body.”

A new budget model is going to be implemented that, according to Gronert, will cause L&S to no longer be in a deficit. He had choice words when referring to the previous budget that is currently being implemented.

“The old budget model didn’t make any sense,” said Gronert.

The current, soon to be previous, budget had $76 million dedicated for L&S. 66 percent of that went to salary for faculty and staff. 28 percent went to benefits for the faculty and staff. According to Gronert, L&S is “running a lean operation” with this budget and he’s looking to get the department to spend, as stated on new faculty as well as research and funding for research. The new budget has not been implemented, but will be although he did not provide a time frame at this presentation as to when this new budget will go into effect.

“If it fits the mission and values of the institution, we should be spending money on it,” said Gronert.

Gronert was a professor at the College of Humanities and Science at Virginia Commonwealth University for seven years before being promoted to associate dean. He has a PhD from UC-Berkeley in chemistry. He taught for 16 years at San Francisco University.