Reflecting on seven years of successful collaboration

Reflecting on seven years of successful collaboration

By Karl Kunkel, Dean, College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities

Last fall, I announced the current academic year will be my last as dean of the College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (CASSH). After 37 years at public regional comprehensive universities and 23 years in various administrative roles, I decided to return to a faculty position in the Department of Sociology & Criminology, teaching full time and reconnecting with the reasons I chose a career in higher education in the first place.

As this transition approaches, I find myself looking back at the past seven years since I arrived at UWL as CASSH Dean in July 2019. I always see one of my primary responsibilities as facilitating the good work of others. Almost every accomplishment in the college reflects the efforts and dedication of many collaborators and stakeholders. What follows offers just a sample of the many good things happening in CASSH resulting from our collective work.

Navigating the pandemic

Any honest reflection on the past seven years should acknowledge the global pandemic, which arrived in spring 2020 during my first year as Dean. The pandemic forced profound changes in how we conducted classes and the university operated. We adapted quickly with a very heavy lift from faculty, staff, and students, and some of those lessons stayed with us, including expanded use of online and hybrid courses, practicing flexibility when working with students and colleagues, as well as remote meetings.

Listening to stakeholders

To maintain meaningful contact with our college constituent groups, Associate Dean Marie Moeller and I formed three advisory councils: one for faculty and instructional staff and another for university and academic staff, each with representatives elected annually from these stakeholders. The other group is comprised of students selected by each CASSH department. Regular meetings with each council gave us important insight and helped shape our college leadership. We also launched the CASSH Insider, a monthly newsletter keeping stakeholders informed about timely issues and college events.

A vision for students

Our academic vision for CASSH centered on two priorities: preparing students for citizenship in 21st century global society and connecting them with career-ready skills and experiences. These themes shaped student recruitment efforts, such as Campus Close-Up sessions, along with the college public-facing materials and website. We use a motto, "The Key to Global Citizenship," appearing often in CASSH public-facing and promotional materials, including lapel pins given to each graduate.

Creating the School for Visual & Performing Arts

One of the most visible accomplishments of these seven years involved creating and implementing a vision for the School of Visual & Performing Arts. A steering task force drew representatives from the departments of art, music and theatre, and the college eventually hired an inaugural school director who focuses on branding, event coordination, public relations, recruitment and fundraising. The college also introduced a new minor in performance dance within the newly named Department of Theatre & Dance.

Pursuing inclusive excellence

Closing achievement gaps, particularly in entry-level gateway courses, became a deliberate college priority. Partnering with the Gardner Institute for Teaching and Learning, the college supported a multi-year faculty subscription to material developed by the institute. We also convened a college task force that spent two years examining methods and presenting findings at an all-college meeting for departments, faculty and instructional staff to consider implementing in programs and courses.

The college also established need-based scholarships for students from historically marginalized populations through the Gary Isakson estate gift. These funds support four annual study abroad awards and a four-year renewable scholarship, and have made resources available for participants continuing their education after completing the Self-Sufficiency Program affiliated with the Department of Race, Gender, & Sexuality Studies.

Building career-readiness

A college task force worked for two years developing recommendations and best practices for integrating Eagle Advantage competencies into CASSH majors and minors, giving departments practical tools for demonstrating the career-readiness dimensions of a liberal arts education.

New and innovative academic programs

CASSH launched several new degree and certificate programs over these years. A new criminology major joined the college's offerings. The former majors and departments of Ethic & Racial Studies and Women & Gender Studies merged into a new degree program: Race, Gender, & Sexuality Studies. And a new online graduate program in school psychology now serves place-bound students, particularly in rural areas.

The college created several innovative undergraduate certificates, including Artificial Intelligence Ethics, Spanish for Health Professions, Human Rights and Criminal Justice, Gerontology, Public History, and Spanish for International Business and Marketing. The college also changed its academic rules to allow students to complete two certificates in lieu of an academic minor, giving students more flexibility to build career-ready credentials and explore their interests.

Expanding international opportunities

CASSH strengthened its global reach by developing international partnerships with Ain Shams University in Egypt, the Spanish American Institute of International Education, and Cattolica University in Italy. These relationships expand international education opportunities for our students.

Investing in facilities and resources

The college made consistent and meaningful investments in its people and physical spaces. The Communication and Media Lab (CaML) came to life through a space renovation in Murphy Library and a nearly $80,000 space and equipment investment from CASSH. Beyond CaML, the college directed over $900,000 toward equipment, renovations and furniture across departments, with particular attention to the School of Visual & Performing Arts. Other projects included renovating the fourth-floor faculty lounge in Wimberly Hall and the student lounge in the Lowe Center for the Arts.

The college also allocated discretionary funds annually for small grants supporting individual faculty projects. As examples, in 2024-25 CASSH invested $52,000 to fund 15 pilot projects integrating AI into courses, preparing students for the 21st century workplace. This year, a $58,000 small grants program supports nine projects aimed at increasing enrollment and removing curricular obstacles to student progress.

Investing in faculty

I take pride in UWL and CASSH's continued commitment to maintaining and hiring tenure-track faculty in liberal studies fields, even as the broader trend in higher education moves away from tenure. Over the past seven years, CASSH hired 45 tenure-track faculty. Twenty-nine CASSH faculty earned tenure, with nine more pending Board of Regents approval this summer.

Gratitude and looking ahead

Serving as dean of the College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities has been a genuine professional honor. Working alongside such talented and dedicated faculty, students, staff and administrators made these seven years both meaningful and rewarding. None of the initiatives mentioned here, and countless others that space does not allow me to describe, were not possible without strong and sustained collaborative efforts. I am deeply grateful to have played a role in moving CASSH forward.

This past March, following a national search, Provost Betsy Morgan named Associate Dean Marie Moeller as our next CASSH dean, effective July 1. I have worked side by side with Marie as an administrative partner for seven years, and I say without hesitation she brings exactly the energy and vision this college needs. She advocates tirelessly for liberal arts education, and her entire career and life reflect a deep and genuine commitment to the ideals and value of public education at regional comprehensive universities like ours.

Dr. Moeller is ready for this role, and I have no doubt she will be an outstanding dean. The future of the College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities is very bright under her leadership.