I’ve made no secret of the fact that I am pleased UW Oshkosh landed in the Top 10 of Forbes Best Places to Work in Wisconsin. On the heels of that honor, I was thrilled to learn UW Oshkosh also is one of the best schools for military service members and veterans in the state, according to Military Times.
Annually we receive a number of emails about our placement on various “Top Universities” lists, and I appreciate that the communications team at UMC has developed a process that weeds out those that are “pay-to-play” or from organizations that are seeking some type of monetary relationship. Those you see featured on our news service are those we are proud of, from reputable sources and that have not involved payment of any kind on our part.
Best place to work
The Best Place to Work designation from Forbes is a particular point of pride because the survey that feeds the designation is one driven by employees; this is not something we received because we paid to have an advertisement or any other engagement with Forbes. In fact, we do not advertise with Forbes at all.
I consider the Forbes award to be aspirational and now we need to live up to it. I also believe it is important not to put too much stock into your own press. Are we awesome? I think we are. But does this mean the same thing for each of our employees?
In my mind this is a down payment, a trigger for us to build the kind of culture we want on our campuses. It is not an end, it is a beginning. I do not want workplace joy to be merely a catch-phrase at UWO.
I know we are challenged by many issues in our workplace: pay continues to lag behind the private sector; hiring in many areas key to the successful function of our university is difficult; furloughs cut into our salaries during the pandemic; enrollment and retention challenges further stress staff, faculty and budgets; while hybrid and remote work have become more prevalent, this is new territory for many of us and we’re not sure what the long-term impact will be. The list of challenges can be as individual as our employees. Yet, despite it all, people here continue to attack each day with a fierce dedication to students and the institution.
This news provides us with an opportunity to dig into our workplace culture, identify the gaps and do better for all of our employees. And that is what we will do at UWO. We will dig in. We will do better.
Best school for veterans
UW Oshkosh also is honored to be No. 2 in Wisconsin and No. 119 in the nation among best schools for military service members and veterans. The annual Best for Vets: Colleges rankings are published each October by Military Times. UWO also ranks 98th among public institutions.
The list is the result of a survey of more than 300 schools that answered questions about their services and programs specific to military students, whether active duty, veteran or families and dependents of service members. Top factors include student success metrics such as completion, retention, persistence and GPA.
The work our Veterans Resource Center and all staff do to bolster the success of our military and veteran students is a measure of our success as an institution. Creating a space where these students feel they belong, where they can thrive and move into their next career has been a long-standing part of our mission. In fact, our history is rich in its service to the military and veterans.
Aaron Kloss and the team at the Veterans Resource Center do a tremendous job of outreach and forming connection with our veterans. Their office helps veterans navigate the application process, ensuring a firm understanding of military benefits, as well as the campus and community resources available to them.
This ranking helps us reaffirm our commitment to serving our military and veteran students and their families.
We don’t shop for compliments − which is why it feels all the sweeter when the UWO community authentically earns them.
Just a few quick links in case you missed them:
What a day for homecoming. Perfect weather. Wonderful weekend of events. Titans brought home a win. Event coverage:
https://uwosh.edu/today/109759/great-weather-great-win-uw-oshkosh-celebrates-homecoming-22/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/37901018@N05/albums/72177720303096302
UWO has formed a unique partnership with Agra Energy to convert dairy waste into biofuel:
https://uwosh.edu/today/109570/uwo-partnership-with-agra-energy-yields-new-facility-to-convert-dairy-waste-into-biofuel/