Outlook Magazine - Fall 2022

ON CAMPUS

CAMPUS

FRESH EFFORTS FOR FRESH WATER

NO MORE LINES FOR TEXTBOOKS

A GRATEFUL, STOUT PROUD GRADUATE

UW-Stout has received nearly $400,000 in grants this year from a new state-funded pro gram, the Freshwater Collaborative of Wis consin, which leverages UWSystem expertise to help protect one of the state’s precious resources. The grants fund professor-led projects that include student research and experiential learn ing. One project is the Red Cedar Basin Mon itoring Program. Students tested water weekly last summer in lakes Menomin and Tainter and other waterways to monitor nutrient levels, algae blooms and general water quality, adding to a state database used to address the prob lems. Another project is focused on using drones, hyper-spectral imaging and software to see subsurface drainage patterns and help predict — and correct — freshwater contamination from farm runoff before it occurs.

Remember those long waits in line to pick up textbooks and then lugging around the heavy tomes? They’re all but a thing of the past at UW-Stout, where 75% of textbooks are digital. “We let students know they don’t have to come and stand in line anymore,” said Bob Butter field, director of Instructional Resources Ser vice in the library. Students download the ebooks onto their uni versity-provided laptop computer — no wait, no weight and no worries about losing or for getting their books. Other advantages include audio text; students can finish assigned read ing, for example, while driving home for the weekend. The audio option also helps students with disabilities. Adecade after offering digital texts for the first time, UW-Stout has become a leader in the UW System and nationally.

During the 2021-22 academic year, 1,665 stu dents received degrees. It would be difficult to find a graduate more proud and grateful than William Kunkel ’22 , who didn’t envision going to college because of lifelong challenges with dyslexia. Deep down, Kunkel believed he had ability and refused to be defined by his high school grades and test scores. At UW-Stout he began to shine in the hands-on learning environment. In May, he graduated magna cum laude from the mechanical engineering program and this fall entered a Ph.D. program at UW-Madison. “If you saw some of my earlier report cards, fromwhen I was younger, you would not think there was any way I would have achieved all that I have and would be pursuing a Ph.D.,” Kunkel said. “I would encourage anyone who learns differently not to give up.”

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