Chancellor Linda Bunnell gave a parting speech to retirees last Tuesday.
Retirees bid a fond farewell to UW-SP, minus the cap and gown
The Pointer
lgern177@uwsp.edu
Graduating seniors aren’t the only ones getting nostalgic this spring; indeed, 19 retiring faculty members will be joining them in saying farewell to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Retirees marked the end of their long years of service to the university system with a ceremony on Tuesday, May 5 in the Dreyfus University Center’s Laird Room.
Chancellor Linda Bunnell and Vice Chancellor Provost Mark Nook delivered their parting remarks, both of which were filled with gratitude for the impact the retirees’ careers have created.
“The mark you’ve all made on students is now part of UW-SP’s growing legacy,” Bunnell said.
Mary Mosier, a 2008 retiree from the Career Services office and the Student Academic Advising Center, led the retiree introductions, highlighting some key faculty achievements.
Contributions were as wide-ranging as communication professor C.Y. Allen’s volunteer work with non-profit agencies, to French professor Marcia Parker’s leadership of a study abroad tour to France with International Programs.
Many have also published books and academic articles in their fields, including Cathleen Palmini, associate professor of library science, English professor Jim Stokes and Rick Wilke, professor of environmental education.
Though all the retirees at the reception could boast of their impressive and substantial careers, Wilke was recognized as the only UW-SP faculty member to receive the Excellence in Teaching, Service and Scholarship awards. He also brought in over $25 million in grants to UW-SP for environmental education.
Perhaps what stands out most in Wilke’s and other faculty members’ memories, though, was not the awards but the students.
“My most memorable teaching experience is the close working relationships I developed with the 50 grad students I advised,” Wilke said. “And learning from them and seeing them grow.”
Stokes said these relationships were essential to his career as well.
“Seeing students catch fire intellectually and seeing them go on to do great things—that’s what it’s all about,” Stokes said.
However, professors weren’t the only ones retiring that will miss the relationships they’ve cultivated with students. Kenneth Cisewski, who served as academic custodian at UW-SP for 30 years, said this was his favorite part about working on campus as well.
“I liked working around the students and getting to know them by name and face,” he said. “We had some good times.”
Now that these good times are drawing to a close, the retirees are finding new areas of interest to pursue post-career. Many say they will be spending more time outdoors, traveling and with their families, especially grandchildren.
Some, like many students leaving the university, carry no concrete plans for the future except an optimistic philosophy.
“If you try planning, things just never seem to go according to that plan,” Cisewski said. “I try to take it a day at a time.”
