University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee commencement ceremonies will be held on Sunday, May 21, at 1 p.m. for baccalaureate students in the U.S. Cellular Arena.

Tickets are not necessary for family and friends. Seating is available on a first come, first served basis. The ceremony will last about two hours.

Bookstore Buybacks

The best time for students to sell their books back to the Union Bookstore will be during final exams week.

The following are the hours and times to sell back books:

• May 11 and 12: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• May 12: 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• May 13: 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

• May 15-18: 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• May 19: 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• May 20: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Research Growth Initiative awardees announced

UWM announced Monday the awardees of funding from the Research Growth Initiative.

The initiative is a program that aims to expand the university’s research enterprise by investing in proposals by UWM faculty and staff.

The initiative allows those faculty and staff members to apply for initial funding, which is awarded by the university.

The proposals are supposed to be self-sustaining, meaning that, after a definitive period of time, the proposals would find external funding sources and continue the research, said Abbas Ourmazd, vice chancellor for Research and dean of the Graduate School.

Nearly 300 proposals involving about half of the faculty and staff on campus were submitted by the January deadline, officials said.

The list of award winners includes four proposals in arts and humanities; 18 in life and health science; 13 in natural, mathematical, engineering and physical science and 10 in social and behavioral science.

Funding for the research projects will be divided up from the $14 million in seed money.

The next round of competition for the initiative will begin in September.

Regents approve new doctorate, extend charter school contract

The UW System Board of Regents authorized on May 5 a doctoral degree in social work at UWM and voted to extend the contract of the YMCA Youth Leadership Academy charter school for another four years. The Board of Regents will hold its next meeting on June 8 and 9 at UWM.

Dan Polley and Kayla Bunge contributed.

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