When University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor Carlos Santiago announced he would be away from his office while recovering from prostate cancer last month, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Rita Cheng stepped in for him.

Over her month acting as chancellor, Cheng said one of the first things she found out was how much UWM means to so many people.

“There’s a whole host of people who have vested interests in what goes on at UWM,” Cheng said. “Students, faculty, staff, parents, the community. It’s a lot of responsibility.”

Cheng has maintained her previous responsibilities as provost and as a vice chancellor in addition to doing things like attending economic development meetings and appearing on television for the UWM Broadcast Club’s “Ask The Chancellor” program, which she called one of the more difficult things she has had to do over the last month.

“I had to be on TV, so that was definitely a new experience for me.”

She credits UWM’s infrastructure for keeping the school running smoothly in Santiago’s absence.

“We have an incredible team of vice chancellors who have really stepped up and made this a lot easier on everyone,” she said.

Before Santiago went in for surgery on Oct. 24, Cheng said that she and other members of the school administration met with the chancellor and outlined a plan for how to effectively manage without Santiago. According to Cheng, they mainly focused on making communication within various departments at UWM even more of a priority.

“Everyone, from vice chancellors to deans to directors, all knew we had to do extra work to keep things running smoothly.”

Cheng said she expects Santiago to resume his full duties in “a couple of weeks.” Santiago made his first appearance on campus since his surgery earlier last week.

Cheng said she will be glad to see the chancellor back when he does return full time, but also said that she has learned a lot during her month in charge.

“I’ve learned a lot about how important it is for a chancellor to be out there all the time representing UWM,” she said.

But mostly, Cheng thinks that Santiago coming back as chancellor will mark a return to normalcy within the administration.

“We’ve all been keeping the water lukewarm so that when (Santiago) comes back he can make it bubble.”

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