Name: Fran Puleo Moyer
Workplace: UW Connects, State Relations and Statewide Outreach
Title: Program Director, UW Connects
What are your role and job responsibilities at UW–Madison?
I am the Program Director of UW Connects Outreach at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In my role, I oversee various outreach programs which serve a statewide audience, and I am involved in developing a statewide outreach strategy for campus.
What is the coolest, most interesting, or rewarding project you have worked on at UW–Madison?
Creating and branding a program from the ground up and seeing it fulfill a need in our state.
I’ve been so fortunate to have inherited some incredible outreach programs, including Bucky’s Classroom and a program which was called the UW Speaker’s Bureau, which invites faculty, staff, and graduate students to share their presentations around the state. As sexy as that name lands, we promptly worked with University Marketing to rebrand it into Badger Talks. Flash forward to eight years later and an 800% increase in requests, and now Badger Talks averages well over one talk per day around the state, with about 450 requests per year. The program today includes not just talks, but workshops, performances, and tours. Bucky’s Classroom has also had many program changes over the years and has seen a similar growth trajectory, now serving 3,000 7th graders per year.
In my first year on campus, we created the umbrella unit called UW Connects, so the programs I mentioned would have a brandable home and a place for people around the state to connect with multiple UW resources. Given our successes, UW Connects has recently been tasked with exploring the development of a statewide outreach strategy for campus, and we are currently hiring two people to support existing and developing programming. It’s certainly an exciting time for statewide outreach and engagement on our campus! One last note is to say that all of these successes are due to the amazing team of faculty (650 to date), staff, and students who dedicate their time and energy to these programs and to serving others around the state. I truly do feel so lucky to work with such thoughtful people, and I have no doubt that I have one of the best jobs on campus.
Have you ever participated in any Academic Staff activities?
I’ve participated in a number of Academic Staff activities, including the Academic Staff Institute, the University Roundtable, the Wisconsin Idea Seminar, and MASN events. We had an amazing tour of Tandem Press, which I was unfamiliar with—what an amazing resource for our campus!
What is your favorite place on campus or way to take a break from screens?
We’re so lucky to have so many great walking and running paths on campus. I frequent the one that heads out to Brittingham Beach.
Please share any hobbies, sports, arts and crafts, or leisure activities you are passionate about.
I’m a freelance musician (flute/piccolo) when I have time and have performed with orchestras, Celtic bands, wind quintets, string quartets, and a flute/guitar duo. It’s a lot of fun!
What is the latest concert, performance, or art exhibit you attended? Book you read? Series you streamed or movie you saw? What did you think about the experience?
I got to sing in the Madison Symphony Chorus for their 100th anniversary concert in June. We sang the last movement of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony to a standing-room-only crowd in Overture Hall. It was a beautiful, heartfelt tribute to our local orchestra and the true community treasure it is!
Do you volunteer in the community? If yes, where? What got you involved and what do you love about it?
Yes, I am the chair of the Dane Arts Commission, which grants around $150K every year to aspiring artists and art organizations throughout Dane County. I also serve on the Waunakee Sustainability Committee. I’m a certified tree hugger.
If you are comfortable sharing, and if applicable, tell us about your family, partner, kids, pets, etc.
I have an amazingly supportive and wonderful partner of 20 years, Jeff, and three incredibly talented and caring adult children, Maya, Peter and Audi, as well as two thoughtful and hardworking stepsons. Annie, our chiweenie, and Louie, our Pomeranian, are in charge of all of us.
Anything else you would like your UW–Madison colleagues to know about you?
How lucky we all are to work at such an incredible institution, with experts on every topic under the sun, diverse viewpoints, and experiences from across the globe—and so many people who care deeply about sharing what they know not only with the next generation, but with everyone around the state. On, Wisconsin!