Recognition
Emily Batlan
Academic Counselor Senior, Evening Degree Advising
Emily has been a part of Evening Degree since it changed to a fee based model in 2002. Her expertise in admissions and recruitment has added many invaluable contributions to both Evening Degree and the broader UWEO organization since she joined our staff. I appreciate her willingness to learn and grow continuously, her strong commitment to education, to the students in our program and striving to always make things better. Thank you, Emily for your creativity, your commitment and your care!
--Appreciated by Connie S. Montgomery, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Julie Brunett
Graduate Adviser, Global Health
My colleague Julie Brunett is quite possibly the best possible graduate Adviser ever. She has worked in our program for over five years, and I cannot think of a single thing she could do better. She works in a complicated degree program (within which are countless possibilities for how to complete the various and ever changing sets of requirements) with a range of students from across the globe. Some of these students are seasoned professionals in their countries and all of them have many and various needs, including not just academic advising, but cultural, social, logistical and emotional advising and counseling as well. She is ever thoughtful and compassionate and highly culturally competent. Somehow she is able to figure out creative ways to address any and all of their issues, without exception. Her communications to the students are unfailingly professional and respectful, yet warm and caring at the same time. Moreover, she brings the same consideration and generosity of spirit to us, her co-workers, each day. I feel incredibly fortunate and honored to work alongside her, and count my blessings regularly for that fact.
--Appreciated by Sarah Katharine Frey, Graduate Adviser/Counselor
Vicky Burke
Senior Academic Counselor, Psychology
For always, and I do mean always, being willing to see incoming transfer students. And anything else that is asked of her. Vicky's generosity with her time and her efforts on behalf of advisers and students always amaze me.
--Appreciated by Megan McConnell, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Vicky Burke is a thoughtful, enthusiastic, thorough and overall excellent adviser. As I began working with her I was amazed by how she greeted every single student with a joyful enthusiasm, as if she had known him or her for years. One example of going above and beyond - this spring she searched through each and every student folder in our office (maybe 900 or so!) and found students who were eligible to graduate. A number of these students were students who had left the UW recently and hadn't finished their foreign language requirement, but had taken 3 years of high school language. So Vicky personally contacted each of these students. Due to her time and diligence we will have several more psychology graduates this December. Vicky is the epitome of a brilliant adviser. I am so fortunate to work with and learn from her everyday.
--Appreciated by Tracy L. Maschman, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Patrick Chidsey
Senior Career Counselor, UW Career Center
Patrick always takes the time to create department-specific job lists and job search tips when presenting to students in specific majors.
--Appreciated by Briana K. Keller, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Heather Clineschmidt
Academic Counselor, Gateway Center
Heather works tirelessly on behalf of students. She is constantly confronted with the question of efficiency, since she advises pre-med students, and their ranks seem to grow year after year. She constantly tries to improve the way we see these students. She also led a team tp revise Transfer Thursday in response to some concerns we in Gateway had about the way it worked. It has resulted in much greater satisfaction on the part of advisers in our office, and we suspect among students as well!
--Appreciated by Megan McConnell, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Andrea Crosby
Adviser, Biology
Andrea is such an amazingly patient and kind person. I hear students that our Program and Biology share, just rave about how great of an Adviser she is and how supported they feel. She works with her collegues to help them feel encouraged and appreciated. Andrea is such a great example of someone who believes in the value of building a community among her peers. One of things that most impresses me about her is that she remembers everyone's names.
--Appreciated by Cynthia M. Anderson, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Andrea is one sharp cookie! She approaches everything she dose with enthusiasm. She can see the lighter side of almost any situation that finds its way to our advising office. She keeps things rolling in the most positive direction.
--Appreciated by Janet J. Germeraad, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Jennifer Earle
Student Services Coordinator, Global Health
Jennifer is a super-dedicated consummate professional, advising medical students, graduate students and undergraduates in global health. She works tirelessly to make sure that they feel valued and offers her excellent advising skills with a compassionate heart and commitment to excellence. She skillfully developed a small global health medical student certificate program from a dozen students to one that involves close to 90 students. She also is central to the success of a new international clerkship program, orienting and coordinating experiences for 40 fourth year medical students in Sub Saharan Africa, South Asia, Australia, and Latin America.
--Appreciated by Daren Wade, Graduate Adviser/Counselor
Roz Edison
Adviser, Construction Managment
Roz Edison has brought a level of energy to the College of the Built Environment that has been wonderful. She jumped right in and wrote proposals to the Dean to help get funding for all four departments in the college (Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Urban Design and Planning/Community Environmental Planning and Construction Management) for advisers to have props and literature for recruiting. She helped organized computer training for the staff in the college. She is enthusiastic in helping set up career panels, fairs, and information meetings to help recruit students. She is a joy to have at meetings. Her intelligent observations, dry wit and can do attitude have been a very welcome addition.
--Appreciated by Joanne A. Edwards, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Crystal Eney, Raven Avery, Megan Reardon, Monica Duke
CSE Advisers, CSE
A big thank you to the entire crew of CSE advisers. The whole team is friendly and informed, and made learning the ropes easier and enjoyable!
--Appreciated by Daniel S. Feetham, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Environmental Advising Group, EnviroLink
A big shout out to EnviroLink! Thanks to all of you for being such amazing colleagues for all of the years that I've worked with you. I appreciate your leadership, positive spirit, and commitment to our students. I'm delighted that we will be working with the new links to build a campus-wide collaborative advising model.
--Appreciated by Michelle R. Hall, Undergraduate Program Coordinator
Lynnea Erickson
Career Counselor, UW's Career Center
Lynnea helped organize and coordinate a career week workshop that some of our former Italian Majors took part in as speakers. I was impressed with the amount of time and dedication Lynnea put forth in organizing what turned out to be a popular and very successful event. Lynnea and I touched base about this a couple times including during a weekend-- which is to say that she worked on this project at work and away from work. French and Italian Studies admires, appreciates and values what Lynnea has offered our language students.
--Appreciated by Sabrina Tatta, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Lynnea has been instrumental in creating podcasts to help encourage liberal arts majors - to help them see the unique skills they have and to open their eyes to the many career opportunities available to them.
--Appreciated by Briana K. Keller, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Matt Erickson
Academic Adviser, History
Matt Erickson has been a strong advocate of study abroad and encourages his students to make the most out of their academic careers at UW. His interaction with students is nurturing, inspiring and engaging all at once. As he cares deeply about students and their development; they will be fortunate to have him as their Adviser.
--Appreciated by Shannon M. Koller, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Dowell Eugenio
Informatics Adviser, Information School
In his second year as Informatics Academic Adviser, Dowell has facilitated the transition of the degree program to a new curriculum, identified affinity partners across campus and help increase the applications to the major by roughly 30 percent. He has also been active on the UW Undergraduate Academic Advising Council and looked for ways to use what is happening there to improve services not only to our Undergraduate, but our Graduate students as well.
--Appreciated by Wendie R. Phillips, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Sean Ferris
Student Activities Adviser, Student Activities and Union Facilities
Sean Ferris is passionate about student leadership and mentorship and his work truly reflects it. He helped the UW Leaders Directors take their peer leadership development program to a new level. He advised the ASUW Fashion Show: Every Body, Every Body to promote healthy body image and self-confidence. He worked with African Student Association to host a sold-out Afro-Caribbean Night featuring 100 performers. Finally, Sean served on the Student Life Development Committee which organized and hosted a successful conference for 150 Student Life, OMA/D and UAA staff. Sean inspires students, and he makes time to help his colleagues.
--Appreciated by Jennifer S. Kiest, Student Activities Adviser
Tom Freng
Senior Academic Counselor, Biology
Tom has served undergraduates for 10 years here at UW. He does his work with consistency and care. He contributes constructive ideas and much good humor.
--Appreciated by Janet J. Germeraad, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Janet Germeraad
Director of Academic Services, Biology
You are one of the most good natured people I have ever worked with. It's not just that you have the experience and that you perform your job with such skill - it's that you are so nice while you're doing it. Whether interacting with students or other advisers, your approach makes this a better place.
--Appreciated by Joseph T. Kobayashi, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Elaine Haig-Widner
Program Coordinator, Women's studies
Elaine organized a fundraiser for undergraduate Women's studies students, called the Knit In for Feminist Scholarship. She sought donations for auction items and door prizes, coordinated volunteers, ordered/made food, reserved the room...did a great job with promotion. The goal was to earn $400 (for 4 $100 scholarships), but they were able to raise over $800! She spent months putting this event together and it was really successful. She definitely deserves more appreciation for this and all she does in WS.
--Appreciated by Lienjeanny Ngoc Mai, Graduate Adviser/Counselor
Michelle Hall
Undergraduate Program Coordinator, Program on the Environment
I appreciate that you have congratulated me when I have done something good, been understanding when I have messed something up, and always made me feel like an equal part of 'the team'. You are a real model for me of a good academic adviser!
--Appreciated by Joseph T. Kobayashi, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Michelle does a tremendous job of keeping us (the Envirolink group) all on track, representing us in different situations and helping us remember where we are on many random and disjointed issues and tasks. I don't know how we'd function without her!
--Appreciated by Linda Murdock, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Kirk Heynen
Student Activities Adviser, Student Activities and Union Facilities
Kirk Heynen is a great student mentor and event planner. He brings his creativity, energy, and charisma to advising countless talent shows, dinners, new years, concerts and cultural celebrations organized by the Asian, Pacific Islander and Religious student organizations and the ASUW Rainy Dawg Radio Station. Kirk also recruits a diverse group of staff and students to plan popular annual events like HUB Crawl and HUB Lawnapalooza. Students and staff alike love working with Kirk.
--Appreciated by Jennifer S. Kiest, Student Activities Adviser
Elizabeth Higgins
Director, Community Standards and Student Conduct
Elizabeth Higgins served on the host planning committee for the 2009 NASPA Conference in Seattle which attracted 4,000 student affairs professionals. She helped organize this fantastic conference which helped fellow professionals get connected and stay current in the field. Elizabeth also served on the UW Student Life Staff Development committee which hosted the first ever Student Life mini-conference for UW staff in Student Life, OMA/D and UAA in February 2009. This conference attracted about 200 staff and earned rave survey reviews from conference attendees. At that conference, Elizabeth presented two workshops: Net Generation and Incredible Partnerships. Keep up the good work Elizabeth!
--Appreciated by Jennifer S. Kiest, Student Activities Adviser
Maria Hopper
Academic Counselor Senior, Evening Degree Advising
Maria has been with Evening Degree for almost 3 years. During that time, she has made many improvements to our orientation program and the HIHIM program. Maria is deeply committed to students and her own growth, while keeping all of us entertained with many great DVD's, CD's and good stories. She is leaving us for Mechanical Engineering but she will will be missed by students and all of us in advising. Thank you Maria for bringing de colores to us all.
--Appreciated by Connie S. Montgomery, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Jean Joichi
Adviser, Architecture
Jean is a one-woman superstar in the Architecture department - she advises not only all of the current architecture students but also all prospective students. She's an active member of our college and a positive, get-things-done sort of person. Always a pleasure to work with and definitely deserving of a few extra kudos.
--Appreciated by Rosamond Edison, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Candy Kamekona
EOP Student Services Coordinator, Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity
For years, I have seen Candy Kamekona work days and nights to support and advise current and incoming students. She always has a smile on her face, and she has a calm, confident presence that is a good example for students and colleagues alike. Not only is she dedicated to her work, but she goes above and beyond by doing countless little things that actually make a big difference in students' lives. I always look forward to working with Candy and I hope that many other advisers and counselors get the pleasure of working with her. Congratulations Candy, you are the best!
--Appreciated by Jennifer S. Kiest, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Briana Keller
Senior Career Counselor, Career Center
Briana Keller is a true collaborator, a positive role model and an effective communicator. She reaches out to graduate departments and the Graduate and Professional Student Senate to identify how to best assist UW graduate and professional students in their career development both inside and outside of academia. She stays current in her field by teaching courses and workshops, and by presenting at local and national Psychology and Career Development conferences. Great work Briana!
--Appreciated by Jennifer S. Kiest, Student Activities Adviser
Jennifer Kitchen
Student Activities Adviser, Foster Business School
Jennifer does outstanding advising and leadership development with the undergraduate student organizations at the business school. She organizes a fall leadership retreat with representatives from each student organization. She then continues to support students throughout the year as a professional, friendly mentor. She challenges students to stretch their comfort zones and to apply their academic work outside the classroom. Way to go Jennifer!
--Appreciated by Jennifer S. Kiest, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Joe Kobayashi
Academic Counselor, Program on the Environment
I deeply appreciate Joe's work with our Environmental Studies students. He brings creativity, patience, professionalism, and impressive knowledge to advising. As our small program continues to grow, Joe plays a key role in maintaining the excellent individualized attention that we've always tried to provide to our students. Our majors love working with him and have even launched a Facebook Group to recognize what a great adviser he is!
--Appreciated by Michelle R. Hall, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Heather Krasna
Director of Career Services, Evans School of Public Affairs
Heather did a great job of securing a grant from the Partnership for Public Service to increase awareness of Federal Jobs on campus. This included a training session for around 50 advisers and counselors to better understand the sometimes complex Federal hiring process. This will in turn, increase job opportunities for UW students.
--Appreciated by Victor L. Snyder, Graduate Adviser/Counselor
Tracy Maschman-Morrissey
Senior Academic Adviser, Psychology
Tracy, along with Tim McCoy, has done a great job facilitating the Advising Roundtables! These discussions are always interesting, and provide a much-needed space for staff to speak candidly about the challenges of advising. Thanks for keeping this program going!
--Appreciated by Raven Avery, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Megan McConnell
Academic Counselor, Gateway Center
Megan was the primary coordinator, organizer, instigator, mover and shaker for the UW/Community College Conference this year. She did an outstanding job and we have the evaluations from participants to prove it! This conference requires an enormous amount of work over a long period of time and Megan handled it with power, grace and style.
--Appreciated by Donna Sharpe, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Brooke Miller
Director of Student Services, Math and ACMS Program
Brooke not only takes care of all Math and ACMS undergrad and Math grad programs, curricula, students, and Advising Office staff but is always looking for further opportunities to make improvements that serve the needs of the advising community: meeting with CACAAS, grad school process improvement committees, the CADU DataMonks and follow-up mtgs and workshops to get vital data into advisers' hand, and in ad hoc mtgs. She applies her considerable knowledge of the many facets of the UW's people and problematic processes and works with like-minded advisers together to find effective solutions. She is well-balanced, productive and amazing!
--Appreciated by Julianne J. Martinson, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Lin Murdock
Student Services Coordinator, Aquatic and Fishery Sciences
Lin works tirelessly with other environmental (and non-environmental) advisers, staff, and faculty to promote our majors and protect our programmatic interests, especially in light of major changes (e.g., the College of the Environment and budget cuts).
--Appreciated by Scott E. Schafer, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
As a new adviser, I have really appreciated the advice and mentoring of Lin. She is always interested in bringing new people into collaborative projects, and she has been one of our great leaders in the Environmental Advising Group. I feel like I can always check in with her when I get 'stuck'!
--Appreciated by Joseph T. Kobayashi, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Kelli Jayn Nichols
Lead Academic Counselor, Bioengineering
This year, as she has every year for the past 8 years that I have had the pleasure of working for and with her, Kelli Jayn raised the bar on the quality of student-related services she provides. In addition, she went WAY beyond her job description to take the lead on global health initiatives. I am continually inspired and motivated by her passion for her work and her ability to see the big picture. Kelli Jayn is a gem!
--Appreciated by Jennifer Gouine, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Bridget Norquist
Academic Counselor, English
My colleague in English Advising, Bridget Norquist, is not only a superb counselor and student advocate, but she is an incredible resource for our department. She took on the entire (large) study-abroad program in English following the sudden and unexpected decease of another staff member who had handled those programs for more than 20 years. Bridget is a commensurate professional and she is beloved by students. Here are a few of the many things students said about her (unsolicited!) in their senior exit surveys this year: "Bridget Norquist has been a huge help in my UW experience. She helped me keep my classload organized, be persistent with getting into Creative Writing, and choose courses. She cared, and it showed." "Bridget Norquist was incredibly helpful with everything regarding my major, from my initial registration and transfer all the way through my graduation." "She was incredibly helpful and personally invested in whether or not I succeeded within the department." "She is without a doubt one of the best advisers I have ever worked with in my academic career!" "She was excellent and, if it wasn't for her, I would have been to overwhelmed to finish my BA." "She's been wonderfully helpful, often going above and beyond, with my questions and issues."
--Appreciated by Kimberly Swayze, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Leah Panganiban
Academic Counselor-Lead, Gateway Center
Leah is always the first to ensure that her colleagues receive recognition for their efforts and successes. I'd like to acknowledge her for being such an enthusiastic and collaborative part of our Gateway team!
--Appreciated by Laura Avila, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Jason Patterson
Senior Academic Counselor, Biology
Jason is a hard worker not only on the academic advising side of things but there are very few undergraduate events that happen in our department that are without his personal touch. He regularly works with students out side of the department through teaching and on campus activities. It is not unusual to find him at student performances, presentations, and other activities.
--Appreciated by Janet J. Germeraad, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Carrie Perrin
Academic Services Director, Psychology
Carrie Perrin is a great example of someone who works tirelessly to promote advising at the University level while consistently setting a great example in her home department of Psychology. She has the ability to remain very calm, even in extremely difficult situations. Recently we had an incident where a student was a danger to himself and Carrie worked with faculty and staff to make sure the student was in the best care possible. She did this with grace and poise and maintained a beautiful sense of calmness throughout. I am very grateful to have her as a mentor and know that many others throughout the advising community, faculty, staff and, of course students, at UW learn from her too.
--Appreciated by Tracy L. Maschman, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Debra Salas-Haynes
Undergraduate Counseling Services Coordinator, College of Forest Resources
I think that you do a great job of being student oriented. Whether in working with individual students, or working or discussing the student experience with other advisers, you really help me always keep things in perspective.
--Appreciated by Joseph T. Kobayashi, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Debra is an outstanding undergraduate adviser. She does not hesistate to voice student opinions/issues to the administration, and keeps an eye out for potential pitfalls. She also coordinates our time schedule, a job that no one really wants to do, and she does it extremely well (it's amazing!). Debra deserves recognition campus-wide for her years of dedication to the students of CFR. Thank you!
--Appreciated by Michelle M. Trudeau, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Keoke Silvano
Adviser, OMAD
Keoke Silvano has tirelessly worked to serve students within and without his scope of responsibility with students. His dedication to our craft of student service, is one that should be celebrated. One of Keoke's responsibilities is to work with students attempting to return to this university through a program named ROAR (reach our and reconnect.) There are many feel good stories that Keoke could share, the most recent, a woman who'd been away from UW for over 30 years. He was able to assist her in re-enrolling as well as looks forward to her graduating this June. His students have said that he creates a safe place to ask questions, navigate this difficult bureaucracy at UW as well as challenge them to dream big.
--Appreciated by Alejandro Espania, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Susan Terry and the whole career center staff
UW Career Center
Thanks to you all for helping students find their futures, prepare for the "real" world, and for collaborating so generously with advisers all over campus. Awesome!
--Appreciated by Carolyn L. Balston, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Ann Trail
Academic Counselor, Gateway Center
Ann provides a way for students who are proficient in languages we don't teach here at the UW to satisfy the foreign language requirement with their languages. Her expertise in linguistics is a huge asset to the UW. And her recent willingness to step up and be our next pre-med adviser, well, that rocks, too.
--Appreciated by Megan McConnell, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Julie Villegas and Brook Kelly
Advisers extraordinaire, UW Honors
Julie and Brook are amazing colleagues. I feel fortunate every day to collaborate with them on issues both great and small. They help to keep the work stimulating and rewarding. As I work toward my maternity leave they have both been wonderfully supportive in helping me think of creative solutions for transitioning my workload. Endless thanks to both!
--Appreciated by Alison E. Mills Willis, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Melissa Wensel
Director of Academic Services, English
Melissa is not only a wonderful counselor but also an amazing director with vision and talent, with enthusiasm for student outcomes, and with unparalleled natural leadership abilities. Her intellectual prowess and commitment to the English Studies discipline serves our students so well that it's difficult to imagine anyone else in her position -- difficult for us, her colleagues, as well as for our students. Here are some of the representative things students said about her in their senior exit surveys: "Melissa Wensel is a superstar." "Melissa is a saint, and saved my bacon! I wouldn't have graduated if not for her. " "I think Melissa, the director of advising is awesome!" We think so, too!
--Appreciated by Kimberly Swayze, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Trevor Whiton
Senior Student Activities Adviser, Student Activities and Union Facilities
Trevor Whiton works hard so students can play hard. Specifically, Trevor coordinates the Soundbites program and advises ASUW Arts and Entertainment students. He helps plan Fall Fling and Spring Show concerts, comedy shows, and film screenings like Star Trek and Terminator. This year's concerts included Augustana, Matt Costa, Massive Monkees, Colin Meloy, Sean Nelson, Jenny Lewis, Blue Scholars, and Built to Spill. If you have ever attended a big arts and entertainment event on campus, it is very likely that Trevor's behind the scenes work helped make it happen.
--Appreciated by Jennifer S. Kiest, Student Activities Adviser
Steve Woodard
Assistant Vice President, OMA/D
I have enjoyed getting to know you better through the brown bag discussions. The best way that I can put it is that you consistently challenge people in a positive way - you challenge us in the brown bag sessions to relate the academic articles to how we do our work on a daily basis. You challenge us to provide the best possible support to *all* of the students at the UW. I am glad that I have gotten to be 'pushed' in new directions from talking with you so far, and I look forward to getting to know you even better in the upcoming year.
--Appreciated by Joseph T. Kobayashi, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Patsy Wosepka
Assistant Director, Gateway Center
I want to recognize Patsy for being an excellent manager and adviser at the Gateway Center for the past year and a half. She has been an amazing addition to our team. Patsy cares about each and every one of her employees. She manages our team with a sense of grace and leadership that is hard to find. And when the office gets busy, Patsy shifts from manager to adviser and meets with students with ease. She is truly inclusive and makes every person she interacts with feel important. Thanks, Patsy, for all your excellent work!
--Appreciated by Peg Cheng, Undergraduate Adviser/Counselor
Catherine Ziegler
Graduate Program Adviser, Anthropology
Catherine is wonderful about referring me to alumni when I'm hosting panels and running events.
--Appreciated by Briana K. Keller, Graduate Adviser/Counselor
