Community Awards

Each spring, the Office of Academic & Career Success presents awards to those in the advising, career services, and learning support communities who demonstrate a commitment to improving the undergraduate advising, career services, and learning support experiences on campus.

Congratulations to our 2024 Award Winners!

Advising, Career Services & Learning Support Awards

Keystone Award

Honoring individuals whose work provides crucial support to advising, career services, and/or learning support and who positively influence students’ and/or other stakeholders’ experiences with campus. These individuals deliver outstanding service and support, often behind-the-scenes, and ensure that operations run smoothly. Examples could include administrative, communications, event planning, programming, or operational support.

Up to $2000 in professional development funding awarded to recipient.

Early Career Excellence Award

Honoring individuals who have been employed at UW–Madison for fewer than 5 years, but in that time have made distinctive contributions to undergraduate advising, learning support, and/or career services on our campus.

Up to $2000 in professional development funding awarded to recipient.

Outstanding Achievement Award

Honoring individuals who have made significant contributions to UW-Madison undergraduate advising, career services, and/or learning support, with emphasis on direct student, employer, and/or alumni impact. Eligible candidates must have been employed at UW–Madison for a minimum of 5 years.

Up to $2000 in professional development funding awarded to recipient.

Community Leadership Award

Honoring individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the advising, career services, and/or learning support communities, regardless of role. Leadership, management, coordination of people, projects, committees, and initiatives will all be considered.

Up to $2000 in professional development funding awarded to recipient.

Commitment to Social Justice Award

This award recognizes an individual, group, or unit that has shown a commitment to social justice work in advising, career services, and/or learning support through education, policies and practices, advocacy, or programming to create more equitable experiences for students and/or colleagues.

Up to $2000 in professional development funding awarded to the recipient, group, or unit.

Collaborative Impact Award

Honoring partnerships (of two or more people) who made a significant and impactful contribution to their unit(s), department(s), school(s) or college(s), and/or campus through their collaborative work. This award recognizes the importance of cooperative effort in creating and executing meaningful programs and events, process improvements, and/or marketing and promotion. The collaboration between these individuals or teams results in a better experience for students, colleagues, and/or external stakeholder(s).

Up to $2000 in professional development funding awarded to the recipient, group, or unit.

Outstanding Student Employee Award

Honoring student employees who have a record of excellence in their work within academic, career services, and/or learning support units at UW-Madison. Winner(s) will receive $250.

Graduate School Awards - Sponsored by the Graduate School

Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Support

Graduate program staff members’ work with graduate students is key to their success – from admission through degree conferral and into impactful careers. In recognition of the importance of these roles, this award will recognize two staff members who support the academic, research, and scholarly success of master’s and doctoral students at UW–Madison through their work across the graduate lifecycle and who help cultivate a welcoming and inclusive graduate learning environment. These individuals positively influence student, faculty, staff, or other stakeholder experiences with campus.

These individuals deliver outstanding service and support which may include:

Working as an effective advocate for graduate students and graduate causes in the program, including interacting with faculty
Record of working with other graduate coordinators and graduate advisers to promote a more efficient and effective administration of the graduate program
Effectiveness in helping students and faculty become aware of and follow rules and regulations governing graduate degrees
Developing graduate student professional development opportunities and facilitating career success
Record of preventing as well as resolving problems
Ability to carry out administrative functions effectively and efficiently, i.e. skill in organization and communication
Demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion in advising, career services, and/or learning support work

To be eligible, the recipient must be in their current position for at least one year at the time of nomination. Academic and university staff members with any job titles will be considered if they currently work with masters or doctoral students. Eligibility is not restricted to a specific official or unofficial job title. Each awardee receives up to $2,000 in professional development funding from the Graduate School.

Past Award Recipients

2024

Read about the 2024 Award Recipients

Keystone Award

Amanda Waller (Administrative Manager with SuccessWorks)

Early Career Excellence Award

Nathaniel Liedl (Academic & Career Advisor with International Academic & Internships Programs)

Outstanding Achievement Award

Brian Bischel (Assistant Director & Academic Advisor with Cross-College Advising Service)
Agnes Lee (Instructor with the Chemistry Learning Center)

Community Leadership Award

Erin Polnaszek Boyd (Academic Advising Manager with the English Department)

Collaborative Impact Award

Amy Zwaska (Senior Student Services Coordinator in the School of Pharmacy)
Denise Pigarelli (Associate Professor in the School of Pharmacy)
Mike Pitterle (Associate Professor in the School of Pharmacy)

Outstanding Student Employee Award

Bao Hoang (SuccessWorks)
McKenna Laurent (Greater University Tutoring Service)

Commitment to Social Justice Award

Hyewon Park (STEM Advisor for the Center for Educational Opportunity)

Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Support (Sponsored by the Graduate School)

Sara Hladilek (Senior Student Services Coordinator in Mech. Engr/NEEP/MD+I)
Ana Garić (Graduate Program Manager, Neuroscience Training Program)

2023

Read about the 2023 Award Recipients

Keystone Award

Dr. Shawn Peters (Writing & Study Skills Specialist & Instructor, Center for Educational Opportunity)
Brandon Spoon (Associate Director of Marketing and Communications, SuccessWorks)
Albert Muñiz (Advisor, POSSE Program)

Early Career Excellence Award

Kim Vue (College Advisor, PEOPLE Program)

Outstanding Achievement Award

Sarah Schaefer (Associate Director for Career Education and Advising, School of Education)
Lupe Kettleson-Ahedo (Assistant Dean, Center for Academic Excellence)

Community Leadership Award

India Viola (Academic Advisor, Department of Integrative Biology)

Collaborative Impact Award

Jordan Berken (Academic Advisor, Letter & Science Academic Advising Services)
Alyssa Pon-Franklin (Academic Advisor, formerly Cross-College Advising Service and now with the School of Education)
Carmen Pitz (Assistant Director of Study Abroad Advising, International Academic Program)

Outstanding Student Employee Award

Hope Ngirwe (Center for Academic Excellence)
Akshay Kalra (Center for Educational Opportunity)
Shreyam Taneja (DoIT Student Tech Trainer)
Aishwarya Gouthaman (DoIT Software Training for Students)
Caitlyn Se (DoIT Software Training for Students)

Commitment to Social Justice Award

Madison Hartup (Academic Advisor, Department of Economics)

Outstanding Graduate Student Employee Award

Caroline Hensley, PhD student in English with an emphasis in Literary Studies, and Undergraduate Career Advisor in the English Department
Emma Hinker, graduate student in the Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis program and student services project assistant in the Department of Life Sciences Communication

Excellence in Graduate Student Support Award

Kristin Cooper, Graduate Program Manager in the Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology Program
Catherine Ryan, Graduate Program Manager in the Integrated Program in Biochemistry

2022

Read about the 2022 Award Recipients

Keystone Award

Kelsey Hughes (Department Administrator with the Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture)

Early Career Excellence Award

Hannah Hatlan Atwell (Career Advisor at the School of Human Ecology)

Outstanding Achievement Award

Goodson Vue (Associate Director of the Precollege Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence (PEOPLE) College Scholars Program)

Community Leadership Award

Stephanie Salazar Kann (Engineering Career Services Associate Director)

Collaborative Impact Award

Kelli Richards (Career Development & Learning Support Manager with the School of Nursing)
Barb Pinekenstein (Clinical Professor, Richard E. Sinaiko Professor in Health Care Leadership with the School of Nursing)

Outstanding Student Employee Award

Ky Collins-Krueger (SOAR Peer Advisor, Residence Hall Advisor, and Main Office Assistant with Cross-College Advising Service)
Keoinia Dobson (Graduate Alumni Relations Intern with SuccessWorks at the College of Letters and Science)

Commitment to Social Justice Award

Emmeline Prattke (Career & Internship Specialist at SuccessWorks at the College of Letters & Science)
Kathleen Rause (Internship Coordinator at SuccessWorks at the College of Letters & Science)

Graduate Program Coordinator Awards

Caitlin Collies (Graduate Program Manager for the Agronomy, Agroecology and Plant Breeding/Plant Genetics programs)
Terra Theim (Graduate Program Coordinator in the Microbiology Doctoral Training Program)

2020

Learn more about the 2020 Advising & Career Services Award winners

Keystone Award

Janine Yeh, L&S SuccessWorks

Early Career Excellence Award

Amy Betzelberger, College of Agricultural and Life Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology

Early Career Excellence Award

Maria Hartwig, College of Letters & Science, Department of Psychology

Outstanding Achievement Award

Chou Yee Her, College of Letters and Science, Center for Academic Excellence

Outstanding Achievement Award

Jamie Macias, Wisconsin School of Business Career and Employer Engagement

Community Leadership Award

Alicia Hazen, School of Human Ecology

Collaborative Impact Award

Alexis Steinbach, Center for Pre-Health Advising
Kendra Gurnee, Pharmacology and Toxicology Major

Outstanding Student Employee Award

Alondra Avitia, International Studies Major student

Excellence in Graduate Academic Service & Advising

Carmela Diosana, L&S Department of Botany

Excellence in Graduate Career Advising & Professional Development

Julie Rae, College of Engineering, Career Services

2019

Career Services Keystone

Cindy Johnson, BBA Program Office

Career Services Stewardship

Michael Kruse, L&S SuccessWorks

Team Impact in Career Services

Andrea Lowe, Nate Doolin & Wisconsin Student Alumni Board L&S SuccessWorks

Outstanding Achievement in Undergraduate Advising and/or Career Services

Valerie Johnson, Psychology

Excellence in Advising and/or Career Services Community Leadership

Liane Kosaki, L&S Advising Services

Early Career Excellence in Undergraduate Advising and/or Career Services

Anthony Wright, BBA Program Office
Molly Donnellan, International Studies

Excellence in Peer Advising

David Duszynski, L&S Academic Advising Services
Gylf Forsberg, College of Engineering

2018

Outstanding Achievement in Undergraduate Advising

Rachelle Eilers, Chican@ and Latin@ Studies

Excellence in Advising Community Leadership

Diana Maki, Cross-College Advising Service

Early Career Excellence in Undergraduate Advising

Alex Mok, Cross-College Advising Service

Excellence in Peer Advising

Kyle Martinez, L&S Academic Advising Services
Olivia Saleh, Cross-College Advising Service

2017

Outstanding Achievement in Undergraduate Advising

Scott Burkhardt, History Advisor
Kelley Harris, Biology Major Advisor

Early Career Excellence in Undergraduate Advising

Nikki Lemmon, Department of Computer Science
Tara Milliken, Wisconsin BBA Program

2016

Outstanding Achievement in Undergraduate Advising

Karen Thompson, Spanish & Portuguese
Sara Rodock, College of Agricultural & Life Sciences Departmental Advisor

Early Career Excellence in Undergraduate Advising

Lindsey DeCarlo, Center for Pre-Health Advising
Lauren Szafranski, Center for Academic Excellence

Excellence in Peer Advising

Brittany Hobbs, L&S SOAR Peer Advisor
Emmeline Prattke, International Academic Programs

2015

Outstanding Achievement in Undergraduate Advising

Katie Paar, SoHE Student Academic Affairs
Abike Sanyaolu, Center for Academic Excellence, L&S
Mary Smith, Biology Major

Early Career Excellence in Undergraduate Advising

Teddy Kaul, Art History
Dija Selimi, Center for Pre-Health Advising

Excellence in Peer Advising

Katherine Matusinec, Cross-College Advising Service

2014

Outstanding Achievement in Undergraduate Advising

Linda McCarroll-Stamm, Center for Academic Excellence
Mary Weever-Klees, Athletic Academic Services

Early Career Excellence in Undergraduate Advising

Susan Nelson, Center for Pre-Health Advising

Faculty Excellence in Undergraduate Advising

Professor Sigurd Angenent, Department of Mathematics

Excellence in Peer Advising

Taylor Stunkel, Cross-College Advising Service & School of Nursing

2013

Outstanding Achievement in Undergraduate Advising

Julie Ganser, Department of Art

Early Career Excellence in Undergraduate Advising

Jennifer Kaufmann-Buhler, College of Letters & Science Honors Program
John Puccinelli, Biomedical Engineering

Faculty Excellence in Undergraduate Advising

Professor Jeri Barak, Plant Pathology

Excellence in Peer Advising

Colin Rohm, Cross-College Advising Service

Nominating for Advising, Career Services & Learning Support Community Awards:

Learn about each of the available awards below.
Before you begin the nomination process, please review this PDF of all the needed information so you are prepared to complete the nomination form.
When ready, click here to submit a nomination.

Nominating for the Excellence in Graduate Student Support Award:

Learn about the award below.
Before you begin the nomination process, please review this PDF of all the needed information so you are prepared to complete the nomination form.
When ready, click here to submit a nomination for the Graduate School award.