UW-Madison Student Employment Award Recipients

Hometown: Green Bay, WI

Major: Information Systems & Marketing with a Data Science Certificate

Graduation: May 2025

What is your favorite part of your job?

My favorite part of the job was being able to have the opportunity to connect and help my community. Growing up Hmong, I have witnessed firsthand the struggles that Hmong farmers face in accessing the same resources that other farmers can easily find. Being able to create culturally and linguistically relevant resources for Hmong farmers to use brings me a sense of fulfillment.

What is the most important thing you’ve learned in your job? 

During my time here, I’ve learned valuable skills in effective communication and community engagement. I’ve gained experience in stimulating and moderating communications between farmers, developing template language for project partners. Additionally, I’ve acquired insights into different outreach strategies contributing to my overall professional and personal development!

Hometown: Racine, WI

Major: Computer Science, Data Science, and Mathematics with a certificate in Art History

Graduation: May 2024

Other campus involvement: I enjoy going to hockey games with friends.

What is your favorite part of your job? 

My favorite part of my job is the people. My supervisors and coworkers are very kind and fun to work with. I also appreciate that the work I’m doing is central to poverty research in Wisconsin, and this work allows me to give back to my home state.

What is the most important thing you’ve learned in your job? 

At work, I’ve learned about different statistical programming languages and all the hard work that goes into maintaining databases. Major updates and improvements are made every year, and new data contracts and security agreements keep things interesting and may require clever solutions.

Hometown: Milwaukee, WI

Major: Biology and Psychology

Graduation: Spring 2025

Other campus involvement: Lifestyle Editor for Moda Magazine

What is your favorite part of your job? 

Connecting with other student employees and developing unique personal connections with each of them.

What is the most important thing you’ve learned in your job? 

Grace and patience are of the utmost importance. This goes for working with colleagues and interacting with UW Madison students and families. Grace and patience can make world of a difference in even the most complex and frustrating situations.

Hometown: Madison, WI

Major: Psychology with a certificate in Health Policy

Graduation: Spring 2025

Other campus involvement: Badger Spill and Lab Assistant with the Gilmore-Bykovskyi Lab

What is your favorite part of your job?

One of my favorite aspects of the job is the creative and supportive environment UHS marketing and communications teams provide. The ability to collaborate with both professional and student staff throughout all of UHS has allowed me to create communications materials that are in line with health topics I’m interested in and to ensure that all materials are communicated effectively for the university’s entire student body.

What is the most important thing you’ve learned in your job? 

With every written material I create and every conversation I have with both campus partners and UHS staff I have been able to learn to keep an open mind and to respect everyone’s values and opinions. As I continue with this position, I am continually eager to learn about health topics, and how to communicate them effectively to ensure our entire university’s student body is acknowledged and respected.

Hometown: New York, NY

Major: Economics

Graduation: 2026

Other campus involvement: Vice President of the Ceramics Club, Member at Capital Management Club, and Member at UW Hillel

What is your favorite part of your job?

My favorite part of working at the consortium is attending the UW E-Business Consortium (UWEBC) Annual Conference at Monona Terrace. This event cumulates the yearly work and dedication of the UWEBC to provide actionable learning opportunities for various companies in Wisconsin, and the nation. The conference is a gratifying experience where I see the UWEBC’s efforts being realized.

What is the most important thing you’ve learned in your job? 

I enjoyed learning about – and participating in – the consortium’s mission to advance the Wisconsin Idea. The efforts of the UWEBC have taught me that meaningful and lasting change often doesn’t happen overnight. It evolves through the relationships you build, milestones you achieve, and the time you spend towards a purpose. This perspective has provided me with clarity for my goals, as I apply it to various aspects of my life.

Ryan Morgan is currently working as the Coordinator for Member services. In his role he oversees the front desk and access operations at the Nicholas Recreation Center. This includes supervising approximately 65 students each semester, overseeing the hiring, training, scheduling and payroll of those staff alongside a professional intern. The staff that Ryan has the pleasure of supervising oversee facility access control, membership sales, equipment rental & merchandise purchasing as well as any other member inquiries or concerns.

Aside from Ryan’s work as the Coordinator of Member Services he also works with the Office of Admissions and Recruitment team and other departments in providing tours for prospective students and their families to display everything Recreation & Wellbeing has to offer. This includes attending campus experience events as well.

Ryan is passionate about supporting student employees and enjoys most being able to create a relationship with them and getting to know them on a more personal level. Ryan cares wholeheartedly about the students that he gets to supervise, so creating that relationship first and foremost allows each other to trust and respect one another, treat each other kindly, and ensure that they are able to hold each other accountable without hurting their relationship.

To current and former Badgers, Ryan would like to share: “Get everything you can out of your student experience and student job whether that be asking for more responsibility, or really focusing on the friendships/relationships that you can build in that work. I am still friends with people that I worked with in my student positions in college. And as an overall piece of life advice, some days are easier than others, but do your best not to take any day for granted, even the bad days, it shapes who you are, how you want to approach each day, and how much of an impact you can have on others.”

Jen Le currently works as the Scholarship & Employment Specialist which involves engaging with students in two areas: scholarship and student employment. She directly supports the Wisconsin Scholarship Hub (WiSH) and the Student Jobs Platform while supervising two teams with 8-10 student employees. Her day-to-day support involves maintaining both systems, training users and campus administrators of each system, and promoting each platform through various student engagement events. Jen also coordinates donor events for scholarship recipients in partnership with the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association through the OSFA Ambassador Program.

Aside from overseeing the student employment teams Jen is also heavily involved with the LEAP Forward Internship Review Committee, Scholarship Leadership Group, WI Blackbaud User Group, Midwest Blackbaud User Group, and leading the WI State Student Employment Group.

Jen appreciates the opportunity to engage with student employees as their supervisor as it is truly fulfilling as a professional staff member. It is rewarding to provide guidance, foster a supportive environment, and create pathways of opportunities that contribute to various facets of their lives as college students. Her favorite part of supervising students is observing them instilling student voices in every aspect of their work through their collaborative and goal-oriented nature. It has notably enhanced WiSH trainings and student employment processes, which inherently benefit administrators and students across campus. For instance, the student team leads are pivotal in facilitating monthly meetings dedicated to updates and continuous learning. One noteworthy learning initiative they’ve introduced is the “Case of the Month. ” Through this, they share insights into successfully navigating particular case situations that relate to the intricacies of student employment or scholarships and its intersection with financial aid. These discussions have allowed our team to streamline communications and processes. Witnessing students’ success is an honor and a driving force in her work.

Jen encourages students to stay open-minded and keep networks intact. Every experience (and she means every one) holds valuable lessons that will level up both your professional and personal growth. Use them as stepping stones to exciting prospects on your journey!