“These are major changes we’re making,” said Debbie Gray-Patton, assistant director of the First-Year Experience (FYE). “There are so many people who this is really impacting.”

Incoming students now experience smaller class sizes, themed classes and the exploration of “signature questions” that get them thinking about the world around them and how it connects with their studies.

“The hallmark of the program is our focus on first-year students and increasing student retention,” assistant political science professor Tracy Slagter said.

First-year students often arrive on campus with butterflies, worries and questions, wondering if they’ll fit in, if they’ll succeed and if they will be able to form relationships. The USP directly addresses these concerns and takes into consideration the modern college student.

During their first semester, students will be enrolled in their first Quest class, capped at 25 freshmen students. The small class replaces the freshmen pit classes, which often are intimidating and don’t allow first-year students to develop initial connections with their professors and other students.

With a variety of Quest I classes available, students can pick topics that vary from the geography of coffee to the origin of pirates. These are subjects that UWO senior and peer mentor Joe Infusino-Braun, of De Forest, believes are sure to lure students in.

“This is how they’re redefining general education… These are the topics that are going to interest people, they’re going to have this initial hook,” Braun said.

During this first set of classes, students also will have the benefit of learning from others who have “been there, done that” through the guidance of a trained peer mentor. Gray-Patton has played a major role in integrating the USP into the University and hiring dedicated students to help make incoming first-year students’ transition easier.

The team of students is made up of 15 ambassadors and 72 peer mentors. The ambassadors’ original role was to educate themselves about the USP in order to spread the word to faculty members and students about the program. These ambassadors also were hired to help hire and train a group of peer mentors and, now that the program has begun, also act as peer mentors themselves.

The peer mentors sit in on the students’ Quest I classes once a week in order to make themselves readily available to students and to make better connections.

Senior Austin Pippin, of Racine, believes that his role as a peer mentor is integral for first-year students who are often hesitant about approaching a professor with questions they may have.

“I can be a medium from the students to the professor or give students the resources they need,” he said.

Pippin was able to see the positive results of the USP within the first week of classes, when he was approached by a first-year student and asked for advice about scheduling classes, joining clubs and becoming more involved.

Junior and lead student ambassador Molly Merrill, of Oshkosh, said that peer mentors can help the first-year students adapt to a new lifestyle.

“The peer mentors are there to help students get acclimated with the University, to understand what the Math Lab is, or what the Center for Academic Resources does for you,” Merrill said. “We tell them to go to Titan Nights, because as a freshman you may be a little scared, you’re out of your element, you’re not really sure what everything is all about.”

These resources were developed to help freshmen students succeed in their first year and throughout their college careers.

“I think they should understand campus resources and know that it’s not a bad student who goes to seek out campus resources, but that the best students are going to go,” Slagter said.

Gaining knowledge about campus resources in addition to developing a connection with the campus itself are both important aspects of a first-year student’s success at UWO, and the USP addresses both of these through the help of the peer mentors. Peer mentors are vital to the development of first-year students and provide them with the personal connection of someone who has already experienced what UWO has to offer.

The peer mentors help guide first-year students through USP with the intention of providing students with the resources they need to be successful and the skills they will need throughout life as they pursue their dream careers.

“Undoubtedly, these connections will enhance their time here at UW Oshkosh and perhaps carry into their futures,” said peer mentor and UWO senior Sarah Kofler, of Prentice. “Students are responding to the program with excitement– they understand how these connections will provide them with the best education possible.”

As UWO begins the journey of “out with the old and in with the new,” first-year students are already reaping the benefits of the USP.

“They’re engaged and they’re talking to each other and they’re making friends,” Merrill said. “They know each other and they’re getting involved.”

The most rewarding part for Kofler has been watching the students enter their class for the first time. “They are eager to find out more about the USP, are eager to get to know each other and eager to embark on this educational experience,” she said.

Waving the USP off on its maiden voyage, Gray-Patton, Slagter and the ambassadors and peer mentors are looking forward to seeing the positive effects it has on UWO students and their future success.

“To quote my old supervisor, former Dean of Students Jim Chitwood, ‘We want to make sure first-year students are becoming second-year students.’ Really, that’s the bottom line; getting them what they need to be successful and stick around and feel like this is where they belong,” Gray-Patton said.

Hundreds of people from the Oshkosh and campus communities attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the renovated, 176-room, business hotel, which the UW Oshkosh Foundation partnered in purchasing. Now, the waterfront hotel serves as an anchor in downtown Oshkosh, helping attract visitors and grow jobs and convention business in Wisconsin’s Event City.

During Homecoming Weekend, these coaches, teachers, journalists and business and management professionals will be honored for their career and community successes. Until then, they share here how their days on campus have made an impact on their lives.

Distinguished Alumni Award—given to those who are active in their professional fields and widely recognized for their career and civic accomplishments.

Victor Alatorre ’97 and ’01 MBA, Oshkosh
Assistant director of residence life, UW Oshkosh

My education and experience at UW Oshkosh have opened doors and opportunities to serve others. The most valuable part of my employment at UW Oshkosh has been seeing the evolution and development of the generations of students I have had the opportunity to work with for more than 20 years.

Read more about Alatorre.

Timothy Greinert ’85, Cedarburg
President, Junior Achievement of Wisconsin

The quality of education I received for the financial investment was a great value, and it has allowed me to compete on an even footing while conducting business with people from all types of educational backgrounds. The availability of the faculty and their relevant work experience allowed me to feel prepared for the world of work upon graduation.

Read more about Greinert.

Jeffrey Griffith ’87, New York, N.Y.
Creative director, Men’s Health

I learned about my passion for advertising, marketing and design. I learned how much I loved to design and that I was willing to stay up late into the night to create cool new things. I learned you never know what project will lead to another even more amazing project. I met lifelong friends, had a lot of fun and learned how important it was to push myself to get to the next level.

Read more about Griffith.

Dennis Moon ’77, Wautoma
Midwest director, Bigger Faster Stronger

I had the pleasure of being coached by two Hall of Fame football coaches (Russ Young and Dave Hochtritt), and I had outstanding faculty (Alex Inciong, Ken Allen, Bob and Shirley White) pushing me to become the best I could be.

Read more about Moon.

Sandra Nadeau ’76 and ’82 MSE,
Sauk Rapids, Minn.
Executive director, St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra

UW Oshkosh gave me the foundation to build a career. It was a place that taught me how to think, how to be creative and how to problem-solve. These are important skills to have in life.

Read more about Nadeau and the other award winners.

Outstanding Young Alumni Award—given for professional and civic accomplishments and future promise.

Shane Arman ’10, Chicago
Consumer and sports marketing associate, Burson-Marsteller

At UW Oshkosh, I learned the networking, team-building and professional skills I used to get hired and be successful at my first job. I learned how to be a leader, how to be resourceful and what really, really hard work felt like. My professors taught me critical-thinking and creativity, while student advisers of organizations taught me people management and teamwork skills.

Read more about Arman.

Kathleen Briquelet ’08, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Reporter, New York Post

UW Oshkosh laid the foundation for all of my writing, reporting and professional skills. The journalism department offered all the tools I needed to grow as a reporter, and my professors, including Grace Lim, Michael Cowling, Miles Maguire, Barb Benish and Timothy Gleason, were always on hand to help and push us to work outside the classroom. But most importantly, I wouldn’t be where I am today without working grueling hours at the Advance-Titan in the basement of Reeve Union.

Read more about Briquelet.

Jeffrey Koga ’04, Neenah
Associate vice president of call-to-resolution enterprise value stream, Oshkosh Corporation

UW Oshkosh offers a first-rate education. The professors provide a current, relevant and engaging course of study, and they are devoted to the success of their students. I was mentored by more than one professor who took an active interest in my development. As a nontraditional student pursuing three majors, I simply could not have excelled without the full package that is UW Oshkosh.

Read more about Koga and the other award winners.

Oliver Schinkten ’03, Oshkosh
Cofounder of the Communities Program, Oshkosh North High School

Throughout my experience at UW Oshkosh, they instilled the importance of being a lifelong learner in their students. I have also had the opportunity to partner with the University on many wonderful projects in which they have helped to increase the quality of education that my students received.

Read more about Schinkten.

Luke Whitburn ’98, Waunakee
Certified staffing professional

While I attended UW Oshkosh, I was given the opportunity to work as a teaching assistant for the sociology department. Through this experience, I gained many of the attributes that have served as the foundation for my professional persona, including leadership, public speaking, mentoring and time management.

Read more about Whitburn.

Fellow alumni and friends are invited to celebrate with our 2013 award recipients at the Alumni Awards Dinner, beginning at 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11 in Reeve Memorial Union. Reserve your spot at the event by calling (920) 424-3449 or sending an email to alumni@uwosh.edu. Tickets are $30 per person.

Four new members were elected to the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Alumni Association’s Board of Directors in May.
The 24-member, volunteer board works to build connections among alumni, students and the University. The new members include:

• Tom Boyson ’72, of Oshkosh
• Paula (Vermeern) Dinse ’07, of Oshkosh
• Mark Duerwaechter ’88, of Sherwood
• Melissa Hunt ’05, of Oshkosh.

Abraham

In July, two-time UW Oshkosh alumna Diane (Vanheuklon) Abraham ’84 and ’87 MBA, took over as the leader of one of Oshkosh’s most visible and transformative community organizations, the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation.

Carrell

UW Oshkosh communication professor Lori Carrell released a new book, Preaching that Matters: Reflective Practices for Transforming Sermons, which was published in April by the Alban Institute. It is based on years of sermon communication research with hundreds of clergy and more than 30,000 listeners. Carrell also is the director of both the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and the University Studies Program.

Brunsell

Eric Brunsell ‘02 MS, associate professor, curriculum and instruction in the UW Oshkosh College of Education and Human Services, created a massive open online course (MOOC) earlier this year—a first for a UWO professor—for teachers to learn about the new Next Generation Science Standards in a more hands-on way.

Places

Horizon Village

UW Oshkosh’s newest residence hall building—Horizon Village—was awarded LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. Horizon joins UW Oshkosh’s newest academic building, Sage Hall, which also achieved LEED Gold certification when it opened fall 2011. Funded through student-approved fees, Horizon Village is a 340-bed residence hall featuring apartment-style living suites.

Alumni Welcome and Conference Center

Construction is underway at UW Oshkosh’s Alumni Welcome and Conference Center. Once completed next spring, the state-of-the-art venue located on the Fox River will serve as a gathering place and new front door for the University. Check out a time lapse video of the Center’s construction.

Biodigester groundbreaking at Rosendale Dairy

In June, partners broke ground on UW Oshkosh’s largest biodigester, a biogas plant that will include a public education center at Rosendale Dairy, the state’s largest dairy farm, in Pickett. The facility is funded by the UW Oshkosh Foundation; partners include UW Oshkosh, Milk Source, BIOFerm and Viessmann Group, Soil Net, Alliant Energy and Infinity Lawn and Garden.

Pride

Annually, the Outstanding Young Alumni Award is given to alumni who have graduated within the last 15 years. Selection is based on professionalism, civic accomplishments and future promise. The five recipients of the 2013 award include:

• Shane Arman ’10
• Kathleen Briquelet ’08
• Jeffrey Koga ’04
• Oliver Schinkten ’03
• Luke Whitburn ’98.

Awards are also given to distinguished alumni who are active in their fields and widely recognized for their career accomplishments. Read more about the Alumni Awards.

College of Nursing

The National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses, or NCLEX, is the standard barometer of a nurse’s knowledge and skill. For the last eight quarters, no group of students in the UW System has earned a pass rate like UW Oshkosh College of Nursing undergraduates have. They have had the highest NCLEX first-time pass rate of all UW System schools with 96 percent.

UW Oshkosh’s new University Studies Program—which launched this semester—already is garnering attention as a national model for general education reform. The Association of American Colleges and Universities has touted UW Oshkosh’s innovative program as the lead case study in its new publication Ensuring Quality and Taking High-Impact Practices to Scale.

In 2013, UW Oshkosh celebrates five years as a Fair Trade institution. The University’s Fair Trade journey is continuously evolving through extended offerings on campus. The University currently offers a number of fair trade clothing and jewelry items sold in University Books and More, and fair trade coffee and tea can be found in many campus locations as well.

Seeking success

If you dream it, you can do it.
 — Walt Disney

Success comes in many forms and can be defined in numerous ways as you’ll read in this innovative issue of Engage. But no matter how it is characterized, success truly is our focus in serving the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh’s alumni.

We constantly seek ways to help our 80,000-plus graduates living and working around the globe reach their personal and professional goals. We offer myriad services and benefits, such as free alumni email accounts, career services, travel programs and discounts at local, regional and national businesses.

We also are devoted to celebrating the successes of our alumni. Whether you strive to excel in your professional, community or personal life … or all three, we love to share your amazing stories.

October is our favorite time of year because that’s when we celebrate Homecoming and honor the successes of our top graduates through the UWO Alumni Association’s annual awards and recognition program. On pages 16–17, you’ll learn how UWO played a part in the achievements of our 2013 alumni award winners. We hope you’ll be inspired.

On another note, we’ve taken a new approach to our storytelling in this edition of Engage by recording an in-depth discussion about success with a cross-section of members of our UWO community. That session at the chancellor’s residence serves as the foundation for our cover feature and tons of bonus content for our online and new tablet version of Engage.

Take care,
Christine Gantner, Alumni Director

We invited a small panel of seven University of Wisconsin Oshkosh faculty members, students and alumni—most of them complete strangers to one another—to muse on and share how they define success. The setting: The UW Oshkosh chancellor’s residence.

The panelists’ backgrounds and their stories were diverse.

A radio-TV-film (RTF) student already directing music videos that promote the institution. A young, entrepreneurial dentist whose biology degree led to a doctorate in dentistry from Marquette University and the opening of her own practice in her hometown. A former campus Head Start program leader and alumna who is living her childhood dream as a Lutheran pastor. A 20-something, local restaurant owner who planted a passion for his family’s native cuisine and culture in the fertile fabric of Oshkosh’s historic downtown. A chancellor, a political science faculty member and a fast-food franchise Titan whose company continues to grow.

We wondered. We asked.

“What does success mean? How do you define it? How do you know when you’ve achieved it in such a success-oriented world?” … And we video-recorded the discussion.

It didn’t take long at all for the ice to break.

No one held back.

What resulted was an unexpected, endearing, poignant and, at times, hilarious two-hour conversation. It ended up being less about locking in definitions and answers and more about trading and sharing personal stories about their many roads to success.

In the stories, there were striking connections. More than one panelist was the first in his or her family to pursue and earn a college degree. Three have histories rooted in restaurants. Not everyone was following his or her field of study. Panelists frequently equated failure with success—more often than they defined “success” by its stereotypes—money, power or status. Each panelist also shared that they are pursuing a degree or a career that still affords him or her the opportunity to enjoy humor, creativity, music and art.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Enjoy a few excerpts from their successful, June 20 conversation.…

THE QUESTION: What does success mean? How do you define it? How do you know when you’ve achieved it in such a success-oriented world?

NATHAN STEPANEK, UW Oshkosh RTF student

“For me success is the positive outcome of the goal you have. It’s not necessarily the outcome you were expecting. It’s a positive outcome. For me, when I do videos for the Admissions Office, obviously my goal is to inspire people to come to Oshkosh, but even if I can just get people to think about the college process in the right way, how they should be touring schools and what questions they should be asking, for me, that’s still success because it’s a positive outcome from what I’ve been doing.”

SALLY WILKE ’79, Pastor, Grace Lutheran Church of South Range and First Lutheran Church, Dollar Bay, Mich.

“My two-second bumper sticker for success is ‘getting back up, recovering, learning what you can learn from what didn’t go well and getting back up and going forward again’.… I have a friend for whom that is his definition of success: being certain to have plenty of failures so he would learn things and be successful. There’s a lot to learn. I don’t like how it feels to fail, but I love all of the things that come out of it. Sometimes you walk into a wall and fall down, and so the wall makes you turn a different direction. Again, exciting and good things can happen along the way.”

MARLO AMBAS ’08, Owner, Manila Resto, Oshkosh

“Success for me is being able to provide space for people to enjoy two different things. I’m very passionate about food and music and especially being able to share my culture with the community here. Being a resident and growing up here—my family and myself—we thought that by being able to share our culture, food and tastes in music and way of life, that’s something we wanted to do.”

THE QUESTION: What role has UW Oshkosh, and your experience while a student, played in your personal feelings about and definition of success?

DR. SHAHEDA GOVANI ’06, Govani Dental of Oshkosh

“I feel like Oshkosh was huge for my development. I come from a family where no one on either side went to college—cousins, aunts or uncles. No one really graduated. And my father came here from Uganda as a refugee in the 1970s. So, there was very little educational component growing up. My mom was really supportive. But I decided to go to Oshkosh to work and save money and see how Oshkosh went. I was a little bit nervous. I felt like it was a great place. Doing undergrad there, getting my biology degree, before going on to get my doctorate-level training, I feel like it was a huge blessing. I got research opportunities that, had I gone to a larger school, I would have never gotten. I traveled to Boston one semester with my mentor, Dr. Holton at the time, and I got to present research at a national meeting—things that, as an undergrad who had never even been on an airplane, were really cool experiences… lots of great energy.… Doors opened that wouldn’t have been even allowed to open. I feel like that was a huge blessing.”

CRAIG CULVER ’73, Owner, CEO Culver’s Franchising System Inc.

“I didn’t follow my educational path. Although, it’s an emphasis on botany, and I do love my gardens and things like that that we do have—playing around with native plants. Oshkosh was good to me. I was just proud to get a degree. I was the first one in our family to get a degree as well. I just thought that was a pretty cool thing. I was proud of myself for accomplishing that. It took me five years, however. My family has been in the restaurant business since I was a small child, and I ended up gravitating there even though I didn’t want to go there. Getting away from home, developing people skills I didn’t have before—I did become a better student, I matured—it helped me in all of those ways.…”

TRACY SLAGTER, UW Oshkosh Associate Professor, Political Science

“You envision a role for yourself: ‘I’m going to be a faculty member, and I’ll spend a lot of time in the library and I’ll wear a lot of tweed.…’ This turned out to be completely not that. This turned out to be far better than I ever could have hoped it would be, and I say that very, very honestly. I am very thankful every day that this is where I landed.”

RICHARD WELLS, UW Oshkosh Chancellor

“There are people in our community, whether they are faculty, administrators or students, who, for the most part, respect each other and want to learn from each other. The faculty learn from the students. It’s not just the faculty teaching the students. You learn a lot from students, having never left higher education myself—I’m a first-generation college grad, too —I just never left. That’s a real specialness because it creates a real academic community—because everybody who comes into our community has something unique, knowledge that someone else doesn’t have that you can learn from. It’s not just a professor spilling all the knowledge to students. That dynamic is always here, and I think we really work on that.”

THE QUESTION: Describe a moment where you felt that contentment—“This is it, this is what I was meant to do…”

STEPANEK: “I was going to a movie on campus.… I was heading up to the theater and heading up front and getting all my popcorn and stuff. I was stopped (by a student) and it was like, ‘Hey, one second. I just want to let you know that your video blogs were the reason I came to UW Oshkosh.’ That just struck me. I was like, ‘Wow, to actually know that something that I made affected somebody that much that they would go, ‘This is where I want to be.’ That was just amazing. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that….”

Clockwise from lower left: Chancellor Richard Wells, Nathan Stepanek, Marlo Ambas, Dr. Shaheda Govani, Pastor Sally Wilke, Craig Culver and Tracy Slagter.

AMBAS: “We had our official grand opening on Sept. 8 last year. There are a lot of different things you have to go through in order to get a business operating. Overcoming all those obstacles along the way—being 20-something and going into these banks saying, ‘Hey, I want to open up this restaurant in Oshkosh.’ I kept those letters from those banks that said, ‘No.’”

CULVER: “And you’re not doing business with them either, are you?”

AMBAS: “No….”

CULVER: “I remember.”

AMBAS: “It’s the same persistence—not taking no for an answer. Eventually, we found a bank that believed in our vision. We’re happy that we’re able to make it.… Another thing that’s great about it, or any line of work, is hearing people tell you, ‘Thank you for doing something like this in the community. Thank you for sharing your culture with everybody.’ It gives you that gratification.”

GOVANI: “My favorite thing is when patients bring me things. I had a lady who brought me a cheesecake. I didn’t like my dentist that much. I mean, I liked him, but not that I’d bake him a cheesecake. A woman brought me a handmade, crocheted washcloth. People do really generous things—heartfelt appreciation—that is just so amazing. That means more to me than any amount of money.”

CULVER: “We just did a groundbreaking in Lee’s Summit, Missouri; it’s a St. Louis suburb. I went down. I usually go to these. I get my opportunity to speak. I came back and the mother of the general manager sent us a letter back. She was just touched in such a way—not necessarily about me, but about the whole team—and how proud she was that her son, the general manager, was part of the Culver’s organization. Those are successful moments. But as I said before, it doesn’t stop there. You’ve got to continue to work at it, and work at it, and work at it.”

THE QUESTION: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

SLAGTER: “I’ll say something that my mom continues to say, and it’s with me every day, and it sounds a little ridiculous, but she’d say, ‘You know, Tracy, you’ve got to be a friend to make a friend.’ She says that probably on a weekly basis. It applies to anything.… That’s something that guides how I teach. It guides how I relate with most everybody, how I interact with my own children and what I want to teach them. That is one thing that is core to who I am. ‘You gotta be a friend to make a friend.’”

GOVANI: “…Whenever I was nervous about college or taking out loans, (my mom) would always say, ‘Well, you have nothing to lose, and you’ll always wonder, ‘What if?’ And it’s true. I don’t have a lot of what-ifs because I just do it, and if I fail, whatever. I tried. I don’t have to wonder the what-if.”

STEPANEK: “My dad said this to me when I was real little, so I’m gonna paraphrase this—‘to make sure you listen and observe before you make a decision or a statement.’ With everything in my life, I try to make sure I’m always listening to what other people’s needs are, observing what the situation is, reading the situation before I do anything.… Just in general in life, when you’re talking with somebody, you’ve got to listen and observe to make sure you’re communicating with them the best way you can.”

AMBAS: “I’d say my parents would always tell me that if I start something, I should finish it and do it well. There are always going to be things in life that you don’t always want to do, but you have to do it.”

WILKE: “I did get some advice, early in my seminary career. Pastors cannot afford throwaway lines, and I’ve got a million of them. I will go for the laugh or the witty comeback or the whatever. People need to take time to hear one another and understand one another. Sometimes those quick responses that just roll off my tongue don’t indicate that at all. They indicate that I think I’m being amusing. That’s hurtful often. That’s recent advice that I am really trying to follow.”

WELLS: “The first year (at college) was really, really hard. I almost didn’t make it. I remember going home and talking to my mother and telling her how hard it was. She said, ‘Son, the first year is always the toughest.’ That made me feel better. I was home for the summer, and I got recharged. I went back a second year, and it was still hard. I went home and said the same thing. (My mother) said, ‘Remember, I told you, the first couple years are the toughest.’ So, finally, the third year, I was getting a little better, but it was still pretty tough. I couldn’t wait. It was always this little ritual. ‘How did the year go?’ And she said, ‘Well, you know. The first couple-three years are the toughest.’ I said, ‘Mom, you keep telling me the same thing every year. She said, ‘Then, you’re ready for my final advice.’ I said, ‘What’s that?’ She said, ‘It all works out in the end.’ There’s some truth to that. We worry so much about making it and taking on big challenges. You can worry yourself to death. But you sit back—‘It’ll work out. It’ll work out.’”

Watch the conversation in its entirety.

Giving back is part of Cymone Jones’ character. And it’s the focus of her education at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. But there was a point at which she didn’t think college would be an option.

“I come from a family where you were lucky if you graduated from high school. I had people telling me I wasn’t smart enough or I would never have the money for college,” Jones said.

But with the help and encouragement of her school counselor, she came to realize she could get to college and succeed. “I had good grades. I just didn’t think they were good enough,” she said.

Out of this experience was born a desire to become a school counselor. “I want to work with kids who don’t believe they have the chances. I want to get in there and help them realize that they do have a chance to succeed,” Jones said.

Last spring, Jones got a taste of her dream through an internship at South Park Middle School in Oshkosh, with school counselor and UWO alumna Katie Kessen-Checki ’03, who majored in human services leadership.

During the internship, Jones worked with a student who was struggling with anxiety, depression and self-image issues— all things Jones said she struggled with at that age—and was refusing to participate in a lot of classes.

Jones and the student talked about the situation, and together they made a plan. Things improved really quickly for the student.

“The internship has really brought a lot of self-confidence. I can do this (as a profession) and it’s really making me happy,” Jones said.

After her midyear graduation in December 2013, Jones plans to earn a master’s in counseling.

“Boy, if you can get through college and get through it without much debt, that’s a tremendous head start in the next phase of your life,” Russ Hutchison ’64, said.

Recently, Russ and Jean, of Waukesha, really began to think about what their education—and their subsequent life experiences—meant to them.

After much thought and consideration, they created the Hutchison First in the Family Scholarship, which will—after they are gone—provide financial assistance to first-generation college students pursuing an undergraduate degree in the College of Education and Human Services at UW Oshkosh. The scholarship was developed as part of their estate plans.

“These kinds of decisions evolve slowly over time, they don’t just jump into your head one day,” Hutchison said. “We hope this scholarship allows a student to go to college who probably wouldn’t get there without it. It’s tuition, books and fees.”

Russ and Jean Hutchison in 1964

Both Jean and Russ were first-generation college students. They met at UW Oshkosh, where they both studied mathematics. They both firmly believe their degrees helped move them forward and paved the way for the rest of their lives. Throughout their careers, Jean taught math and English at various levels, and later taught hand weaving—one of her passions, and Russ had several career pursuits, including engineering, law and as a trade association department director.

“The beauty of planned gifts is they allow people to retain their assets during their lifetime,” said Donna O’Brien, development director with the UW Oshkosh Foundation, the campus entity that facilitates donations. “And, it allows them to control the final distribution of the assets they worked so hard to acquire.”

O'Brien

Friends, like the Hutchisons, who establish a living legacy with the UW Oshkosh Foundation are recognized as members of the Rose Legacy Society. Soon, those members will be acknowledged within the new Alumni Welcome and Conference Center on a legacy donor wall.

“It’s such a pleasure working with people to explore how they want to be remembered, and the impact they want their final gift to make,” O’Brien said.

For more information about the UW Oshkosh Foundation, visit uwosh.edu/foundation

How do you define success?

“If you’re happy with the way you are and the way your life is, then I think that is successful.”
— Mao Vang, senior, elementary education

“I define success in the journey and not in the destination.”
— Susan Fochs, Sophomore, pre-business

“It doesn’t have to be something big but … accomplishing something, small things.”
— Edrose Heiny, Junior, psychology

“The key to success for me is to have challenges, good relationships and an overall good view of life.”
— Nathan Peplinski, ‘13, philosophy and chemistry

“When I set my goals, however close I come to reaching those goals is how I judge success. The ultimate success is reaching that goal, but I kind of go by steps. Each little step toward that goal is another little success, so the more obstacles I can overcome the greater the success becomes.”
— Tom Beschta, Senior, journalism

“I’m from Haiti, but I just came here to study. My dream before I came here was to come and study in the United States, so I worked to make this happen. Because I am here today, even though I am not graduated yet, I can call that a success for my life … because I have dreamed it before, and I worked to try to make it happen, and here
I am today.”
— Eliseo Lacossiere, junior, pre-business

“It is different for every person. Success needs to be within the context of an individual’s goals and what he or she wants to accomplish. It is rising to the top of your field and being respected by your colleagues for your work.”
— Melissa Bublitz, College of Business, assistant marketing professor

Read more about what Engage contributors had to say about success.

What is your greatest success?

“While I feel I have been very fortunate to have success in many areas of my life, I have to play the “Mom Card” and narrow down my greatest success to be my two little girls. I’ve never met two individuals with such warm hearts yet so spunky and strong. “ — Jamie Ceman ’00, Engage Managing Editor

“I have no degree – no academy award – no important title….but what I do have and what I think my greatest success is, is simply having a quiet reputation for honesty, servanthood, hard work and an anchor for my soul!” — Linda Cotton, Engage Contributor

“One memory I have of a grand success from elementary school sticks with me to this day. I was beyond thrilled to play the lead role in Charlotte’s Web. I adored scampering about the stage as that beautiful and wise spider: “The autumn days grow short and cold; / It’s Christmas time again. / Then snows of winter slowly melt. / The day grows short, / And then… / He turns the seasons around, / And so she changes… her gown: / Mother Earth… and Father Time. How very special are we… / For just a moment… to be… / Part of life’s… eternal… rhyme.” — Natalie Johnson, Engage Editor

“Raising five children.” — Shawn Hansen, Engage Web Developer

“Graduating with no student debt.” — Tim Holdsworth, Engage contribuitor

“I would have to say my greatest success would be maintaining decent grades in school while working two part-time jobs to help pay for school.” — Jacob Browning, UW Oshkosh student photographer, Engage Contributor

“At this stage of my life, my greatest success comes in the form of serving my community. I wasn’t born in Oshkosh, I wasn’t raised or schooled here. Yet, this community has given me so much—jobs, opportunities, my husband, some of the world’s greatest friends—and I can’t help but feel success in giving back to it. Giving of my time and talents by serving on a slew of committees and boards—the ones most near and dear to my heart include my roles with the Women’s Fund of the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation, Oshkosh United Way, Growing Oshkosh and the UW Oshkosh Women’s Center—is important to me. Community service—service you give without expectation—makes me feel successful. “ — Mandy Potts, Engage Content Editor