Julie Kumbier, support staff member in the Registrar’s Office, has been named the recipient of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh 2013 April STAR Award.

Kumbier was nominated by Jane Kramer. Portions of her nomination follow:

“Julie Kumbier accepted her information systems support position in the Registrar’s Office roughly three years ago at a time when the challenge of creating the Student Academic Report (STAR) for the Center for New Learning was just beginning. After minimal training in the basics of coding, Julie tackled the challenge of extending that coding back to 2006–a task that is a serious challenge for an individual well-versed in PeopleSoft and DARS software encoding. Through her efforts, and by working closely with the staff of CNL, the STAR is now functioning for all plans within their program, and students are able to access the same STAR information as those in other programs have had access to for more than ten years.

“The Registrar information systems support tech positions require coordination with department administrators across campus, and Julie has established those relationships to capably advise them and successfully perform her duties. She has also improved communication pathways between her office and students applying for graduation, which has helped clarify the process and minimize problems for her graduation applicants. Earlier this year, a new information systems support tech was hired, and Julie has actively participated in the training of that individual.

“Beyond her duties, in her three years in the Registrar’s Office, Julie has volunteered to coordinate numerous activities in the department. Her performance skills were quickly put to use in our haunted Halloween her first year here. She subsequently organized the support techs in a performance for our Homecoming games competition. She is currently the manager of the department’s Sunshine Fund. Julie has recently been forced to balance her workload with a series of serious family challenges. It seems we all face family crises at one time or another, but the workload of the Registrar’s support tech positions is a challenge when we can concentrate on program changes from across campus, follow-up communication with students who have applied for the next graduation round, and at the same time begin initial correspondence with students applying for the following graduation round. Julie has found a way to balance these work and family challenges, and if for nothing else, she deserves CSAC STAR recognition.”

Winners of the STAR Award receive a framed certificate, a reserved parking space for one month and a gift from University Books & More. The award for exceptional performance is presented each month to a member of the classified staff who has worked at least six months at UW Oshkosh.

The CSAC Awards & Recognition Committee submitted this announcement. Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to contribute calendar items, campus announcements and other good news to UW Oshkosh Today.

Jesse Klein is a senior studying exercise science at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh who feels a deep connection to his school though his role as both an athlete and a student.

He is a four-time letter winner with the men’s soccer team and is involved with the “Black and Yellows,” a UW Oshkosh Titans fan club

“Being a Titan is about tradition….a winning tradition,” said Klein. “I think the biggest thing about being a Titan is building upon that winning tradition, improving it while you’re here and then representing in the community while you’re here…”

Learn more about what a Titan means to Klein.

Being a Titan is about more than those in black and yellow on game day. It is about a connection that lives inside of each one of us. If you share a connection to the UW Oshkosh Titans, share your pride! Join us at the next alumni event, come out for a home game, meet or match, tell us on Facebook or use the hashtag #imatitan on Twitter.

Nancy Wright, of the College of Nursing, has been named the recipient of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh 2013 March STAR Award.

Wright was nominated by Brenda Garza. Portion of her nominations follow:

“Nancy Wright received a call in early August asking if she would be willing to return to campus to assist during a staffing shortage in the College of Nursing. Nancy, after more than 30 years at the University was enjoying her retirement, as she shared with all of us many times; however, she didn’t hesitate to jump into the fray. She had all her paperwork to HR the next day.

“Nancy came on board wide open to assisting in any way she was needed. She enters expenses into our accounting system, types faculty/staff paperwork, cleans and organizes offices, collects and enters all the data for several surveys that are required for accreditation, and many more duties too numerous to list here.

“Nancy’s amazing skill set allowed the rest of the CON to take a breath and alleviate our stress level about deadlines and the increased workload that had been placed on everyone.

“She has gone above and beyond the call of duty when agreeing to get the surveys done for the CON; taken charge of getting the reappointment/renewal information to the faculty and staff not only for the current cycle, but setting up the next cycle as well; and updating the clinical contract grid while making sure that the contracts are all current. Again, the list of above and beyond is too numerous to list in this space.

“I am not nominating Nancy because she is doing a good job; I am nominating her because she is doing a SUPERB job and going way beyond any normal request for an LTE. Had Nancy not come into the College of Nursing, you might have seen CON office staff with hair patches pulled out screaming and fleeing from work at the end of each day.

“Nancy is more than just a STAR she is an entire STELLAR SYSTEM, all rolled into one package. She is very deserving of this award, and I hope she will receive the recognition that she so rightly deserves.”

Winners of the STAR Award receive a framed certificate, a reserved parking space for one month and a gift from University Books & More. The award for exceptional performance is presented each month to a member of the classified staff who has worked at least six months at UW Oshkosh.

The CSAC Awards & Recognition Committee submitted this announcement. Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to contribute calendar items, campus announcements and other good news to UW Oshkosh Today.

Colleen Merrill can’t help but wonder what groundbreaking, market-shaking business ideas are incubating in the heads of University of Wisconsin Oshkosh students.

The state’s third largest University now boasts 13,500 students. And many with hopes of building future, ground-up enterprises are capitalizing on their high-impact College of Business educations. Still others boast experience and creativity nurtured in an array of campus disciplines – education helping hatch great ideas for products and services Merrill believes could be game-changers in Wisconsin’s (or maybe even the national and international) marketplace.

“They’ve got the spark,” Merrill said, seated at a meeting table within the UW Oshkosh Small Business Development Center (SBDC) director’s office she occupied just three days earlier.

Merrill, who completed her undergraduate and MBA degrees at UW Oshkosh, has recently taken the lead as director of the SBDC. The organization is within UW Oshkosh’s fleet of offices strategically created to help support, sustain and enhance the community’s, the region’s and the state’s budding and long-standing small, large and family-owned enterprises. The SBDC specifically channels UW Oshkosh knowledge, talent and resources to provide “free management counseling services to companies with up to 500 employees.”

The SBDC, established in 1980, also contains the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI), “an initiative aimed at providing a wide range of educational programs and services for high-growth entrepreneurs and assistance to them in seeking grant and equity financing.” The CEI leverages the expertise and research capabilities of UW Oshkosh faculty, staff and students within the College of Business.

While UW Oshkosh is her proud alma mater, it also holds a place on Merrill’s professional resume. She said she will leverage the market research experience she honed at UW Oshkosh’s Business Success Center, where, for more than two and a half years, she helped develop and direct surveys that gauged everything from the confidence and readiness of New North manufacturers to expand to the political attitudes of northeastern Wisconsinites.

“I’m going to still be out there counseling businesses and finding what needs are,” she said.

Merrill is also no stranger to small business ownership and management. Her family has roots and deep experience in mechanical contracting, and she currently co-owns and operates an area rental properties management business. Having that essential, in-the-trenches understanding of the challenges and needs of small business is integral to her role at the SBDC, she said.

Beyond the day to day business counseling work she and her SBDC colleagues will offer, Merrill said one of her biggest priorities will be helping UW Oshkosh student and regional entrepreneurs lock the support they need to fortify business plans, launch startup endeavors and give birth to full-fledged companies.

“Maybe we simply find them a business mentor,” she said.

“What I’m excited about is our students – they have such entrepreneurial ideas, and the marketplace is really different out there these days,” Merrill said, hoping to grow the number of investment opportunities, and event contests, that help fuel the entrepreneurialism emanating from campus.

The SBDC is housed in Sage Hall, UW Oshkosh’s newest academic center, a state-of-the-art and Gold LEED certified home to the College of Business and many departments of the College of Letters and Science.

During FY 2012, the SBDC provided no-cost consulting to 200 small business owners and entrepreneurs, delivering over 332 counseling sessions. Through this assistance, SBDC consultants supported 8 business starts and more than $3 million in capital formation for small businesses in the region. In addition to one-on-one consulting, the UW Oshkosh SBDC also delivered over 363 hours of training to 54 program attendees.

The SBDC is funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. Through long-term consulting and training programs, the SBDC assists small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs with accessing capital, new product development, market research, business planning and more.

Merrill said she is eager to strengthen the many collaborations the SBDC, through UW Oshkosh, has developed over the organization’s lifetime.

The SBDC serves and works alongside businesses and organizations, including chambers of commerce and economic development agencies, in seven counties, including Green Lake, Fond du Lac, Marquette, Outagamie, Sheboygan, Waushara and Winnebago.

“Collaboration is key,” Merrill said. “We do much better – there’s more synergy – when we come together. I think the goal is to grow Wisconsin.”

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh alumnus Luke Whitburn ’98, vice president of operations at Drake & Company Staffing Specialists, is at the top of his class.

The sociology graduate, of Waunakee, has been named to In Business magazine’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2013. He was selected by the Madison-based magazine from more than 120 nominations based on the highest standards of community involvement, organizational leadership and industry contributions.

The 40 Under 40 award winners are profiled in the February issue of In Business. A special reception for the winners was held Wednesday at HotelRED in Madison.

While a student at UW Oshkosh, Whitburn worked as a teaching assistant for the late sociology professor Greg Olsen. “While teaching class for Professor Greg Olsen, I realized my ability to teach and my ability to lead. Two talents I have been working on since that day,” Whitburn said. “He was not only my professor but also a mentor as I entered the workforce in January 1998.”

At Drake & Company, Whitburn executes strategic planning to increase profitability, productivity and efficiency throughout the company’s operations. He also provides strategic sales and operations support for a variety of the company’s clients.

His previous experience includes working as business development director for Adtec and as a branch manager for ManpowerGroup.

Outside the work day, Whitburn has spent countless hours volunteering for the West Side Coalition on Aging.

“Since 1990, I have been helping out with everything from home chores to shoveling driveways and from helping manage bills and assisting in moving to driving folks to doctor’s appointments,” Whitburn said. “I find that our youth today need to really understand the importance of their elders.”

In addition, Whitburn and his wife, Alicia, have worked on a six-year forest restoration project that has included the U.S. Forestry Service and the Boy Scouts.

“My true passion is spending time with my wife on our 80-acre property in Upper Michigan,” he said. “We harvest more than 1.2 million tons of timber and have planted more than 10,000 trees in the past six years.”

There is no need to double check if University of Wisconsin Oshkosh alumnus Mike Nietman ’89, of Madison, has been giving back to the campus community; he does so with no forced moves or sacrifices.

Ever since he graduated with two bachelor’s degrees, one in mathematics and chemistry in 1983 and the other in computer science in 1989, Nietman has been coordinating the largest scholastic events in the state at UWO.

He has been hosting the Wisconsin Junior Open and Veteran Chess Tournaments since 1985, and the Wisconsin State Scholastic Chess Championships since 1993. These events, held annually in the Gruenhagen Conference Center (GCC), draw in a large profit to the University through lodging.

“Schools love the site because the players can be housed in Gruenhagen overnight, inexpensively,” Nietman said. “At the end of the 2011 event, I overheard a mother say ‘It’s like a mini-nationals!’ I took that as the ultimate compliment and have used that on the flyer ever since.”

 Not only do these events bring in revenue, they also provide educational opportunities for young chess enthusiasts.

Carol Kozlowski, conference and event planner with GCC, works closely with Nietman to set up the events and said he does an excellent job introducing students to the campus.

“This exposure can, and often does, translate into players enrolling at UWO at a later date,” Kozlowski said. “Gruenhagen Conference Center has enjoyed a wonderful working relationship with Mike Nietman. We usually have 400 to 450 people here involved in the tournaments in some way. All this brings incredible UWO exposure to others.”

As the current senior programmer analyst for a large non-profit hospital in Madison, Nietman has dedicated his free time to the United States Chess Federation (USCF) and has served on the Wisconsin Chess Association’s Board of Directors since 1984. He was named president of the board in 1987.

With this experience, Nietman is no novice when it comes to chess. He said he first began his chess career by contributing to the USCF as a high school student.

“I first became a member in 1976 as a freshman in high school, so that I could play in the National High School Chess Championships in Cleveland, Ohio with my Fond du Lac Goodrich high school teammates,” Nietman said. “Since that event, I’ve attended 18 U.S. Opens as the Wisconsin delegate until I was elected to the Executive Board in a 2010 special election.”

Nietman said that both his educational and event planning experience at UWO are what gave him the confidence to take on the events.

“Organizing the large events has given me the confidence to set my goals higher in the world of chess politics,” Nietman said.

The estimated  turnout of about 450 for the upcoming spring 2013 chess tournament scheduled for March 16 and 17 is evidence of his efforts.

“It has gotten so large, we could not fit everyone into GCC,” Kozlowski said. “The actual play for the tournament will be held in Reeve.”

Nietman also is planning a tournament for the fall 2013 semester that will take place on Nov. 2 and 3.

Daniel Courtney, UW Oshkosh student and former UWO Chess Club president, has has participated in past tournaments and appreciates Nietman’s contributions to the chess and campus communities.

“Wisconsin doesn’t have as strong of a chess community as some other states, so it’s tough to keep these opportunities available when the demand for them could go away so easily,” Courtney said. “Mike’s continued dedication to the Wisconsin chess community provides hundreds of students with opportunities to build both their social and analytical skills while having fun with others who share the same interests.”

“Chess is an extension in that we’re solving problems on the board,” Nietman said. “Yes, it is only 64 squares and not the whole wide world, but it is great recreation for anyone from youth to senior citizen.”

Nietman said he will continue to give back as he is dedicated to reach higher goals and add to his “chess bucket list.”

“In the mid-1990s, I created my chess organizational bucket list,” he said. “It had three items on it. The first item was checked off in 2006 when the USCF held the event in downtown Milwaukee. Wisconsin schools turned out with about 350 of the 1,400 participants. The second item will be checked off this July with the U.S. Open in Madison. The third was checked off in 2010, when I was elected to the Executive Board. So now, I guess I have to think of some more goals for my list.”

You’ll often find University of Wisconsin Oshkosh student Bob Patel behind the scenes.

Patel, 31, works as the video director for UW Oshkosh Athletics through the Student Titan Employment Program (STEP), which offers students high-impact learning opportunities outside of their classes.

Beyond his role as a STEP intern, Patel is an Iraq War veteran and a nontraditional student.

“UWO had opened my eyes to the inner working of athletics,” said Patel. “When I first came here I want to be a football coach but I knew I had to work my way up. Then, I found something I enjoy doing as much as coaching and that is working with video in football.”

When Patel began his college career in 2000, he said wanted to become physical education teacher to coach and work with children. Two years later, Patel enlisted in the National Guard and started basic training. In early 2005, he took a hiatus from school because he was deployed to Iraq where he served his country for more than a year.

Now, back at UW Oshkosh with a couple of deployments under his belt, Patel works in his STEP role as the video director for UW Oshkosh athletics; his job provides him outside-of-the-classroom lessons linked to his major, which is radio-TV-film.

“UWO athletics help nurtured my interest in video,” said Patel.

Patel has held been in his role with UW Oshkosh athletics since the fall of 2011. That same year UW Oshkosh received a video board for J.J. Keller Stadium and Athletic Director Darryl Sims gave Patel control over the project, which gave Patel many opportunities to learn, he said.

Through his internship, Patel oversees video production and supervises other interns. He uploads weekly videos with new content for corporate partners and special presentations and organizes the inventory. He is ultimately responsible for what is shown on the video board during games, according to UW Oshkosh Athletics.

Patel said some of the biggest lessons he’s learned is how “to deal with various people in various roles such as working with my production team,” which are lessons he’ll take with him into the workforce.

Patel has also honed the skills he needs to do his job by using video software and production equipment, he said.

Patel plans to graduate from UW Oshkosh within the next year, he said. While he still has hopes of coaching in some capacity in his future, he hopes to take what he learned from his STEP internship and apply it to his passion by working in a football program or at a stadium doing video production.

The Student Titan Employment Program (STEP) offers students quality educational experiences while providing faculty and staff members with needed assistance in areas such as media services, student-faculty research, supplemental instruction, library assistance, instructional technology and academic computing support and Web page development and maintenance.

Since the mere age of 12, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh alumnus Robert Keller ’69, has dedicated his business career to J. J. Keller and Associates Inc. He first began by cleaning floors in the downtown Neenah offices, eventually climbing the corporate ladder to his current post as chairman of the foundation.

The UW Oshkosh College of Business recently named Keller its executive in residence as part of a program that integrates a regional senior executive into the life of the college to help current students gain an understanding of business outside of the classroom.

A reception was held in October in the College of Business library to welcome Keller into the program. He expressed his genuine enthusiasm toward this valuable opportunity that benefits current business students.

“With 50 years of business experience and a focus on business planning, marketing and leadership development, I felt that I could help faculty and students,” Keller said. “The faculty has been very receptive and open to those from the business world.”

As the executive in residence, Keller will assist with classes and student organizations; participate in college programs, centers and initiatives; mentor students and faculty; and share professional experiences in and outside of the classroom.

“I will be a resource and do guest speaking, consultation and mentoring,” Keller added.

He believes that his positive experience at UWO as well as his expertise with leadership development, business planning and executive management will give him a strong base to help students.

Keller graduated from UWO in 1969 with a degree in economics. He received the UWO Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2004.

In 1988, he became the president and chief executive officer of J. J. Keller. During his term, the firm grew from approximately $10 million to $200 million in sales revenue. The corporation is a privately held company that helps businesses with the complex and constantly evolving regulations that affect their operations; it currently employs about 1,200 associates.

“J.J. Keller is very supportive of UWO and hires many grads,” Keller said. “It has a very active intern program.”

Keller said he feels a strong connection to the UWO campus community, especially with his family’s legacy at the institution. The University renamed its football field J. J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium in 2005, in recognition of a $1 million gift to the Oshkosh Sports Complex from the founders of J. J. Keller and Associates Inc.  In addition, both of Keller’s children are UWO graduates.

Keller said his experience at UWO helped him to succeed and obtain many of his accomplishments. He said he is thrilled to be a part of a program that leads students in the same direction.

“My motivation is to give back to the school that I graduated from and help as a resource in many ways,” Keller said. “Students need exposure to the business world in order to succeed.”

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh alumni Dean and Carrie (Kosek) Duehring took a risk in 2008 by starting their own business during a severe economic downturn. The Oshkosh couple opened Craft-E-Corner—a successful online craft supply store—that makes them especially jolly during the holiday season.

“As a retail company, the gift-giving season is particularly busy for us,” Carrie said.

Craft-E-Corner grossed $1.2 million in revenue in its first year alone. About half of their annual sales take place in October, November and December.

“Our sales on Cyber Monday are typically the same as the entire month of July,” Dean said.

While the couple earned their degrees at UW Oshhkosh in fields of study that don’t typically relate to scrapbooking and other crafts, they said their experiences on campus prepared them well and contributed to their success.

Dean graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1996 in secondary education, with a minor in economics and went on to earn his master’s in 2003 in educational leadership. Carrie earned her undergraduate degree in 1999 in psychology and her master’s in 2001 in industrial and organizational psychology.

“My graduate school experience at UWO prepared me with the hard skills I use every day in my work,” Carrie said. “The skills of researching, analyzing, organizing and producing conclusions have helped Craft-e-Corner change and grow.”

Dean said it takes leadership to make your vision of a business become a reality.

“I learned a lot about leadership in the process of earning my degree,” he said. “My father started his own business, and it was something I always wanted to do. When we had our first child, we decided that Carrie would leave her full-time job at Kimberly Clark to be home to raise a family.”

As a stay-at-home mom who enjoyed crafting and scrapbooking, Carrie began to sell used items on eBay.com to increase the earning potential to support her and Dean’s growing family.

“I enjoyed the task of selling out of our home, and it allowed me to enjoy many great moments with my daughters as they grew,” Carrie said.

Their top-selling product was a die-cutting machine called the Cricut.

“We were blessed with a lot of success selling this product,” Dean said. “From there, we added more and more craft products. We also added a website and started selling on Amazon.com and other sites, as well.  That is when I decided to leave teaching and help her keep the business striving forward. We’ve been on a dynamic adventure ever since.”

Dean said Carrie really made the business happen.

“Carrie is the main reason why our business is successful,” he said. “She is great at researching things and using that information to make good decisions. Plus, she is the hardest working person I know.”

Carrie attributes their success to their “hard work, ability to problem solve, determination to work through challenges, willingness to take risks others wouldn’t, ability to see a situation from multiple perspectives and passion for accomplishing what some others only dream about.”

The company will celebrate its fifth anniversary in February, and Carrie said they could not be more pleased with the growth and the great employees they’ve hired over the years.

“Each day Craft-e-Corner evolves, and we adapt to see where it takes us,” she said

Jeri Zelke, Environmental Studies and Women’s Studies academic department associate, has been named the recipient of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh 2013 February STAR Award.

Zelke was nominated by M. Elsbeth (Misty) McPhee. Portions of her nomination follow:

“Jeri is a truly outstanding staff member and colleague. She has the difficult task of serving two programs on campus so she has two supervisors and two groups of faculty tugging at her time. But she does this with grace, energy and lack of complaint. Despite how incredibly busy she is, every time I walk into Jeri’s office with a request, she greets me with a smile and an, “I’d be glad to do that” attitude. In fact, she will almost always drop what she’s doing and take care of my request immediately. Not only does she effectively juggle an overwhelming work load but she does a GREAT job on everything. Unfortunately for her, she is so easy to work with and good at her job that I ask far more from her than I have asked of others in this position.

“Not only is she extremely competent and helpful, she works far above and beyond the call of duty. Recently, we’ve had to ES student events with pizza and Jeri stayed late just to make sure it arrived, was delivered, and everything was taken care of.

Christie Launius, of Women’s Studies, also said:

“A couple of general observations: Jeri has a tough assignment, in that she splits her time between two programs. She manages to do a wonderful job for both programs, balancing the differing needs, schedules, cultures, and personalities of both, seemingly without effort. She does a fabulous job of keeping it all straight and running smoothly. I have also been really impressed with her generosity in helping out Kim, the LTE for the Social Justice and African American Studies program. Jeri seems to have done a fantastic job of mentoring her.

“More specifically, I am impressed with the fact that Jeri consistently goes above and beyond the call of duty, so to speak. She has been a huge help to me as I have been heavily involved in planning a state-wide conference here on campus. To give just one small example, I asked for her assistance in getting parking passes for faculty traveling here by car from other UW campuses, and she not only procured the passes, but contacted Parking Services and requested that they cone off space immediately next to Sage so that our visitors wouldn’t have to drive around searching for an available space. She also volunteered to greet them as they arrive so that they wouldn’t have to find our office space and then go back down to their cars with their hang tags.

“In sum, Jeri is a delight to work with, and I feel very strongly that her outstanding work should be recognized by our campus community!”

Winners of the STAR Award receive a framed certificate, a reserved parking space for one month and a gift from University Books & More. The award for exceptional performance is presented each month to a member of the classified staff who has worked at least six months at UW Oshkosh.

The CSAC Awards & Recognition Committee submitted this announcement. Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to contribute calendar items, campus announcements and other good news to UW Oshkosh Today.