MADISON – A land use specialist and a senior student services coordinator from within the University of Wisconsin System have been named the winners of the 2006 Regents Academic Staff Award for Excellence.
The recipients of this year’s awards are Lynn Markham, a land use specialist with UW-Stevens Point’s Center for Land Use Education, and Patti K. See, a senior student services coordinator for the Academic Skills Center at UW-Eau Claire. Each receives a $5,000 award for professional development or to enhance a university program or function.
The awards will be presented Thursday, May 4, at the UW System Board of Regents meeting in Madison. Academic staff members from each UW institution were nominated for the award, and a selection committee chaired by Regent Eileen Connolly-Keesler of Oshkosh chose the recipients. Regents Judith Crain of Green Bay, Danae Davis of Milwaukee, Milton McPike of Mazomanie, Gerard Randall of Milwaukee, Jesus Salas of Milwaukee and Brent Smith of La Crosse also served on the committee.
“The board is delighted to present this annual award to honor the valuable contributions of academic staff throughout the UW System,” Connolly-Keesler said. “Through their hard work, these incredible academic staff members add to the strength of their individual programs and to the success of the UW System and its institutions. These academic staff members deserve so much praise for their dedication to the betterment of higher education in Wisconsin.”
Markham has worked with the UW-Stevens Point Center for Land Use Education since 2000. Since beginning at the center, she has worked to create learning opportunities to help communities make land use decisions that keep Wisconsin’s resources sustainable. Markham works largely with people who make decisions that affect the long-term health of their communities, but perhaps lack specific scientific knowledge to interpret relevant data. She combines her strong science background with her ability to engage people as she helps communities create successful projects.
“Lynn brings to her work an unexpected level of creativity and initiative,” one colleague said of Markham. “She initiates new work in her quest to satisfy questions she has and turns that around to bring science-based knowledge to laypeople.”
Markham earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Ripon (Wis.) College and her master’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Oregon.
Patti K. See is a well-respected member of the UW-Eau Claire community, not only among her colleagues, but also among students. Since 1994, See has served the campus through her work in the Academic Skills Center. See develops and manages tutorial programs for students with disabilities, American multicultural students, and students from lower-income families, while also teaching developmental education courses. In addition, See regularly instructs courses for the campus’s Women’s Studies Program.
See has received ratings of “excellent” or “very good” from students on all of her course evaluations for the Academic Skills Center, and is regularly described by her students as approachable, helpful, encouraging, and motivating.
“Walking across the campus mall to my office each morning, I am thankful to be an integral part of something I glimpsed as a student: this community of thinkers that makes our corner of the world a better place,” See said in a personal statement.
See received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from UW-Eau Claire.
The recipients of the 2006 Academic Staff Awards for Excellence will be honored at the start of the Board of Regents meeting on Thursday, May 4, in room 1820 Van Hise Hall on the UW-Madison campus.