Fall 2007
News from the Vice
Chancellor
Administrative & Student
Life Services
SHADOWING DAVID KARIS
Lots of changes are happening in the Memorial Student Center! Because of this,
I was eagerly anticipating shadowing Dave Karis. His position was as fascinating
as I’d imagined and our time together just flew by.
Lucy Nicolai, who was appointed Director of the Memorial Student Center, reorganized staff in July of this year into two main areas – programming and operations. She has the mean and lean team of Darrin Witucki and Dave Karis as the
leaders of these areas. Darrin heads up programming and Dave takes care of
operations including the service center; camps, conferences and reservations;
business operations; SSA financial management; and capital planning, budgeting and financial oversight. Dave indicates the majority of his time is currently
spent on the facilities: identifying and planning for capital improvement projects.
Dave also mentioned how fortunate he is to work with such a great staff who are
knowledgeable and dedicated to serving our customers. “Rose Christianson,
Jody Engeldinger, Wendy Gilomen, Karen Lund, Sue Michels and Doris Strehlau provide excellent service to our internal and external customers on campus.
We have a great group of student employees that are supported in their efforts
by these individuals. I really appreciate their ‘can do’ attitude and the pride
they take in their work.”
Dave is a Menomonie native. He and his wife Kim Giertz-Karis have three wonderful children including a son Isaiah (8); daughter Mariah (13) and oldest
daughter Brianna (15).
You might have noticed that we have a number of Karis employees at Stout. In
addition to Dave, his wife Kim Giertz-Karis works in Disability Services; sisterin-law Kim Karis in Student Business Services, and sister Terri Karis is a faculty
member in Psychology.
David Karis is a busy man. Here
he is taking a much-deserved
break on the new patio furniture
at the Student Center. One of
Dave’s many tasks is the purchasing of furniture and overseeing landscaping at the Memorial
Student Center.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Shadowing David Karis ...........1
ASLS All Division Meeting ......2
Welcome! .................................2
Welcome! (continued) .............3
Welcome! (continued) ............4
The Good News ........................4
News from the Vice Chancellor
is published quarterly for ASLS
division employees.
Publisher: Diane Moen
Vice Chancellor
moend@uwstout.edu
(715) 232-1683
Editor: Heidi Hooten
Communications Specialist
hootenh@uwstout.edu
(715)232-1681
110 Price Commons
Menomonie, WI 54751
Fax: (715) 232-1421
ASLS ALL DIVISION MEETING
Live a balanced life — learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and
work every day some. — All I Need to Know I Learned In Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum
We didn’t sing and dance at the ASLS All Division
meeting on September 25th (at least, not in the
Library break-out session) but thinking and learning about our successes in the past year were high
priorities as Vice Chancellor Diane Moen reviewed
the highlights of our progress.
The meeting was preceded by a tour of the Child &
Family Study Center, included a luncheon, and
was concluded with break-out sessions run by
staff from the Library and the Athletic Department. There were even prizes, including a lunch
date with “Soup-Maker Extraordinaire” Phil Lyons, a We Care basket from Shoppes@Stout, and a
special variety of gifts provided by the Athletics
Department.
Prize winners: Susan Lew won lunch with Phil Lyons; Dennis Shaw won the We Care package, and
David Karis is looking forward to his athletic package.
WELCOME!
Anoop Balachandran was born and brought up in India, and came to the
US almost six years ago. He loves to workout, read, listen to music, and play
any kind of sports. Passionate about his position as Recreation Specialist in
in the Weight Training and Fitness Center, Anoop is also a firm believer in
the saying, “Make your hobby your career and there will never be a single
working day in your life.”
Marty Baumgartner started his new position as the Inventory Control Coordinator in Dining Services on August 13th. Marty is a UW-Stout Graduate
who enjoys fishing, hunting, and golf. An interesting fact about Marty: he
previously worked as an alpaca birther!
Nancy Beguhn is a Cook 1 in Dining Services. She says her family and
friends keep her busy! She’s on a bowling league, is an avid Packers and
Brewers fan, and works at a Girl Scout camp for two months during the summer.
2 WELCOME! (CONTINUED)
Nathaniel Castillo joins University Centers as the Technical Resource and
Productions Coordinator. He and his wife, Melissa, come to the area from
Chicago, where Nathaniel owns a recording studio with friends. He has a
degree in Philosophy and has presented papers at a couple of national philosophy conferences.
Director of Hovlid Hall, Justin Fults, has a family history of education.
Both parents taught in the Wisconsin school systems, and both he and his
sister are UW-Stout Alumni. Justin is currently enrolled in the Technology
Management Master’s program.
Director of Jeter-Tainter-Callahan Hall, Esther Gaines, received her degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Health and Fitness Education from
Washington State University. Originally from Spokane, WA, Esther is a diehard Cougars Football fan and enjoys scrapbooking, various forms of exercise, and writing.
Another UW-Stout graduate who has returned to her alma mater, Erin
Konsela is the new Assistant Women’s Basketball coach. Erin played basketball for UW-Stout when she was here as an undergraduate, and is studying for her Mater’s in Family Development. (She’s also a newlywed! Congratulate her on her recent marriage to Eric Konsela.)
Melissa Koss, a Custodian in South Hall, is married to Ken and has three
children: Alex (17), Mariah (15), and Hayden (13). Melissa loves to travel.
A custodian in South and North Halls, Kimberly Lorenz likes shopping,
camping, basketball, baseball, and hanging out with friends. She has two
kids: Kati, age 16, and Brian, Jr., age 11 years.
Making a positive difference in the lives of others and to the world around
him is very important to new Hansen-Keith Hall Director Ben Markl. He
also enjoys being outdoors, traveling, watching movies, and expanding and
sharing his knowledge of “useless” trivia.
Originally from Madison, WI, Toni Marousek is the new Assistant Athletic
Trainer working with football and men’s ice hockey. She attended UW-Eau
Claire majoring in athletic training and recently graduated from Temple
University in Philadelphia with a Master’s in Education.
The Business Office would like to welcome Leigh May, an Accountant who
started 8/31. Leigh is a UW-Stout grad and enjoys reading and most outdoor activities. She also likes to spend time with her nieces and nephews,
ranging in age from 5 to 24.
The new Financial Specialist II in Student Business Services is Diane Oakland. Diane is married to Jon and they have three sons: Ben (18), Matt
(16), and Thomas (11). She and Jon enjoy attending the boys’ sporting
events and activities and the entire family is involved with the Ski Sprites
Water-Ski Show Team in Altoona.
3 WELCOME! (CONTINUED)
The new Antrim-Froggatt-McCalmont Hall Director is Minnesota native
Jen Parker. Congrats go out to Jen who was recently married on October 5th! She likes to camp, scrapbook, and hang out with family and
friends.
An Illinois native, Jenifer Schmidgall has a BA in Sports Management and an MA in Athletic Administration. She coached Track and
Field and Cheerleading at Loras College in Dubuque, IA before joining
UW-Stout as the Assistant Track Coach and an instructor in the Physical Education Department.
Amber Stuart is a new custodian in Millennium Hall and Communication Technologies as of August 6th. The mother of two children — Nathan and Haley — she enjoys time with her family by fishing, shopping,
biking, and being outside. She also plays a lot of softball.
North Hall Director Shawn Wilson has a variety of interests which include: Criminal Law, Diversity and Social Justice issues, music, pool,
darts, and watching movies.
THE GOOD NEWS
Our new Institutional Planner Wendy Knutson and Jason Nicholas — a graduate student in the MSAP — will be presenting in October
at AIRUM (Association for Institutional Research in the Upper Midwest). Their presentation will be on a recent research project conducted jointly between Budget, Planning & Analysis, the Teaching and
Learning Center, and the Speech Department.
James Uhlir, Jr. joined UW-Stout effective October 15th as the Executive Director of Health and Safety. Welcome, Jim!
Diane Moen, Vice Chancellor
110 Price Commons
Menomonie, WI 54751
(715) 232-1683
Fax: (715) 232-1421
moend@uwstout.edu
Raina Clark was invited to read an excerpt from her memoirs on October 18th at the “Bookless” opening event of the Chippewa Valley Book
Festival at the Acoustic Café in Eau Claire.
The new Editor of the ASLS Newsletter is Heidi Hooten. Please stop
in at the Vice Chancellor’s office to introduce yourself and say hello.
She’s always looking for new and interesting tidbits for the newsletter!
People working
together for service
excellence and
innovation.