Five Receive Classified-Employee Honors

Side by side they work — almost 5,000 strong — with faculty, academic staff and students to fulfill the university’s mission to teach, learn and disseminate knowledge.

Five of these workers have been honored by being named winners of the 1997 Classified Employee Recognition Awards.

Victoria L. Bender, Nancy J. Gouker, Sue A. Helmich, Roger Nevel and Sharon Vetter were recognized April 9 for their exceptional efforts on the job by Chancellor David Ward at an Olin House reception.

Classified Employee Recognition Award winners for 1997 are, from left, Roger Nevel, Sharon Vetter, Victoria L. Bender, Sue A. Helmich and Nacy J. Gouker. Winners were honored at an April 9 ceremony at Olin House.

“The efforts our employees put forth everyday help make this university a world-class institution of higher education,” Ward said during the awards presentation.

“And it is appropriate for me to emphasize that classified employees are equal partners with faculty and academic staff in fulfilling our mission to develop human resources, discover and disseminate knowledge and become Wisconsin’s resource for a lifetime.”

The Classified Employee Recognition Awards were developed by the Classified Personnel Office to recognize the efforts made by the employees deemed classified by state employment guidelines.

Colleagues nominate co-workers to an awards committee, which selects the winners. This is the third year the awards have been presented. Each winner receives a pin and plaque from the Wisconsin Alumni Association and has the opportunity to attend career-development programs offered by the UW–Madison Management Institute.

James Stratton, director of classified personnel, says these five employees have given extra effort worthy of recognition.

“These employees exemplify the hard work put in everyday by the 4,800 classified employees at the university,” Stratton says. “They are models for all of us to emulate.”

The recipients are:

Victoria L. Bender
Bender is a nursing supervisor in the Medical School’s Wausau Family Practice Residency Program and has worked for the university for more than 19 years.

In addition to her duties as a nursing supervisor, she is involved in several outreach activities, has helped establish the annual Wausau Health Fair and has helped construct the Residency Program’s strategic plan.

Bender, well-known for her sense of humor, also finds time to be active in her church and support the high-school cross-country team.

“Nurse Bender goes about tasks always with the bigger picture of the clinic’s success in clear focus,” reads her nominating letter: “She takes action in the name of the clinic and encourages other staff to do likewise. She brings forward new ideas not only with a strong personal investment, but also with an openness for discussion of other perspectives. She offers her energy to ideas from others, and assists any member of the clinic in the throes of meeting deadlines.”

Nancy J. Gouker
Gouker works as the administrator of the Department of Bacteriology in the College and Agriculture and Life Sciences. She has worked for the state since 1963 and the Department of Bacteriology since 1973.

She is known for having turned the department’s administrative support services unit into a model system. She has championed the use of technology for fiscal operations, encourages professional development of other employees and ensures a safe and comfortable working environment. She also organizes several conferences and symposiums each year.

Colleagues say the department would “collapse” without her. “Nancy takes great pride in the Department of Bacteriology,” reads her nominating letter. “It is more than simply a workplace to her. This pride is manifest in the fact that she ‘goes the extra mile’ for the department. To her, doing what is best for the department is her paramount consideration.”

Sue A. Helmich
Helmich is a program assistant in the organic division of the Department of Chemistry in the College of Letters & Science. She has worked in the department for three and a half years.

She helps make the division run smoothly by assisting with grant budgets and proposals, coordinating recruitment efforts, organizing finances and facilitating visits of speakers.

Helmich also goes the extra mile by dropping off material for speakers at their hotels, finding ways to cut costs in the division and even helping the department obtain $2.6 million for additions and renovations. She helps with her children’s sports teams and activities, volunteers at their school and has taken continuing education classes in tax preparation and motorcycling.

According to her nominating letter, Helmich is “self-motivated, conscientious, reliable and innovative in her approach to problems and quest for excellence.”

Roger Nevel
Nevel is a program assistant at the Waisman Center. He manages the center’s building equipment and supply inventory and is active in building management and shipping and receiving operations. He began working for the center in 1992 and was promoted to his current job in August of last year. He started his career with the university in 1968.

Last summer, crisis management fell under Nevel’s purview when the Waisman Center flooded due to plugged drains and heavy rain. He helped coordinate flood control, clean up and move equipment to avoid water damage.

When he’s not at work he helps out with 4-H, judges horse shows and has auctioneered at various events.

“Roger exemplifies the ideal classified employee. He is extremely dedicated to serving the needs of the Waisman Center and UW–Madison,” colleagues wrote in a nominating letter. “He consistently promotes the positive image of the Waisman Center through his friendly and helpful demeanor and his willingness to accept any assignment for the greater good of the organization.”

Sharon Vetter
Vetter is a program assistant in the Medical School’s Department of Pediatrics, having worked there since 1992. She began her career as a state classified employee in 1990.

Colleagues say she is an excellent grant coordinator, and among her many duties she has organized the Research Administrators Network, described as an indispensable tool for grant coordinators and research administrators.

Vetter is known as a team player who meets the various deadlines for grant applications. She also volunteers at her children’s school, her church and in the community.

Says her nominating letter: “In addition to her outstanding work performance, Sharon is an exceptional human being. She is wise, fair, kind, compassionate, honest, diplomatic, intuitive and thoughtful.”