Academic Staff: Early Career Award

Recipients of the L&S Academic Staff Early Career Award must have 0-7 years’ (including the current year) experience and demonstrate outstanding performance, promise of future contributions and a high degree of professionalism.

2023 Recipients

Maria Hartwig
Academic Advising Manager
Department of Psychology

If there is one thing that Department of Psychology Undergraduate Advisor Maria Hartwig cares about, it's the students with whom she works. Within a department that has more than 2,000 advising contacts each academic year, Hartwig is known among students and colleagues for her welcoming demeanor, attention to detail and exceptional advice.

“Half of our sessions are spent laughing and chatting, making the environment she created safe and welcoming,” said senior psychology major Lauren Cole. “I felt like she took the time to get to know me as a human beyond my identity as a student.”

Hartwig is committed to student well-being and will go above and beyond to provide solutions to students who face graduation deficiencies or issues with their enrollment. In every situation, she proactively brainstorms potential ideas and solutions to complex advising problems.

“Maria turns potential negative and dire situations, where students are at-risk of not graduating, into positive outcomes," said Valerie Johnson, a fellow Undergraduate Advisor in the Department of Psychology. “Maria raises the standard and expectations of advising by approaching each student's situation with compassion and empathy.”

Outside of advising sessions, Hartwig’s commitment to students is evident in her initiative to identify ways in which the department can improve. As the scholarships coordinator for the department, she identified the lack of scholarship opportunities for students who are not involved in research and suggested an expansion of opportunities. A new scholarship that recognizes psychology students who are active in their community outside of research will accept its first round of applicants this spring. In addition, after recognizing the lack of resources available for prospective students, Hartwig created an interactive and engaging presentation about the psychology major and department.

“Maria’s dedication to identifying a solution to our gap in services, developing the means and medium of delivery, and implementing this project at scale, is a demonstration of her ability to solve problems and work across campus units,” said Johnson.

Whether she is walking a student through their DARS report, solving enrollment problems or going above and beyond to make change in the department, Hartwig’s concern for the student, great expertise and networks, and active problem solving are a testament to her abilities as an outstanding advisor, and make her an invaluable part of many students’ experiences during their time at UW.

Laura Schmidli
Instructional Technology & Engagement Specialist
L&S Instructional Design Collaborative

As an Instructional Technology & Engagement Specialist with the L&S Instructional Design Collaborative (IDC), Laura Schmidli’s job is to work with instructors on the use of technology to enhance their teaching. Helping professors move their classes to a hybrid or online setting, make content more accessible to students with disabilities, or learn more about how to adapt to the changing landscape of AI in the classroom are just some of the ways that she has made an impact on UW classrooms.

Along with her technical and pedagogical knowledge, those who have worked with Schmidli note her exceptional communication skills, as well as the values that she brings to every project that she works on — humility, appreciation, inclusivity, integrity, and respect are observable attributes that guide her in every interaction.

“I’ve observed many times how Laura's listening conveys generosity, patience, intelligence, and openness to new and nuanced ideas,” said David Macasaet, the Instructional Media Producer at IDC. “Laura makes folks feel seen, and, in doing so, she cultivates genuine rapport and admiration with the individuals she works with.”

Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen, the Merle Curti and Vilas-Borghesi Distinguished Achievement Professor of History, worked with Schmidli in 2019 to turn her standard in-person, large lecture course into a blended (and ultimately, fully online) course. Ratner-Rosenhagen said that Schmidli was invaluable to thinking through every aspect of the class — from online quizzes to the syllabi.

“Right from the start, Laura was supportive, clear, affirming, kind, and positively brilliant at sequencing everything I needed to do — from big picture to minutiae,” said Ratner-Rosenhagen. “When I would get overwhelmed — which I often did — she had the most remarkable way of soothing my anxiety and reassuring me that we’d get this class to work, and work beautifully.”

Schmidli goes above and beyond the expectations of her role, taking on leadership roles on projects such as the design and implementation of a new L&S teaching assistant training module to help TAs teach effectively and supportively while physically separated from their students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The training was attended by more than 700 L&S TAs in the fall of 2020 and has since been adopted by other departments.

In every project she is part of, Schmidli is noted as being immensely helpful and incredibly accommodating. Her expertise and empathetic support make her an invaluable part of the IDC team.

“She makes me a better leader,” said Jonathan Klein, the Director of IDC. “Working with her is one of the great pleasures of my time at UW.”

All Recipients

2022-23

• Maria Hartwig, Academic Advising Manager, Department of Psychology
• Laura Schmidli, Instructional Technology & Engagement Specialist, L&S Instructional Design Collaborative

2021-22

• Antonella Caloro, Instructional Technologist, L&S Instructional Design Collaborative
  
• Julie Lindsey, Department Administrator, Department of Integrative Biology

2020-21

• Kaitlin Koehler, International Directions Adviser, Language Institute
• Tracey Reitz, Associate Faculty Associate, Chemistry Learning Center
  

2019-20

• Mary Ann Feist, Senior Academic Curator within the Wisconsin State Herbarium of the Department of Botany
• Bob Wiedenhoeft, Instructional Support Specialist/Advisor, Center for Academic Excellence

2018-19

• Soledad Benguria-Andrews, Assistant Faculty Associate, Mathematics Department
• Stacy Forster, Faculty Associate, School of Journalism and Mass Communication
• Elizabeth Leith, Academic Curator, Department of Anthropology

2017-18

• Carmela Diosana, Student Services Coordinator, Department of Botany
• Ellen Hamann, Senior Research Specialist, Center for Limnology
• Valerie Johnson, Student Services Coordinator, Department of Psychology
• Benjamin Schultz-Burkel, Assistant Director, Mead Witter School of Music

2016-17

• Hilary Shager, La Follette School of Public Affairs
• Libby Dowdall, Department of Chemistry
• Michael Kruse, Language Institute
• Brian Esselman, Department of Chemistry

2015-16

• Stephen Block, Assistant Director of the General Chemistry Laboratories, Department of Chemistry
• Linnea Burk, Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Psychology
• Elizabeth Foste, Careers and Outreach Coordinator, Department of Economics
• Jesse Steinberg, Faculty Associate & Assistant to the Chair Department of Philosophy

2014-15

• Desiree Bates, Computational Chemistry Leader, Department of Chemistry
• Adam Hinterthuer, University Relations Specialist, Department of Limnology
• Oh Hoon Kwon, Course Supervisor for the Mathematics 13x series, Department of Mathematics
• Russell Portier, Assistant to the Directors, School of Social Work

2013-14

• Carol Warden, Associate Outreach Specialist, Center for Limnology
• Tiziana Serafini, Associate Faculty Associate, Department of French & Italian
• Cheri Barta Rossi, Associate Faculty Associate, Department of Chemistry

2012-13

• Melanie Jones, Faculty Associate, Department of Psychology
• Laura Halverson Monahan, Senior Academic Curator, Department of Zoology
• Dorothea Salo, Faculty Associate, School of Library & Information Studies
• Chad Wilkinson, Associate Faculty Associate, Department of Chemistry

2011-12

• Danielle Benden, Senior Academic Curator, Department of Anthropology
• Allison Kaplan, Faculty Associate, School of Library & Information Studies

2010-11

• Nancy Linh Karls, Faculty Associate, The Writing Center in the Department of English
• Shirin Malekpour, Faculty Associate, Department of Mathematics

2009-10

• Marilyn Larsen, Assistant Director, Center for Limnology
• Byung-jin Lim, Associate Faculty Associate, East Asian Languages & Literature
• Jaime Stoltenberg, Map and GIS Librarian, Department of Geography

2008-09

• Erlin Barnard, Faculty Associate, Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia
• Ilia Guzei, Senior Scientist, Department of Chemistry

2007-08

• Ron Harris, Academic Staff, Department of English.
• Dianna Murphy, Academic Staff, The Language Institute

2006-07

• Shea Ramey, Academic Staff, Chemistry Learning Center
• Richard Slaughter, Academic Staff, Geology and Geophysics

2005-2006

• Melissa Tedrowe, Academic Staff, Department of English

2004-2005

• Patrick Barrett, Academic Staff, the Havens Center in the Department of Sociology
• Emily B. Hall, the Writing Center in the Department of English

2003-2004

• Jeff Henriques, Department of Psychology

2002-2003

• Ron Cramer, Learning Support Services

2001-2002

• Grace Krewson, Department of English