Campus Connection

Panzer receives student employment supervisor of the year award for Wisconsin

We all have those people who stand out as critical pieces in life’s puzzle. They encourage us to take an opportunity or lend a hand to make a life transition less bumpy. UW-La Crosse International Student Advisor Miranda Panzer has been that person to many UWL students, and now she’s receiving state recognition for it. Panzer was recently named Student Employment Supervisor of the Year for the State of Wisconsin. The award, from the Midwest Association of Student Employment Administrators (MASEA), goes out to professionals who exhibit outstanding contributions to students and their institution based on mentoring, professionalism and leadership. Panzer supervises seven student employees in UWL’s Office of International Education and Engagement. They all help her carry out international education programming from greeting new international students at the airport to sharing their study-abroad experiences with other UWL students. Five of her student employees — the International Education Ambassadors — nominated Panzer for the award: Bridget Webster, Megan Buchberger, Hatim Alruwaili, Katelyn Nadeau and Solvei Stenso-Velo. “Miranda has been a huge supporter and mentor to us all in the office,” says UWL student Stenso-Velo. “She's one of the best supervisors I've ever had, and not only makes sure we're doing well in the office and making it the best space possible, but helps us in other areas of our lives as well.” Panzer regularly recommends jobs or future growth opportunities to her student employees. Stenso-Velo recently landed an internship at Gundersen Health System Global Partners Department, which Panzer helped her find. “It’s an opportunity that I'm very excited about and wouldn't have known about without her,” says Stenso-Velo. “She also wrote a recommendation for me to attend a week-long leadership fellows program through my sorority, for which I was also offered a spot.” Panzer is there for all of her student employees — seemingly helping them just as much as they’re helping the office. She provides guidance when they apply to graduate school and other post-school opportunities, reviews resumes and writes letters of recommendation. [caption id="attachment_48973" align="alignright" width="240"] Emelee Volden[/caption] “It is definitely apparent to all in IEE and on campus how committed Miranda is to our student employees,” says Emelee Volden, director of International Education and Engagement. “She always makes time to have regular check-ins with them and provides feedback and mentoring to them consistently. She is always available and always friendly and encouraging – characteristics that I think students value and characteristics that help them develop more confidence in the work they do.” Panzer has been supervising students since starting her position in October 2013, and she loves it. She enjoys watching students progressively take on more responsibility for running programming independently. “I enjoy watching these students learn leadership, problem solving skills, analytical skills and cultural sensitivity,” she says. “They learn valuable skills that will enhance their future career paths.” Because so some many of her student employees become invested in the work the office does, they put more time and energy into it and produce high quality work, which ultimately benefits the office, she adds. Panzer, who earned her undergraduate and master’s degree from UWL, recalls the people who influenced her life as a UWL student, particularly those in the study abroad office. She studied in Frankfurt, Germany, during the 2008-2009 school year. She still smiles thinking about the German friends who introduced her the city’s museums and festivals, and invited her to their family homes for traditional German fare of schnitzel and green sauce over potatoes. She returned to the U.S. with a new taste for meeting people from around the world. Studying abroad was also an opportunity to take a closer look at herself, a young woman who grew up in a small, primarily white hometown of Wisconsin Rapids. “It was an eye-opening experience to what I thought the world was and wasn’t,” she says. “It challenged me to think about who I was as a person and who I wanted to become.” Panzer ultimately decided to switch majors to German Studies and continued at UWL earning a degree in Student Affairs Administration before becoming an international student advisor at Kansas State University. She moved back to La Crosse, joining UWL’s IEE team in October 2013. “This is definitely a place that left a significant imprint on me,” she says. She has seen firsthand the difference she, as an advisor, can have on a student’s life. “We are making investment in their future while they are here,” she says.