Behind the Scenes
Emilie Sander - Student Leadership and Involvement
Emilie’s nominator says:
Emilie has transformed our office culture through what we affectionately call her
“spreadsheet magic.” Her creativity and problem-solving have improved morale, communication,
and collaboration among both professional staff and student employees.
Professional staff would leave post-it notes for student workers assignments, often
resulting in confusion about responsibilities and inconsistent task completion. Emilie
took the lead in redesigning this system, creating a centralized, visually engaging
task-management spreadsheet with individualized tabs for each student worker. The
playful graphic—where completed tasks help a seed grow into a cucumber and ultimately
into a pickle—adds levity, motivation, and a sense of shared accomplishment. This
tool has reduced stress, improvedaccountability, and strengthened working relationships
across the office.
A letter of support states:
On top of these routine tasks, Emilie is always one step ahead. Before we even begin working on our next tradition or program, Emilie has already copied over last year’s documents so they are ready for modifications and updates. Her efforts go beyond standard office work to ensure a warm and welcoming environment for our team and visitors. She routinely starts the birthday card pass, tends to our many office plants, and ensures supplies are restocked and ready for whatever comes our way.
Innovation Award
Jim Baker - Vice President for Research
Jim’s nominator says:
Jim approaches challenges with creativity, optimism, and a solutions-oriented mindset. When confronted with obstacles, he is not one to say, “It can’t be done.” Instead, he reflects, identifies new angles, and finds ways to use or grow resources strategically. His commitment is to empowering faculty, staff, and students to build I&E skills, derisk ideas, and move toward both non-dilutive funding and commercial investment. His innovative work directly advances the University’s Strategic Plan.
Living and operating in a geographically isolated region requires resourcefulness. Jim excels at connecting Michigan Tech innovators to the assets they need, whether those resources are on campus, across the state, or built through new collaborations. His ability to see gaps and design programs to fill them is one of his greatest strengths. For example, he helped launch a cross-institutional entrepreneurship program in partnership with Northern Michigan University, expanding opportunities for students and faculty at both campuses.
A letter of support states:
Although innovation is in the name of Jim’s title, he excels with finding innovative solutions to problems confronting our campus and our local communities. Jim is dedicated to the University’s strategic plan and its innovation goals. Jim has a high level of commitment and is continuously working on solutions to improve Michigan Tech’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem and strengthen its connections throughout the state.
Legacy Award
Karen Hext - Graduate School
Karen’s nominator says:
“Why do we do it this way? Can we do it better.” Those two questions are the core of Karen’s approach to graduate degree services. Karen excels because she asks those questions, and she listens to the answers. Asking why it’s done this way is too often just a prelude to how someone thinks it can be better. Karen takes the time to understand why before launching into change. In just over two years, Karen has significantly improved the Graduate School’s efficiency in our overall processes, the commencement application process, and our curriculum management.
A letter of support states:
Karen Hext's middle name must be Patience. The interactions that always make me smile in admiration are those she has with our grad students. Karen greets every one of them with the same welcoming kindness. They come into her office with big concerns, and anxiety, and sometimes tears in their eyes, and they find a calm person who is going to look them in the eye, patiently listen to their situations, answer their questions, and give them the boost of confidence they need to go see the next person whose help they require, just like a good mom would! I know the students wish that they could stay in Karen's office, and wish she could solve all of their problems. Not everyone's middle name is Patience.
Outstanding Leader
Kiersten Birondo - Rozsa Center for Performing Arts
Kiersten’s nominator says:
Kier communicates clearly and regularly with all the members of her staff. This year, Kier implemented the task-management system, Asana, to help manage workflow among diverse divisions of labor at the Rozsa Center. It has helped improve communication and deadline completion between employees working in programming, marketing, ticketing, event production, front-of-house, and financial administration. Managers feel empowered to oversee and manage their work and that of others in their specific areas. I have supervised staff at the Rozsa Center since July 2015 and have been impressed at how positive and organized the whole team has been under Kier’s new leadership. This success can be directly attributed to the work atmosphere she has fostered.
A letter of support states:
She regularly acknowledges others for their contributions and leadership for projects in our department. We are such a small staff, we almost never do anything completely alone, and she frequently acknowledges these contributions even when we think they’re too minor to mention. Hearing regularly that your work, your effort, is SEEN is incredibly motivating. In our one-on-one meetings she will often lead a compliment or acknowledgement with “I know you’re not always comfortable hearing how much of a difference you’re making, AND I need you to hear [insert example of making a difference, and HOW it has made a difference].” The biggest impact to me is not just the acknowledgement of contribution, it is also the explanation to everyone how that contribution has made a broader impact on the project or goal that we are working on.
Rookie Award
Easton Laitila - Auxiliary and Business Services
Easton’s nominator says:
Easton embodies every aspect of the Rookie Award criteria. He joined our team only seven months ago, yet has already become an indispensable member of our organization. His contributions to financial planning, budget analysis, and strategic decision-making have been immediate and substantial. Most impressively, he has quickly grasped not only the technical aspects of his role but also the broader mission of supporting Michigan Tech's auxiliary services to enhance the student experience and advance University priorities.
From day one, Easton has tackled complex analytical challenges with remarkable skill and confidence. Within his first three months, he took on leadership of our annual capital planning process—a critical function that guides millions of dollars in infrastructure investments across auxiliary units.
A letter of support states:
One of the most impactful interactions I have had with Easton occurred during a situation where I was asked to step in and guide a campus department through a crucial financial planning process. Though these responsibilities fell outside of Easton's primary focus, he took charge immediately to help with the request. With very minimal guidance from me, he efficiently updated the planning tools, monitored monthly activities, and confidently led the department heads through monthly check-ins. His ability to ensure consistent monthly deliverables while also providing critical insight into where the department's energies should be focused was invaluable to the process.
Serving Others
Dawn Corwin - Waino Wahtera Center for Student Success
Dawn’s nominator says:
Last year, Michigan Tech transitioned from a traditional week-long Orientation to a new model: a partial week on campus paired with several summer weekends. This major shift required Dawn Corwin to redesign significant portions of the program.
Most people never see the complexity behind Orientation. From the outside, it looks seamless—but behind the scenes, it requires extraordinary coordination, delegation, planning, and cross-campus collaboration. Dawn manages these moving parts with humility, patience, and grace. Despite the challenges of launching an entirely new model, she ensured families, new students, and campus partners experienced a smooth, well-run program.
This year, Dawn used the new Orientation format to build stronger collaborations across campus. She invited offices and departments to table throughout the summer, allowing families and students to learn about programs and opportunities before classes began. This approach was a tremendous success, widely appreciated, and only possible because Dawn intentionally created space for shared involvement. Her leadership directly served others: families felt more informed and prepared, departments felt valued and included, and the larger Michigan Tech community benefited from a more connected, supportive Orientation experience.
Another letter of support says:
Dawn also quietly serves others in a multitude of ways. Dawn advises a student organization, she co-advises a sorority, she teaches success courses, serves on a multitude of committees, and ALWAYS volunteers for commencement, K-day, Stage Revue auditions, homecoming court, student award judging, and anything else she is asked to do. She also ALWAYS shows up for our students; going to sports games, karaoke nights, award nights, and other events they host. Dawn has been quietly serving and coordinating with so many areas of campus so I believe she is deserving of this award.
Unsung Hero
Shelle Sandell - Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering
Shelle’s nominator says:
Shelle takes initiative without being prompted and without fanfare. She works hard behind the scenes to ensure that the department functions well. For example: “A faculty member teaching in a lab space noted the need to update the stools in a teaching lab space. Shelle investigated the height of the laboratory tables, determined the number of new stools needed, obtained quotes, and placed the order. She knew this process would take time and she wanted to make sure the new stools were in place before the start of the spring semester. She didn’t need to be prompted or reminded to do these steps. She knew what was needed and got it done.”
A letter of support states:
I would hate to try to write a job description for Shelle, because it seems like she is involved with helping with everything! Ostensibly, Shelle’s job as Department Coordinator includes managing the CEGE budget, department IRAD, and Michigan Tech Fund Gifts, plus providing post award help, as well as supporting communication and engagement with alumni and prospective students and internal communication with the CEGE faculty and staff. However, I feel like that is just the start of her activities.
For example, if I need help with the copier, I ask Shelle. If I need help with the AV equipment in the conference room, I ask Shelle. If I need help getting a bus for my field trip, I ask Shelle. If the bus doesn’t show up for my field trip, I call Shelle. If I need the lab coats cleaned for the lab class I co-teach, I ask Shelle. If I need help with my research project index, I ask Shelle. If I need help managing promotion and tenure binders, I ask Shelle. The list goes on, and on, and it should become abundantly clear how invaluable Shelle is to the department.