This month’s Hero Award recipients are Madeline Siener, the coordinator for campus inclusion in the Office of Postsecondary Education; Sydne Sewald, the head residency officer and social media manager for registration in the Office of the Registrar; and Kate Votaw, an associate teaching professor in the Pierre Laclede Honors College and UMSL’s undergraduate research coordinator. (Photos by Derik Holtmann)
University of Missouri–St. Louis Chancellor Kristin Sobolik and her cabinet continue to recognize the exemplary efforts of staff and faculty members from across campus by bestowing the UMSL Hero Award on up to three individuals each month.
This month’s honorees are Madeline Siener, the coordinator for campus inclusion in the Office of Inclusive Postsecondary Education; Sydne Sewald, the head residency officer and social media manager for registration in the Office of the Registrar; and Kate Votaw, an associate teaching professor in the Pierre Laclede Honors College and UMSL’s undergraduate research coordinator.
Madeline Siener
Siener traces her interest in working with students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to experiences she had working at a Muscular Dystrophy Association summer camp when she was younger.
When she chose to study education as an undergraduate at Saint Louis University, she immediately gravitated to special education. She assumed she’d spend her career working in an early childhood classroom and landed a position with the Special School District of St. Louis County in Kirkwood after graduation.
But after nearly three years there that largely coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, Siener was ready to make a change when she learned about an opportunity at the Office of Inclusive Post Secondary Education and its Succeed Program. Siener immediately recognized this could be an exceptional and rewarding opportunity.
“I was a little nervous transitioning from early childhood to adults, but it has been a wonderful experience, and I have learned so much from them as they are learning and gaining independence,” she said. “Since being here, I’ve realized how innovative and unique UMSL’s program is because there are approximately 300 programs like ours in the nation. That’s a small percentage of the total number of colleges and universities.”
Its more-than-decade-long history puts it in even rarer company.
“I feel lucky to be able to interact with students and feel blessed to be surrounded by such incredible colleagues, under Dr. Jonathan Lidgus‘ leadership, who push me to grow professionally every day,” Siener said. “The support that we receive from the university to recognize the importance of the Office of Inclusive Postsecondary Education’s mission is outstanding. The students benefit from this support, and I feel that the larger university benefits from having students of all abilities on campus. It is a win-win for all.”
Siener started as a student support specialist in January 2022 and transitioned into the role of coordinator of campus inclusion in August 2023. She works closely with campus partners to support the holistic development of students with a particular focus on enhancing independent living skills and fostering their social development.
One office she connects with regularly is Title IX and Equity, and Jessica Swederske, UMSL’s Title IX coordinator and chief equity officer, nominated Siener for the Hero Award.
“My office frequently works with students in the Succeed program and I always know I can rely on Madeline to support in any way she can,” Swederske said. “I know I can reach out to her and count on her to facilitate or arrange any meeting I need to have with any student she works with. You can tell she truly cares about her job as demonstrated by her commitment to the students she works with.
“I recall a meeting I had with a student in the program and Madeline was in attendance as support. The topic was difficult, but Madeline was able to help ease the student’s anxiety. Further, she was able to communicate with me the best way to share information with the student in order to guarantee his understanding of the topic.”
Sydne Sewald
Sewald has made an impression on colleagues in the Office of the Registrar with the way she’s stepped forward to take on new roles since joining the team about 3½ years ago.
That willingness to accept new responsibilities whenever needed, including with her most recent promotion to UMSL’s head residency officer in August, is why former Associate Registrar Danielle Faucett and current colleague Katelyn Tuskey both nominated her for the UMSL Hero Award.
“Sydne has been doing so much for everyone in the department,” Tuskey said in her nomination of Sewald. “On top of taking on Residency duties, she is also running all the office’s social media accounts, and she has been tirelessly working on training documents for new employees as well as helpful documents for other departments to know exactly what we do here in Registration. She has gone way above and beyond to help make everything flow smoothly here in Registration.”
“Her willingness to go beyond her role reflects a deep dedication to UMSL’s mission,” Faucett added.
Interim Registrar Tyrome Petty approached Sewald last August to see if she’d be willing to take on the residency officer role, which requires evaluating residency petitions from students who are hoping to qualify for in-state tuition. She’s enjoyed getting to be a problem-solver, and the job has provided her the opportunity to witness the impact of her work.
“The amount of times I’ve gotten calls from students, and I can just hear the stress in their voice because they’re always like, ‘I just want to make sure I do it right,’” Sewald said. “I try to reassure them. Like, ‘It’s okay if you miss something. I’ll message you and get it sorted out.’ You can hear the relief when they’re accepted because that can be the difference in whether or not they can continue going to school or not.”
Sewald, who earned a bachelor’s degree in English from UMSL in 2022, is continuing her own education as she helps others. She’s currently pursuing her MBA with an emphasis in marketing and expects to graduate in December.
Long-term, Sewald hopes to pursue a career in marketing, and she’s hoping the combination of her English degree, a professional writing certificate and her MBA will help position her for work as a copywriter. In particular, she’s been enjoying her marketing strategies course with Teaching Professor Perry Drake.
“His classes are super helpful,” she said, “and it’s just reinforcing that this is the path that I want to go down.”
Kate Votaw
Kate Votaw was a student in the Pierre Laclede Honors College, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology, when she decided she wanted to teach. Her experience with the small, seminar-style, discussion-based courses that help develop writing and critical thinking skills provided the inspiration to pursue such a career.
“Literally, as a junior, I was like, ‘If I could teach somewhere like the Honors College, that would be really nice,’” Votaw said. “I didn’t even know it was called the Socratic method at the time, where it’s peer-to-peer discussions. I just thought the classroom was really interesting and engaging. I didn’t think it would work out. That was very much right time, right place.”
Votaw joined the faculty in the Honors College full-time in 2016, though she’d already been teaching there part-time while pursuing her doctorate at Saint Louis University. A couple of years into her tenure, Votaw joined the planning committee for Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol and the Undergraduate Research Symposium amid a shift in the organizational structure for the latter.
“I ended up seeing a disconnect between our mission and identity as a research-based institution,” Votaw said. “It was absolutely happening that undergraduates were getting involved in research, but everyone who had a role in it had just kind of stumbled into it. I felt like there should be an entity who was not in charge but who kind of had that bird’s eye view.”
Around the same time, Edward Munn Sanchez came to UMSL as the new dean of the Honors College, and in an early meeting with him, Votaw shared her observations. Not long after, Munn offered her the newly created position as undergraduate research coordinator.
In addition to her teaching and advising responsibilities in the Honors College, she leads the planning and organization for the UMSL contingent participating in the University of Missouri System’s annual Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol as well as the Undergraduate Research Symposium. The latter provides a platform for student researchers to share their work with the wider UMSL community each April.
She believes strongly in the lessons that undergraduate research provides.
“I value evidence-based reasoning and conclusions, and I like helping get undergraduates introduced to that idea and getting that hands-on experience as early as they can, even if they’re not going to graduate school,” Votaw said.
This year, she’s been working collaboratively with Amber Reinhart, UMSL’s vice provost for the Graduate School and Academic Affairs, to align the Undergraduate Research Symposium with the Graduate Research Fair. Both events are scheduled to take place on April 24.
“Kate’s work on the Undergraduate Research Symposium has an enormous positive impact on our campus and for our undergraduate students,” said Reinhart, who nominated Votaw for the Hero Award. “Last year, there were 12 oral presentations and over 40 visual presentations. This impressive event would not be possible without Kate’s hard work. Both in and outside of the classroom, Kate is focused on students, and she represents exactly what an UMSL Hero should be.”
