Going Above and Beyond: Student Employees of the Month for October

Every month, the Department of Mathematics recognizes student employees that are “exceptional and valuable members” of the department. This is a new program created by the department to recognize the hard work of our student employees. Nominated for going above and beyond in their roles, here are October’s students of the month. 

Kaitlyn L. 

Kaitlin is an Undergraduate Learning Assistant for Math 263 and has worked for the department for 5 semesters now. She is majoring in Neuroscience & Cognitive Science and will be attending medical school next year, most interested in neurology. 

“I enjoy collaborating with DeAnna McDonald, and the other preceptors, on how we can make the class more engaging and interactive,” Kaitlyn shared, “It has been fun helping all the students that take 263.”

DeAnna McDonald, a lecturer in the department, nominated Kaitlyn and noted she “has been by far one of my best partners in instruction of the large enrollment 263…The greatest impact that Kaitlyn made came about in how she anticipated the needs of the students and took the initiative to support their learning.” With the large size of this section of Math 263, Kaitlyn stepped up, along with 2 other preceptors, to propose a plan to create topic review sessions that complemented the learning objectives for the week. This ensured that all students got to review materials during office hours. This was going above and beyond for the students!

Fun fact, Kaitlyn did karate and Taekwondo growing up, where she earned a black belt in each! Thank you for your hard work, Kaitlyn.

Katie M.

Katie is an Administrative and Proctoring Support, Math 100 Student Coordinator. She has been with the department for 1.5 years and is majoring in Anthropology. She would eventually like to be focusing on the administrative side of forensic work in a government agency. She most enjoys interacting with students as they always have a funny story to share. 

She was nominated by Math 100 team members Katie Horan, Michelle Woodward, and Sarah Morrison. “Her work ethic is among the highest I have seen,” Katie H noted, “In her time with Math 100, she has become an invaluable asset, doing everything from grading, answering chats, and running our testing space.”

Additionally, Michelle shared that Katie “not only is highly competent, but she also works to make processes more efficient. We are going to miss her tremendously and are so grateful for all she has contributed to Math 100.” 

Finally, Sarah remarked that Katie “is an advocate for her fellow staff as well as for Math 100 students, and is a great leader. She is always willing to help and jump into a project with enthusiasm and always has great ideas for ways to improve our workflow which greatly benefits our team.”

A little fun fact about Katie is that she is from Maryland and will put Old Bay on almost everything. Congratulations, and thank you Katie!

Madeline W. 

Madeline is an Undergraduate Learning Assistant for Math 116 and has been with the department for 2.5 years. She is a biology major, but is actually planning to go to law school next year. “I want to pursue science-based law and advocate for the importance of STEM in our society,” Madeline shared. She loves seeing the “lightbulb” moment for students. She says that being able to break down the content in a way that students can understand is very fulfilling.

Madeline was nominated by Steven Foster, a senior lecturer here in the department. Steven notes, “It is quite apparent that she genuinely cares about the students’ success in this course. During class, while students are working on problems in groups, Madeline is very effective at going around to as many tables as possible in order to help students work through the problems. She has a very illuminating quality that I believe students gravitate towards.”

Fun fact, Madeline took and TA'd for Calc 2 for a couple of semesters, which is actually a course her major is not required to take. She knew she loved calculus, so she asked her advisor to give her permission to still take Math 129 instead of what she could've taken. Thank you for being such a light in the classroom, Madeline!

Congratulations to these outstanding students. Thank you Kaitlyn, Katie, and Madeline for all that you do! Your contributions to our department are immeasurable, and the dedication you show in your roles is truly admirable.