Troy Axthelm
Troy Axthelm, a senior in computer science from Cody, has been chosen as the University of Wyoming’s Student Employee of the Year.
He received a certificate and cash award for his outstanding service to UW.
An office aide with UW’s office of the vice president for academic affairs, Axthelm was chosen based on his reliability, initiative, uniqueness of contribution, quality of work, professionalism and community and campus service.
Runners-up in the competition were Gregory Bottoms of Aurora, Colo., a senior in finance and a student supervisor; Caroline Brown of St. Paul, Minn., a junior in social work and a student program assistant; and Damian Kirkwood of Laramie, a senior in anthropology and an audio teleconference bridge operator.
A committee representing various campus departments judged the nominations. Axthelm’s name was forwarded to the western region competition of the Western Association of Student Employee Administrators for an opportunity to advance to national competition, but he was not selected.
“Troy is always willing to work on any task, and he is the first to volunteer for any job duty that may come up,” one nominator wrote. “We normally do not expect our students to work nights or weekends, but if the job requires any extra time out of normal hours, Troy is usually the first to volunteer for it without complaint.”
Additionally, his computer expertise has become a valuable asset to the office.
“He has taken on the task of redesigning a very important website with frequent use in our office and across campus,” a nominator wrote. “He was able to create a professional, easy-to-use website that has become a valuable tool not only in academic affairs, but across campus.”
A full-time student taking 18 credit hours, Axthelm is a member of a committee that decides how to spend student fees in the UW College of Engineering and Applied Science. As a member of the Association of Computing Machines, his goal is to find speakers who currently are working in the field to meet with the group members. He is the online chair for Relay for Life, and is currently seeking ways to bring supercomputing opportunities to UW students.
