CBE adviser dedicated to students

Ellen Schultz, adviser for the College of Business and Economics, is a woman of many interests, including sports, traveling and spending time with her family.

Upon entering Schultz’s South Hall office, it’s hard to ignore the picture slideshow on her computer which showcases photos of some of her favorite memories.

There is one photograph of her family taking part in the Wisconsin in Scotland program and another of her son playing in the marching band at UW-Madison.

Schultz has been working at UWRF since 1996. Her position started as a part-time job, but has since worked its way into full-time. She came here after her husband Brian was offered a position in the school’s business department.

However, her husband’s connection is not the only one she has with the University. Her son also graduated from here.

“I work with freshman and sophomores and help them understand what’s going on and encourage them and explain to them some of the options available to them,” Schultz said.

Over the years, Schultz has worked with a large number of students and said she gains great satisfaction seeing students graduate, whether it’s with a degree from CBE or some other college on campus.

“My goal is to help students positively gain confidence and reach their goals,” she said.

Another satisfying part of Schultz’s job is when students come to tell her that they are doing well or enjoying a class that they were at one time worried about taking.

As an adviser, there is one thing that Schultz can’t encourage her students enough to participate in. She is an advocate of any sort of study abroad program, whether it’s a whole semester or a J-term trip.

“Concerns that students have about studying abroad are that they won’t have the necessary funding or the time, but once you’re in the work force you won’t necessarily have the funding either, or the time,” Schultz said.

Schultz herself has had a number of international experiences, including the Wisconsin in Scotland program in the fall of 1987. Her visit to Scotland was during the second year of the program. 

Once Schultz retires, which she doesn’t hope will be for awhile, she hopes that she and her husband will be able to spend a lot of time traveling.

Another hobby of Schultz’s includes following Wisconsin sports. She said she enjoys any sports, especially Falcon and Badger sports. And she also loves the Milwaukee Brewers and the Green Bay Packers. 

The Wisconsin Academic Advising Associated awarded Schultz with the Advising Excellence Award last fall.