Klapatch receives Regents’ Academic Staff Excellence Award

June 7, 2019 – Sustainability and Custodial Supervisor Mark Klapatch from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls is the recipient of an Academic Staff Excellence Award from the UW System Board of Regents. The award is the UW System’s highest recognition bestowed on members of its academic staff. Klapatch accepted the award June 7 in Milwaukee.
 
Award recipients are selected for superior performance resulting in significant contributions to the department and institution; use of positive personal interaction to manage work changes; and a consistently creative approach that improves productivity and work quality. Each recipient is awarded $5,000.

Klapatch, of River Falls, oversees a staff of 17 full-time employees and 60-70 part-time student employees. His responsibilities include tracking sustainability initiatives; mentoring student volunteers and student organizations; working with all campus departments; and managing UWRF’s waste minimization, recycling, and landfill diversion efforts. He serves as chair of UWRF’s Sustainability Working Group and works with the Sustainability Faculty Fellows Committee to support and improve sustainability within the curriculum, including the recently created Sustainable Justice Minor available to all students on campus. He also serves as vice chair of the Academic Staff Council and on the Diversity and Inclusivity Committee.

Together with another supervisor, Klapatch started a surplus program on campus which annually diverts over 100,000 pounds of furniture and other materials from landfills. He has facilitated the completion of the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) report from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education for the past three years. His leadership and ability to engage others is credited for the campus achieving a Gold Rating in 2018 after receiving a Silver STARS assessment in previous years.

“This year’s award recipients reflect the high caliber of our academic staff across the UW System,” said Regent Janice Mueller, chair of the selection committee. “We are delighted to recognize their wide-ranging and significant accomplishments as they work to support student success and strengthen their institutions and communities.”
 
Two individuals and one program received the 2019 awards.

For more information, email dina.fassino@uwrf.edu or call 715-425-4306.