After several years away, Amanda Gilman always knew the end goal was to return to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and give back to the community that supported her educational journey.
Gilman graduated from UW-Stevens Point in 2012 as the first student to navigate an online bachelor’s degree program. After attending several institutions, giving birth to her son and relocating to her hometown of Milwaukee, she started and ended her educational journey at UWSP, not wanting to give up on the mentors who shaped her.
“I have yet to find something that mimics Stevens Point,” she said. “I earned my bachelor’s degree online with the help of my adviser because I wasn’t ready to give up on Stevens Point. When you step foot on campus, it feels like a community where people will have your back.”
Thirteen years later, Gilman is now the major gifts officer of the College of Letters and Science (COLS). In this role, she has secured more than $6 million worth of funding for the COLS since 2023, including $1 million for the recent renaming of the Haeni Chemistry Biology Building. She has enjoyed helping donors see their impact on campus and knows the important role cultivating strong relationships between current students and alumni donors plays in building community.
“What makes my role super fulfilling is connecting donors with students,” Gilman said. “The process starts with a conversation, and then it may be that they open a scholarship and want to connect with the students. Watching something go from an idea to reality, seeing the students’ faces and the alumni smile when they’re connected with each other, is so rewarding.”
In the short time that she has served in her role, her work for University Advancement has not gone unnoticed by her colleagues.
“I have worked with Amanda as a member of the University Advancement team of major gift officers since February of 2023,” said Brian Stezenski-Williams, major gifts officer of the College of Natural Resources. “In that short time, Amanda established herself as a respected, well-liked, reliable colleague and exceptionally effective gift officer. She is smart, hard-working, determined and fearless, all while maintaining her focus on serving our students and supporting our donors by building honest, trust-based relationships.”
This, in combination with her dedication as an adviser of the Black Student Union, is why she was recognized with the 2025 University Staff Spirit of Community Service Award
“BSU hosts events that educate and allow opportunities for students to network with faculty, staff, administrators and alumni,” said Marshfield Campus Executive Tony Andrews. “Many of the alumni from BSU return to attend events and meet current students. These alums have stayed connected primarily through Amanda’s efforts to keep them connected and has led to individual donor support for the institution.”
As a student, Gilman felt that the community within the Black Student Union (BSU) had room for growth. Once she came back to campus, she wanted to be hands-on in creating opportunities for more students in the organization. Since becoming the advisor of BSU, Gilman has established professional development seminars, student mental health and advising resources, Black History Month celebrations and more.
“When I became advisor I wanted to create a community for our students of color, and I think we’ve done so,” she said. “We now have strong partnerships with the Multicultural Resource Center; we have really strengthened resources for all students. Having staff members being there on a daily basis, coming in and interacting with them, it’s just made a tremendous impact on our students feeling a sense of community.”
Vice Chancellor of University Advancement and UWSP Foundation CEO William Broussard has seen this exemplary work, noting that Gilman has dedicated time within her role and during her free time to help build opportunities for students of various backgrounds on campus.
“In addition to her exemplary work as the major gift officer for COLS, which engages her in daily work that serves the students, faculty, and staff of the college, she has mentored student leaders in the BSU since 2023,” said Broussard. “In her role as advisor for the BSU, she has dedicated hundreds of hours to recruiting, counseling and advising students. Ms. Gilman is a committed advocate of student success at UWSP and commits her work life and service to it each day.”
Like the donors she works with, Gilman knows that UWSP is home, no matter how many years you have been away. “I was away for 13 years, and I feel the same sense of community that I did my freshman year of college,” she said. “Stevens Point does a tremendous job of creating community for our students through faculty and staff relationships with students. This is home.”