After more than 20 years of working at Blackhawk Technical College, Tammy Roehl, Administrative Assistant in Public Safety, will retire on Jan. 30. Her career has been defined by her commitment to learning and a passion for helping others.
Starting her career working in Continuing Education and concluding it in Public Safety, Tammy, who also is a Blackhawk alumna, has worked in many departments and has served on many committees over her tenure.
As she prepares for retirement, Tammy reflects on her journey, her time at Blackhawk, and her future plans.
What is your name and role at Blackhawk Technical College? How long have you worked here?
My name is Tammy Roehl. I am an Administrative Assistant in Public Safety. I have been with Blackhawk Technical College for 21 years. I spent my first five years as an Administrative Assistant in Continuing Education, transferred to the Business Division in 2008 and transferred to Public Safety in 2016.
What was your journey to this role? Where did you go to school? What did you study?
I came to BTC with no degree, one year of office experience, and only self-taught computer skills. I applied for the position in Continuing Education a year earlier but was not called in for an interview. I worked at a temp agency to get some experience, and one year later, the same position opened again! I got the interview and was selected!
My first supervisor, Tim Urbonya, encouraged me to get my associate's degree. It took me a couple of years to get to a point in my life where I could start classes, but my transfer to the Business Division coincided with my studies in the Web Analyst Programmer program.
It took me 6 years to work at the degree part-time while I worked full-time and helped to support a blended family of 7 children. The path to getting my degree was a little curvy, but I completed my degree in 2014. Tim had long left BTC, but I called him to thank him for his encouragement.
What have you liked most about working at Blackhawk?
Working in multiple departments and meeting so many wonderful people over the years helped to feed my curiosity and need to learn new things. I am an introvert by nature, but working at Blackhawk helped me gain the confidence I needed to join committees and take on leadership roles. I believe I have been on at least 20 committees over the years.
What would you consider the biggest change in your field during your time at Blackhawk?
Administrative Assistant positions and duties have changed quite a bit over the years. When I first started, the position was still called “Secretary”! Administrative Assistants play a much larger role than when I started and are more proactively engaged in their respective departments. It is one of those things that you do not realize how much we do until we are not there to do it.
What advice would you give somebody who’s just starting out at Blackhawk?
Get involved! Take part in the activities, the committees, and the educational opportunities Blackhawk has to offer. This is the best way to familiarize yourself with others in the college and to help make a difference for students, your co-workers, and yourself.
Looking back on your career, is there anything you would have done differently?
In my leadership role within the support staff union (now defunct), I would have advocated more strongly for support staff presence on all committees. I would also work toward bringing back professional development days where the support staff, the instructional faculty, and the administrative staff could interconnect a little more.
What are you most proud of being a part of in your time at Blackhawk?
I am proud that I had the opportunity to represent support staff employees and advocate for them as an integral part of the Blackhawk community. As a representative of that group, I am extremely proud to have been chosen to serve on the committee that created Coins for Caring.
I hope that I made a difference and will leave Blackhawk better than when I found it.
What will you miss most about Blackhawk?
I am not sure what I will miss most… until I miss it. Of course, I will miss those I work with every day, and I will miss observing the transformation of the Law Enforcement students from the first day to graduation.
Blackhawk will always be a big part of my life story.
Do you have any plans for retirement?
Yes! I became a first-time grandmother in October, and another daughter is due with her first child in April, so I feel I will be spending quality time with my grandchildren. My youngest daughter may study abroad in Germany next year, so visiting her will be on the list!
I am an avid 3D printing enthusiast and an amateur genealogist. I look forward to having more time to do both!
What is your life like outside of work? Family? Community involvement? Adorable pets?
My husband and I volunteer with the Rock County 4-H Fair as superintendents of the Electricity and Computer projects. We want to increase awareness among our young exhibitors of what Blackhawk offers in our Information Technology and Manufacturing program areas.
We have a black-and-white Coton de Tulear dog named Daisy, and I have two fish and a snail that I am watching for my college student.
I am very close to my four daughters and hope to spend more time with them, but not to the point where I annoy them…too much. My oldest three daughters have a singing group called Sisters Avalon, which just released its fourth album of cover songs last month.
Blackhawk Career Fun Fact
My youngest daughter attended daycare at Blackhawk starting at 6 weeks old. She was on the front page of the Janesville Gazette for a story about Mr. Nick, one of the caregivers! As she grew up, she attended many festivities at Blackhawk. In the summer of her junior year, she was selected to participate in the summer internship program, working at Frito-Lay. During her senior year, she took some engineering classes at the Milton Campus (now IMEC). She is now a sophomore at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. I am proud that she had so many great experiences at Blackhawk from infancy through high school!