Bianca Wugofski, a junior marketing major, has been named the UT Austin 2012 Student Employee of the Year. Wugofski has worked as a student associate for Texas Performing Arts since 2010. The award is given annually to an outstanding student employee who has made a unique contribution to the university and has demonstrated exceptional reliability, quality of work, initiative, attitude, and professionalism.

According to Maggie Bang, the student engagement coordinator at Texas Performing Arts, Wugofski “has made an irrevocable impact in just two short years. Her constant drive to always improve makes her an exceptional person and an extraordinary member of our staff.”

Among Wugofski’s achievements at the center are the creation and implementation of a newsletter for roughly 80 student employees at the center and the development of an Austin events calendar to assist staff with programming and scheduling.

She was also instrumental in establishing and marketing a new student space at the center called The Loft. Bang says Wugofski’s work on The Loft has “been a huge contribution to the university. On a sports-dominated campus, it is hard for the arts to find a voice. Bianca’s effort did just that.”

Wugofski was recently promoted and will handle many of the logistics of a two-year, multi–campus research project that focuses on student engagement with university-based presenting organizations. “We are lucky to have her for one more year to continue her work on the student engagement research project” says Bangs. “If her past accomplishments are any indication of her future impact, by the time we complete the research project, The University of Texas will be a changed campus.”

Wugofski will be recognized at the President’s Student Leadership Awards event hosted by the Texas Exes on April 2, 2012 and will receive a certificate and $500. She will also be entered into the regional and national competitions, whose winners will each be awarded $1000.