Student Affairs Staff Spotlight: Janet De La Cruz (June 2021)
Each month, Student Affairs recognizes one of its outstanding staff members for their hard work, dedication, and passion for serving the UW Tacoma community.
Name: Janet De La Cruz
Unit: Student Affairs/Admissions
Hobby: In my free time I like to watch new movies. Before the pandemic, I volunteered and watched great indie films at The Grand Cinema.
Favorite Place on UW Tacoma campus and Why: My favorite place on campus is the seating area outside of the Snoqualmie Library. When the weather is nice, it is a great place to take a break and people watch.
Nominated by: Navia Winderling
Janet is constantly going above and beyond for the students she serves. Despite the pandemic, she has continued to develop new ways to encourage and empower students to continue their education. Janet thinks creatively about how we can reinvent our work to provide better access to our students – always centering their needs. It’s very clear that the work the recruitment team does has had to change in the last year, but Janet has remained consistent in her efforts to connect with and support prospective students and families – often working collaboratively with campus colleagues. This year, she has also taken on a leadership role in Pathways to Promise meetings, deficiency reads for holistic reviews, and supporting our prospective Veterans. Every day Janet shows our team what it means to be student-centered and how to provide exceptional service. She is dedicated, hard-working, an amazing thought partner, and incredibly humble. It is no surprise that Janet was the first advisor to volunteer for an in-person school visit since the pandemic began. Our division and our campus are very lucky to have her. Thank you Janet for the amazing work that you do.