Honor Sandy Stankevich As Engineer, Tribal Coordinator

Armstrong Creek native and current town of Goodman resident Sandy Stankevich has been notified by Jennifer Donnelly, state director of the Office of Employment Relations, that she has “... been selected to be recognized as the recipient of an an honorable mention at this year’s Virginia Hart Special Recognition Ceremony.”

Working out of the Rhinelander Region of the five divisions which make up the Department of Transportation (DOT), Stankevich was nominated for the award by her immediate supervisor Cheryl Simon, a planning engineer, and others who wrote letters of support.

Throughout the state, approximately 40 women were nominated for the honor, according to awards program coordinator Dee Surillo who is coordinating the May 21 event. From the nominations, one first place winner and seven honorable mentions were selected, one of them Stankevich.

Currently, Stankevich’s title at the DOT reads, “Regional planning engineer and tribal coordinator, Division of Transportation System Development.”

Humbled by the nomination and the award, Stankevich emphasized how so much of what she does is more through teamwork and a cooperative effort rather than individual pursuit. She cited as an example a 2008 DOT-DNR award presented to her at a Regional Construction Conference in March. The award was for the Mishonagon Creek Bridge Project on State Highway 47 in Vilas County.

“I oversaw the construction,” she said. “I really don’t feel as I should have gotten an award for the bridge because I didn’t do the actual work. The designer did a beautiful job on the bridge.”

In 2004 Stankevich received an award for a bridge construction effort on the Kremlin Road Bridge & Approaches that leads to the mine east of 141 in Pembine. Again, though she was more involved in its construction and design, it was a team effort.

The Mishonagon Bridge, as an entrance to the Lac du Flambeau reservation was designed specifically to blend with tribal customs and with the vista. The award said, in part, “For stellar effort in cultural sensitivity and environmental coordination during highway project development. Alexandra helped forge a positive relationship with numerous members of the tribe and thereby helped to overcome a number of obstacles during project development and construction.”

Stankevich believes that it is her work with the Tribes which resulted in her selection for the award. Three years ago in September, her job description changed to planning engineer which means, in part, that she looks to the future and projects 10-15 years ahead to anticipate needs. She also became the first person in the state of Wisconsin designated as a Tribal Coordinator from the forward-looking Rhinelander office. An executive order from Governor Jim Doyle known as “Executive Order # 39” recognizes Tribal governments as sovereign nations and directs government offices to recognize them as such.

In the realigned DOT regions, there are five. The Rhinelander office includes seven of the 11 recognized Wisconsin Tribal governments. Among those in the region are the Menominee, the Lac du Flambeau, the Mole Lake Sokaogon Chippewa, Stockbridge-Musee (near Shawano), as well as the Forest County Potawatomi.

Following the executive order, Stankevich became the first Tribal coordinator in the state. “I coordinate work between our office and Tribal lands,” she said, “and abide by tribal laws and recognize them as sovereign nations. Executive Order # 39 said that we’ll work with the tribes on a government to government basis. It’s very progressive, and we have created and signed a partnership agreement.”

As the first person to do this work, she learned as she went, and is still learning. She facilitates meetings. She travels to the tribes. “Each tribe is different,” she said. “I’m learning everyday.”

Now, each of the five DOT regions has a tribal coordinator, two of them recently appointed. Still, she said, that one person doesn’t do project work “It’s BIG teamwork,” she emphasized, for any project.

At the age of 44, Stankevich made a startling career change. She said she doesn’t mind her age being mentioned because she understands that she is and can be a role model, not just for women but also for beginning college education later in life. After working as an X-ray technician, a surgical nurse, and then running a restaurant that was sold, she wondered what next. She attended Nicolet College in Rhinelander for awhile, thinking she may become an elementary teacher. She said doing something else never crossed her mind until a couple professors suggested she not limit her vision.

Then she thought about it, considered options, and how she’d ridden with her father when he’d picked up his bulldozer. “I thought about my dad,” she said. “I wanted to work where my dad worked. He was a bulldozer operator and built roads. I like the outside. To me in this life, it’s the perfect fit. I really love what I’m doing. It really clicked.”

She enrolled at Michigan Tech as a civil engineering student. Stankevich graduated at age 48 in 2001 “at the top of her class,” according to her mother, Micci Janczy, from Armstrong Creek.

“That’s my mother,” Stankevich laughed. She did graduate with honors, and she said it was not easy. She had not had calculus in high school and launched into that subject with students half her age and fresh from honors calculus classes. And she said she was old enough to be their mother. She, like the kid on the playground, was the last person selected as a lab partner. As for women, she said, “I was the minority of one.”

When she graduated, she was hired by the Rhinelander office. “We were lucky to get her,” North Central Region director Daniel Grasser said. “Her dedication and commitment are just a huge asset. She will go that extra mile. The Tribe is an example of the critical partnership we had. She has to respect the various needs of each tribe. She’s been the critical link and put in a lot of effort,” he said. “She’s an engineer by education, and she understands the nuts and bolts, and she can transfer that into common needs.”

In a letter of support from Rebecca Bushel, NC region operations director and Grasser, five points regarding Stankevich’s work and worth stand out: “committed to the core values; reliable, dedicated, decisive, self-motivated; performs beyond expectations consistently; common sense approach; possesses a high level of technical/analytical skills.”

“This is why she has been successful,” Grasser said.

Hart was the first woman to serve on the Wisconsin governor’s cabinet, and upon her retirement “... friends and colleagues established an award fund in her honor to recognize ‘exemplary performances and contributions to the citizens of the state’ by woman in government,” according to information provided by Donnelly.

Hart died in 2007.

Simon, 19 years at the DOT, who has moved up just a step ahead of Stankevich, also views their working together as a team approach, though she could technically be called Stankevich’s immediate supervisor. Simon followed in her father’s footsteps and enrolled at Platteville when one or two women took civil engineering classes. In Rhinelander, the staff is quite balanced.

“Another element,” Simon said, “was what nominees do other than work, and their involvement. She’s an ever-present fixture at sporting events, school functions, and community affairs. She’s a role model to her nieces and nephews.”

Simon said of Stankevich, “She was surprised. She didn’t do all this work to be recognized for the award. You don’t do it for the recognition; but it’s important to know of it and that it was appreciated.”

May 21 at 1 p.m., eight years after school and a career change, Stankevich will be one of eight women to be recognized in the Senate Parlor at the State Capitol in Madison. “It’s a huge honor,” Grasser said. “Nominees come from all over the state.”

The hour and a half session will include refreshments and a program to honor the women.

One other had been so honored from the Rhinelander office in the past.

In response to her colleagues, Stankevich said, “I am humbled by this honorable mention because I have worked with many women who work as hard if not harder than I do every day and are also passionate about what they do. Success in any program isn’t something one achieves alone. Under the leadership of Dan and Rebecca, North Central was the first region to make the commitment to address Tribal affairs and develop a program to work cooperatively with the Tribes within our region. I know I could not do this position justice if Cheryl, Paul and Chuck didn’t allow me time to focus on Tribal needs. Nor could I have had success without the guidance and cooperative efforts of Alyssa (Macy) and Rosie. And you have all been there for me with support and encouragement.”

Stankevich holds that combination of work ethic, commitment, and dedication, as well as the ability to interact with co-workers and with Tribal members. As Simon indicated, a person doesn’t work for awards, but they come with hard work and dedication.

Of her relationship with people and verbal skills, Stankevich laughed and said, “It all comes from being raised in a bar.” However, she learned one big lesson from her mother and father. “My parents taught me, no matter who they are, to respect people and be kind to people.”

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