The award for Staff of the Year at Blackhawk Technical College goes to Student Engagement Specialist Elisa Colson. She was nominated by the students and will be recognized at the Golden Brick Awards on June 9.

Colson, who grew up in Imperial Beach, California, lives in Janesville. She is in charge of student engagement, which means she wears many hats.

“The best description of my role,” she shared using a baseball analogy, “is a utility player.”

Colson works with all the student clubs. She is the advisor for the Student Government Association and assists the advisors for all other student clubs. She arranges travel for club members. She oversees the budget for club accounts. She is a project manager for events led by student clubs and, for certain events, she is also the event planner.

Purchases and the stocking of the Student Cupboard food pantry also fall under Colson’s list of responsibilities. She chairs the Student Cupboard and Student Activity Fee Allocation Committee committees.

Colson attended Southwestern College in San Diego as well as San Diego State. She studied journalism and public education administration. She is also a 2011 graduate of Blackhawk’s Human Resources program and has worked at Blackhawk for 18 years.

Outside of work, Colson enjoys taking long walks and reading. She has two kids and three granddaughters. She travels to Texas, Maryland and California to visit her mother, brother and sisters.