Robi Calderaro, lead technical developer on the Employee Learning and Development team at the University of Colorado (CU) system administration, has been named the recipient of this year’s President’s Employee of the Year Award. Calderaro, who joined CU in 2017, focuses on making online courses accessible and user-friendly while ensuring they adhere to style guidelines and best practices.
Her supervisor, Laura Siedzick, highlighted Calderaro’s dedication to continuous learning and support for her colleagues. “Robi is always learning, at work and in life,” Siedzick said. “She seeks out and participates in technical training and conferences, sometimes at her own expense, and finds many tools and methods to share with us that improve our efficiency and quality. In all that Robi does, her primary concern is always to help and support others, whether it’s individuals on our team, external teams or leaders looking for efficiencies.”
Siedzick nominated Calderaro for the award alongside Morgan Endsley. The President’s Employee of the Year Award is given through a partnership between System Staff Council (SSC) and the Office of the President. It is considered CU system administration’s highest staff honor.
Calderaro described how her career path led her to CU after earning a master’s degree from CU Denver in 2007. She recounted being encouraged by a former classmate to apply for a position at CU: “At the time, my kids were in elementary school. I was teaching at Community College of Denver. I wasn’t looking for a full-time job yet, but he was insistent. I decided, why not? The worst-case scenario is they say no. And they ended up hiring me.”
Discussing what she enjoys most about her job at CU, Calderaro said: “I like using my brain – using my past experience and unrelated knowledge to solve issues or create new templates for my team’s courses.” She added that she values having her ideas heard within the organization: “So when I started working for the University of Colorado, it was awesome because when I had ideas…at least they listened to me.”
Calderaro attributes her approach to ongoing self-improvement as central to both her professional development and contributions at work: “I compete with myself. I want to be better than the day before.” She also believes skills learned outside work can be valuable professionally; for example, she recently shared quiz layout techniques from a safe driving class with her team.
Reflecting on earning her master’s degree at CU Denver, Calderaro recalled analyzing online course structures during a period when such formats were relatively new: “I also appreciated how students were encouraged to share their experiences…They gave you a voice.”
Upon receiving news of winning this year’s President’s Employee of the Year Award—an honor that comes with $1,000—Calderaro said: “It’s a huge honor. I spent the day I learned about it half crying with joy and half smiling…I am thankful to have been selected.” She noted feeling supported by colleagues’ congratulatory messages.
The President’s Employee of the Year Award recognizes outstanding performance among system administration staff members based on criteria including integrity and respect; responsibility; discovery and excellence; community involvement; as well as overall job performance.
In addition to recognizing Calderaro as this year’s award recipient, System Staff Council acknowledged four other nominees:
– Alisha Friedrichs (senior auditor)
– Deanna Uhler (program manager)
– Stefan Martorano (HR program director)
– Thanh Nguyen (director)
All demonstrated exceptional work ethic aligned with university values.
