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Robert M. La Follette
School of Public Affairs
1225 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI 53706
Telephone: 608.262.3581
Fax: 608.265.3233
Last updated:
August 18, 2011
© Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Alumni and Friends: La Follette Notes: Fall 2007
Alum opens doors, advances opportunities
Alum Rob Cramer is all about opportunity, whether smoothing the way for La Follette School interns or changing his own career.
Since graduating from La Follette in 1992, he has moved up through a variety of jobs with the state of Wisconsin. Most recently, he was administrator of the Wisconsin Department of Administration’s Division of State Facilities and secretary of the State Building Commission. But he has left that for a new opportunity at University of Wisconsin–Platteville. There he oversees human resources, facilities, and business and financial services as the assistant chancellor for administrative services.
Alum supports students
Rob Cramer
Rob Cramer expands opportunities for students with donations to the La Follette School via the University of Wisconsin Foundation.
For him, financial support on top of his collaborations with students goes a long way in helping the La Follette School promote public service among students and around Wisconsin.
“Gifts from alumni support students and faculty in the outreach work they do,” Cramer says. “The research and analysis they provide state agencies help inform policymakers’ decisions, and our donations help cover some of the costs involved.”
And while Cramer keeps his eyes open for advancing his own career, he watches out for those coming from his alma mater.
At the Division of State Facilities, Cramer made a point of bringing La Follette School students into the agency.
“Every year for seven years we had at least one La Follette student working as an LTE or project assistant,” Cramer says. “They had a lot of interest in working on real issues and brought a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives to the team.”
One of those students, Tanya (Wagner) Iverson, 2002, is now a community services specialist at the Wisconsin Department of Commerce. She attributes her career path in large part to Cramer’s influence and the opportunities he gave her.
She found Cramer to be an excellent mentor and manager. “Rob let the opportunities unfold and never took over projects,” Iverson says. “All the work I did seemed meaningful and important, plus I had a lot of latitude. He made sure I had no obstacles in completing a project.”
Cramer also collaborated with La Follette School faculty and students on classroom projects, most recently two capstone workshop reports. One offers a framework for reducing the environmental impacts of Wisconsin state office buildings. A 2007 report advises DOA how to comply with the mandate to acquire 10 percent of the state government’s electricity from renewable resources. It informed a request for proposals issued in June.
Wisconsin DOA internship steers alum into public sector
Nonprofit management was the original career goal for Tanya (Wagner) Iverson when she started at La Follette in the fall of 2000. “At the time, I didn’t really have experience with state government,” she says. “I was on a nonprofit tilt.” Read more …
Bringing in students is a boon to state government, Cramer notes. “Students help balance the professional staff who are used to a certain way of doing things. La Follette School students ask why and bring new perspectives to the table.”
Being at the table was invaluable for Iverson. “Rob created opportunities for me to take on really big projects,” Iverson says. “That included having me — as an intern — present the study I did to the DOA secretary and his staff.”
Giving students experience with a state agency is essential, Cramer says. “We should try to get the right people into public service. Most of us were given opportunities by people, so opening doors for others is a way of paying that back.”