Project Management
Taryn Conaway
Project Program Manager
Taryn Conaway is a Project Manager for the Professional Degrees & Certificates (PDC). The PDC portfolio is comprised of 90+ programs ranging from capstone certificates to doctoral degrees. Taryn serves as the main contact for PDC programs and helps coordinate marketing and recruitment projects to ensure successful recruitment cycles. Taryn leads special projects such as student behavior data projects and program proposals and debriefs. She also produces the PDC Your Future. Your Way. podcast. Taryn is also a member of the Districting & Representation Committee which is charged with placing academic staff in districts based on campus guidelines. Taryn has over 20 years of project management experience and graduated with an MS in Project Management in 2021. Before working at UW-Madison, she served as a Director of Operations for an advertising agency.
Jackie Nevarez
Project Coordinator
Jackie Nevarez is a Project Coordinator for the Professional Degrees & Certificates (PDC). The PDC portfolio comprises 90+ programs ranging from capstone certificates to doctoral degrees. She supports programs by coordinating DCS recruitment and marketing projects, including webinars, video production, and the Your Future. Your Way. podcast. She leads the PDC Community of Practice, manages the GradConnections Bi-Weekly for online students newsletter, and coordinates virtual open house events, among other projects such as student survey management and distribution. Before joining DCS, Jackie held admissions and student services positions at UW–Eau Claire.
Alissa Oleck
Assistant Dean for Professional Degrees & Certificates
Alissa Oleck provides project management and support for academic affairs, specifically with the Professional Degrees & Certificates (PDC) portfolio, which is made up of 75+ flexible and online master's degrees and certificates offered across campus. She also assists with special projects related to the Educational Innovation Initiative and lifelong learning.
Yu-Li Wang
Project Coordinator
Yu-Li Wang is a Project Coordinator for the Professional Degrees & Certificates (PDC). The PDC portfolio comprises 90+ programs ranging from capstone certificates to doctoral degrees. She supports programs through coordinating DCS marketing and recruitment projects, including webinars, Your Future. Your Way. podcast and video production. Yu-Li leads process improvement projects, manages data tracking and reports, and performs market/competitor analysis research as well as assisting with other special projects such as the student behavior data project. Yu-Li was a VISP student from Taiwan (2014-2015) and received a MA in History from UW–Madison (2019). Prior to joining DCS, she worked as the administrative assistant at the Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center where she supported project managers and scientists on National Science Foundation-funded projects.