Posted 8 a.m. Friday, July 17, 2026
Victoria Calmes receives 2026 Eagle Excellence in Advising Award
UW-La Crosse faculty are known for inspiring students inside the classroom. But their actual impact extends much further.
Many UWL faculty also serve as academic advisors. They help students plan and pursue their educational goals, setting them up for success in their lives and careers.
To celebrate academic advisors and the critical but often unseen work they do on campus, UWL created the Eagle Excellence in Academic Advising Award in 2020. This year’s recipient is Victoria Calmes, associate professor of global cultures and languages.
Victoria Calmes, Global Cultures & Languages
Started at UWL: 2022
Courses: I teach all of the courses in my department related to Spain in culture, history, art, film, literature, etc. These include SPA 302: Faces of Spain: Conversation and Culture, SPA 309: Spanish Culture Through Art, SPA 353: Perspectives on Contemporary Spain, SPA 369: Spanish Culture and Language in Granada, Spain (taught abroad during my faculty-led program to Granada, Spain), and SPA 403: Spanish Narratologies (literature and film).
Background: I graduated from the University Complutense in Madrid, Spain, with a degree in English philology, and also from Marquette University (Milwaukee), with a masters in Spanish. I continued my education with a doctorate in Spanish literature and film at the University of California, Irvine.
Advising responsibilities: I have a total of 70 advisees assigned to me. Apart from these, I also advise students studying abroad going to various programs in Spain. I help them complete and then approve their study abroad academic plan, with the classes they will be taking abroad, and their transfer equivalents for our courses here at UWL. I also mentor and advise students in a more general way about their studies, classes, involvement and prospects for their future.
Favorite part of advising: One of my favorite parts and joys of my profession has always been the interaction with my students. One of these interactions is advising. I take advising very seriously, because I acknowledge that it can have an important influence in students' lives. It is a big responsibility, but also a big honor to be able to help them find their way and somehow make a difference in their studies and their lives now and for the future.