58 college employees were honored for providing support to students.
The awards, presented during a Jan. 29 ceremony, are earned through nominations made from parents of UNL students. Presented annually, the honors provide positive feedback to faculty and staff about their work with students. They also encourage good student and faculty relationships and provide recognition in an area often overlooked in the formal rewards system.
"These awards are special because you earn them just for being a good citizen of the university," said Rick Alloway, an associate professor of broadcasting and 23-time winner of the honor. "It's heartening because parents take the extra time to say that they appreciate the extra time you spend working with their children."
The UNL Parents Association solicits nominations through an annual mailing, asking parents to nominate a faculty or staff employee who has made a significant difference in their student’s life. Nominations include a short explanation of why this person was nominated.
All who were nominated by at least one parent or student and who are still with the university received a certificate. The annual recognition ceremony was organized by the Division of Student Affairs and co-sponsored by the UNL Teaching Council and UNL Parents Association. Certificates of recognition for contributions to students were given during the ceremony.
The 2015-2016 recipients are listed below. Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of years a recipient has received the award. If no number is listed, the award is a first-time honor.
Anthropology — Matthew Douglass (2); Emily Hammerl; Carrie Heitman
Biological Sciences — Gwen Bachman (11); Brian Couch; Scott Gardner (12)
Chemistry — David Berkowitz (2); Brandon Henslee; Jason Kautz (8); Eric Malina (8); Chris McCune (3)
Classics and Religious Studies — Matthew Loar
Communication Studies — Jaclyn Marsh; Angela Palmer-Wackerly; Damien Smith Pfister
Computer Science and Engineering — Donald Costello; Charles Riedesel (8); Stephen Scott; Mehmet Can Vuran
Dean's Office — Joseph Francisco
Earth and Atmospheric Studies — Mark Anderson (3); David Harwood (3)
English — Wheeler Dixon (15); Robert N. Fuglei Jr. (2); Amanda Gailey (2); Brenda Ingraham (2); Yulia Levchenko; Michael Page (3); Kelly Payne (2); Beverley Rilett (3); Kelly Stage (2); Pascha Stevenson (3)
History — James Le Sueur (6); Carole Levin (5); Ann Tschetter (4); Vanessa Gorman (7); Victoria Smith (3, also in Ethnic Studies)
Mathematics — Steve Cohn (9); Bo Deng (6); Cheryl Kane (4); William Lewis (12); Chris True (3); Mark Walker (3); Jerel Welker
Modern Languages and Literatures — Marie Blair (16); Abla Hasan (2); Alicia Herraiz Gutierrez; Alexis Jimenez (4); Catherine Johnson (4); Bethany Sanio (3)
Philosphy — Jean Cahan (3)
Physics and Astronomy — Matthias Fuchs; Oran Yenen (5)
Political Science — John Gruhl (12); Sergio Wals (2); Tyler White (2)
Psychology — Michael Todd (3); Manda Williamson (4)
