Student Award

Jessica Betts

Jessica currently serves as the Eating Disorder Education and Prevention Student Organization’s Media Awareness Chair as well as the Room with a View Coordinator. She carries out the responsibilities as the Student’s Helping Individuals Nurture Esteem Coordinator. Jessica has spent much of her time focusing on addressing the issue of eating disorder prevention on campus and is continually seeking innovative ways to reach the student body as a means of encouraging her peers to accept the idea of positive body image.

Student Group Award

School of Natural Resources Graduate Student Association

The SNR-GSA developed a science enhancement program that focuses on natural resources education for K-5th graders. This program is in its third year at McPhee Elementary School and recently expanded to Everett Elementary. In that time the graduate students of SNR-GSA have given upwards of 500 hours per semester to community outreach at McPhee and Everett schools.

Faculty Award

Sandra Williams

Sandra is an Associate Professor in Art and Art History. She came to UNL in 2000 and since then has worked with several Lincoln public schools and teachers to promote visual art literacy. Her work has affected hundreds of middle school children in developing their love of art and their ability to tie art to different cultures around the world.

Kim A. Hobson Award (Staff Member)

William Waters

William is the Program Coordinator for the Office of Academic Support and Intercultural Services (also known as OASIS). He has served as a trip leader for the winter Alternative Service Break to Louisiana to help with Katrina Relief as well as during the spring trip to Gordon, Nebraska. Annually, William takes students to Haiti to study the Haitian culture. He recently presented a paper at the Midwest Consortium for Service-Learning in Higher Education about his travels.

Community Partner Award

Miriam Bede

Annually, Lincoln’s low-income working families earn four million in earned income credits which can help these families remove themselves from poverty, pay off bills, got college, or even buy or fix a car just so that they can get to work. Miriam, a representative of the Internal Revenue Service, has been a key component in recruiting, training, and assisting volunteer tax preparers. UNL’s success as a VITA site solely rests on Miriam’s shoulders. She has spent endless hours handing out flyers, training student, working the site, and answering endless phone calls.