2021 Student Employee of the Year
Student employees are an important part of the University of Illinois campus community, and we would like to thank student employees for all of the work they do. The Student Employee of the Year selection was open to undergraduate students in all departments who have been working for the Champaign-Urbana campus for at least 6 months. Nominators wrote a letter describing the student’s responsibilities and why they believed their student should be considered for Student Employee of the Year. Nominations were evaluated by a selection committee using the following criteria: Reliability, Quality of Work, Initiative, Professionalism, and Uniqueness of Contribution.
Video of the Student Employee of the Year Award:
Thank you to all of the nominees for your hard work and dedication, and thank you to the nominators for taking the time to recognize the outstanding student employees on our campus!
University of Illinois Student Employee of the Year
- 2020 – Faisal Masood – Bioengineering Instructional Labs
- 2019 – Chloe Toussaint – Central Access Services
- 2018 – Dawn Nguyen – Advanced Visualization Lab
- 2017 – Samantha Barratt – Integrative Biology
- 2016 – Amanda Sturgill* – Technology Services
- 2015 – Brandon Wood – NetMath-Mathematics Department
- 2014 – Alex Press – Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering
- 2013 – Michael McGarry* – Campus Recreation
- 2012 – Nick Wood – The Career Center
- 2011 – Neha Mehra* – Illini Union-Illinois Leadership Center
- 2010 – Justin Gholson – Illini Union Bookstore
- 2009 – Sarah Blatti* – Campus Recreation
- 2008 – Kevin Attermeier – Veterinary Teaching Hospital
- 2007 – Benjamin Cober – Illinois Leadership Center
- 2006 – Sarah Jacobson – Campus Recreation
- 2005 – Amber Raney – Animal Sciences
- 2004 – Amy Wilson – Department of Crop Sciences
- 2003 – Wesley (Shawn) Davis – National Center for Supercomputing Applications
- 2002 – Derek Cwik – Mathematics
- 2002 – Robert Kidd – Coordinated Science Laboratory
- 2002 – Jennifer Knapp – Beckwith Hall
- 2002 – Linda Lee – Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences
- 2002 – Jennifer Reason – Human and Community Development
- 2002 – Shenyka Wheatly – Medical Scholars Program
- 2001 – Deniz Akin – LAS General Curriculum Office
- 2001 – Amanda Buck – Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences-Entomology
- 2001 – John Holton – Spurlock Museum
- 2001 – Meredith Johnson – ODOS-New Student Programs
- 2001 – Kalev Leetaru – National Center for Supercomputing Applications
- 2001 – Mark Uchanski – Natural Resources-Horticulture
- 2000 – Rosalee Dodson – Admissions and Records
- 2000 – Daniel Linder – School of Chemical Sciences
- 2000 – Susan Mahrt – Operations and Maintenance
- 2000 – Jennifer Martin – America Reads-Robeson Elementary School
- 2000 – Judy Schumacher – Child Development Laboratory
- 2000 – Joanie Strom – Human and Community Development
- 1999 – Rochelle Briscoe – Ecology, Ethology and Evolution
- 1999 – Jessica Brown – Materials Research Laboratory
- 1999 – Tenille Jackson – Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
- 1999 – Jessica Mattos – America Reads Program
- 1999 – Khalid Smith – Office of Minority Student Affairs
- 1999 – Chicha Tenner – Sociology
*Also named State of Illinois Student Employee of the Year
Student Employee of the Year – Runner Up
- 2020 – Tajesvi Bhat – NCSA Genomics
- 2019 – Benjamin David – Bioengineering Instructional Labs
- 2018 – Geraldine Carney – Engineering IT Shared Services & Pierce Hadley – Bioengineering
- 2017 – Theresa Pham – Spurlock Museum
- 2016 – Samantha Caselton – DRES Testing Accommodations Center
- 2015 – Peter Huh – Intensive English Institute-LAS
- 2014 – Kelley Sullivan – Housing & Dining Services
- 2013 – Amanda Moore – Carver Biotechnology Center
- 2012 – Ruoyu Zhu – Quantitative Light Imaging Laboratory
- 2011 – Brian Towell – Veterinary Medicine Comparative Biosciences
- 2010 – Tracy Colin – ACES-Illinois/Indiana Sea Grant Program
- 2009 – Amy Boysen – LAS ATLAS
- 2008 – Ryan Cozad – Beckwith Residence Hall
- 2007 – Siedah Hampton – UIF Annual Giving Telemarketing Program
- 2006 – Nicole Billman – Illinois Fire Science Institute
- 2005 – Jessica Tomaszewski – Veterinary Biosciences
- 2004 – Charles Lee – School of Chemical Sciences
- 2003 – Timothy Snyder – Division of Public Safety-Student Patrol
Student Employee of the Year – Honorable Mention
- 2020 – Trennedy Kleczewski – Central Access Services
- 2020 – Saheli Sheth – Illinois Leadership Center
- 2019 – Jaclyn Nickerson – NetMath
- 2019 – Prisca Kigalu Lumbu – Computer-Based Testing Facility
- 2018 – Pierce Hadley – Bioengineering
- 2017 – Jesse Crowe – Engineering IT Services
- 2017 – Diamond Kinermon – DRES Testing Accommodations Center
- 2016 – Annalea Forrest – Beckwith Residential Support Services
- 2016 – Helen Liu – Donald R. Ort Lab-School of Integrative Biology
- 2015 – Jacob Fleener – University Student Financial Services & Cashier Operations
- 2015 – Kristen Goetzka – Dining Student Employment Office-Housing
- 2014 – Meher Bharucha – Illini Union
- 2014 – Nikoli Dryden – National Center for Supercomputing Applications
- 2013 – Cory Edwards – Pathobiology Veterinary Medicine
- 2013 – Tehseen (Tess) Mody – Undergraduate Admissions
- 2012 – Theresa Lopez – The Career Center
- 2012 – John Morrissey – Cognitive Computation Group in College of Engineering
- 2011 – Muhammad Arba’In – LAS ATLAS
- 2011 – Katherine Cash – Illini Union Hotel
- 2010 – Debonna Harper – Illini Union-Operations and Event Services
- 2010 – Amy Yahiro – Dining Services-Housing Food Stores
- 2009 – Phillip Johnson – Illinois Leadership Center
- 2009 – Anthony Santarelli – Division of Safety & Compliance, Environmental Compliance Department
- 2008 – Jacqueline Butler – ACES Human Resources
- 2008 – Joshua Nelson – The Spurlock Museum
- 2007 – Seth Franz – UIF Research Department
- 2007 – Robert Tardella – Pathobiology
- 2006 – Michelle Kincaid – Business Career Services
- 2006 – David Wolke – Business Career Services
- 2005 – Lindsey Baran – Illini Union-Office of Volunteer Programs
- 2005 – Kathryn Hohmann – Animal Sciences
- 2004 – Robin Alley – Kinesiology
- 2004 – Allison Mosley – Animal Sciences
- 2003 – Brooke Billings – Illini Union-Office of Volunteer Programs
- 2003 – Roxanne Dunn – University Library-Archives
- 2003 – Erin Hatch – Office of Cash Management and Investments
- 2003 – Stacey Williams – America Reads-Washington Early Childhood
2021 Tutor of the Year
Tutors play a unique role in supporting their peers and students in the community and the 2021 Tutor of the Year selection aims to recognize the outstanding tutors at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The Tutor of the Year selection was open to all undergraduate students who have been working in a tutoring position for the Champaign-Urbana campus for at least 6 months.
Nominators wrote a letter describing the tutor’s responsibilities and accomplishments, and outlined why they believed their nominee should be considered for Tutor of the Year. Nominations were evaluated by a selection committee using the following criteria: Reliability, Quality of Work, Initiative, Professionalism, and Uniqueness of Contribution.
Video of the Tutor of the Year Award:
Thank you to all of the nominees for your commitment and dedication to the students you work with, and thank you to the nominators for taking the time to recognize the outstanding tutors on our campus!
America Reads/America Counts Champaign Tutor of the Year
- 2020 – Hailey Wilson – Barkstall Elementary School
- 2019 – Ta’ah Tompkins – Stratton Elementary School
- 2018 – Cristal Noriega – Champaign Early Childhood Center
- 2017 – Eva Cygan – Kenwood Elementary School
- 2016 – Diep Nguyen – Franklin Middle School
- 2015 – Christina Willey – Champaign Early Childhood Center
- 2014 – Grace Householder – Westview Elementary School
- 2013 – Jessica Stanton – Jefferson Middle School
- 2012 – Michelina Ashford – Barkstall Elementary School
- 2011 – Yu Yi Li – Jefferson Middle School
- 2010 – Kyle McCreedy – Franklin Middle School
- 2009 – Yolanda Davis – Edison Middle School
- 2008 – Devin Brown – Garden Hills Elementary School
- 2007 – Kyle Dohrman – Robeson Elementary School
- 2006 – Fernando Martinez – B.T. Washington Elementary School
- 2005 – Jill Hansen – Carrie Busey Elementary School
- 2005 – Dilshad Patel – Westview Elementary School
America Reads/America Counts Urbana Tutor of the Year
- 2020 – Cassandra Favela – Urbana Early Childhood Center
- 2019 – Dillon Brown – Urbana Middle School
- 2018 – Beatris Garcia – MLK, Jr. Elementary and BTW Elementary
- 2017 – Jessica Vilaythong – Urbana Adult Education
- 2016 – Alexiss Gould – Thomas Paine Elementary School
- 2015 – Myisha Howard – Yankee Ridge Elementary School
- 2014 – Melissa Roman – Leal Elementary School
- 2013 – Yecencia Iturbe-Mendes – Martin Luther King Elementary School
- 2012 – Priya Gopalakrishnan – Gerber School
- 2011 – Evelin Echeverria – Washington Early Childhood
- 2010 – Kevin Wade – Urbana Adult Education
- 2009 – Moheet Merchant – Urbana Adult Education
- 2008 – Sarah Daugherty – Yankee Ridge Elementary School
- 2007 – Alexa Wirth – Leal Elementary School
- 2006 – Stephen Yu – Leal Elementary School
- 2005 – Aisha Beckwith – Martin Luther King Elementary School
- 2005 – Ryan Gracia – Martin Luther King Elementary School