The
Staff Make Students Count Awards
The Staff Make Students Count Award, established in the spring of 1999, recognizes university staff who have provided outstanding service to students anywhere in the UA system, including rural campuses and extended sites.
2012 Awards - Deadline March 22, 2012
2012 Fact Sheet
2012 Nomination Form
2012 Criteria
2012 Rating Sheet
2011 Awards

President Gamble presented the 2011 awards at the June 2, 2011 Board of Regents meeting. Pictured from left are: UA President Patrick Gamble; Jerry Phillips, Captain, UAF Fire Department; Beatrice Franklin, Librarian and ESL Tutor, UAS; ; Maria Bonifacio, Residence Life Director, UAA; and Cathy Ewing, Student Enrollment Manager/K-12 Outreach. Photo by Monique Musick, University of Alaska. Details on winners
2010 Awards

Pictured from left are: Carrie Enge, UAS; UA President Mark Hamilton; Kay Thomas, UAF and Evelyn Davidson, Kodiak College. Photo by Kate Wattum, University of Alaska.
President Hamilton joyfully presented these last awards of his tenure to three staff. He said, “The recipients of this award are staff that every single day make people proud.” UAA’s Evelyn Davidson is Coordinator of the Department of Developmental Studies and the Learning Center at Kodiak College. UAF’s Kay Thomas is an administrative assistant in the Department of Alaska Native Students and Rural Development in Fairbanks. UAS’s Carrie Enge is a Writing Specialist at the UAS Juneau Campus Learning Center.
2009 Awards

President Hamilton poses with the 2009 winners of the Staff Make Students Count awards. From left are Mike Earnest, student services manager, UA System; Annie Route, director of Student Life and Leadership at UAA; President Hamilton; Gabrielle Russell, academic advisor with Native and Rural Services at UAF; and Kolene James, coordinator and academic advisor with Native and Rural Services at UAS.
2008 Awards

2007 Awards

Make Students Count Award Winners - Shown from left to right are Mary Parsons, Mike Molnia, Christopher Washko, President Hamilton and Anissa Hauser.
2006 Awards

Make Students Count Award Winners - Shown from left to right are Rhonda Ooms, Melodee Monson, President Hamilton, Jennifer Sandonato and Julia Parzick..
UAA – Melodee Monson, Anchorage Campus
Melody Monson is the office manager in the UAA Human Services Department. Her nomination letter from the chair of the Human Services Department reads: “Her dedication to students is embedded in her professionalism and so voluminous, a letter of any reasonable length barely scratches the surface of her ever-present support, kindness and sensitivity to students and their needs.” Melodee’s efforts shine in the success of the human service club activities, human service professional organization conference and the human service alumnae association leadership circle. She is lauded by her bosses, peers, students and alumni. It doesn’t get any better than that.
UAF - Julia Parzick, Fairbanks Campus
Julia Parzick has been nominated many times and I am pleased to see her nomination finally shining through the gauntlet of the many fine nominations from UAF. Julia is the administrative assistant in the UAF history department. The teaching assistants, grad and undergraduate students and her faculty all laud her efforts. One graduate student said she would not have entered a masters program without Julia’s help. Julia is the backbone of the department and keeps everything in the student’s professional lives and keeps students’ academic, professional and person lives running smoothly. It’s good to see her efforts rewarded.
UAS – Jennifer Sandonato, Sitka Campus
Jennifer Sandonato is the instruction support specialist on the Sitka Campus. Students, faculty and peers all concur that when Jennifer gets up in the morning, she loves to come to work. She is always smiling and more than willing to jump up and help with all the various requests that come her way from the diverse group of students that attend UAS. If there is a question that Jennifer can’t answer, she has no problem putting time into finding out the answer, or finding someone who does have the answer. Students who the encounter the Jennifers of this university tend to stick around. It’s a good thing.
Statewide: Rhonda Ooms, Labor Relations
Rhonda Ooms is a labor relations analyst in the System office of labor relations. Her student employees nominated her for this award, stating that she is an excellent supervisor to her student employees and is exceptionally understanding of academic, leadership, and extra curricular opportunities that her student employees are involved in. She is an enthusiastic fan of the UAF Nanooks Hockey Team and advises and supports the Going Greek Club on the Fairbanks campus.
2005 Awards
Robin Burdick, Admissions/Bookstore, Matanuska-Susitna College, UAA
Gail Staudinger, Administrative Assistant, College of Rural Alaska, UAF
Cody Bennett, IT Services, UAS-Juneau
Mary Gower, Manager, Student Services, UA System
2004
Make Students Count Award Recipients
Congratulations to the winners of the 2004 Make Students Count
Awards!

* Brian Brubaker, former Coordinator
of the Coalition of Student Leaders and Administrative Coordinator,
System Governance Office
* Marian Mitchell, Assistant
Director, UAA Honors Program
* Maya Salganek, Administrative
Coordinator, UAF Theatre Department
*Elizabeth Schelle, Academic
Exchange Programs Director, UAS
2003 Make Students Count Award Recipients
Congratulations to the winners of the 2003 Make Students Count
Awards!

- Patricia M. Ivey,
Executive Officer for UA System Governance
- Diane Taylor, Coordinator of the UAA
Kenai Peninsula College Learning Center &adjunct faculty
member
- Wanda Martin, Director of the UAF Academic
Advising Center
- Jodi Barnes, Academic Advisor at the
UAS Student Resource Center in Juneau
President Hamilton presented this year's awards during the June
9, 2003, Board of Regents Meeting in Fairbanks. Recipients receive
an award certificate presented at a Board of Regents meeting and
$1,000. All nominees receive a certificate of nomination.
The Make Students Count Awards were established in the spring
of 1999, to recognize university staff who have provided outstanding
service to students, anywhere in the UA system, including rural
campuses and extended sites. Service to students may include service
as part of the job or volunteer service, either directly to students
or behind the scenes. Four awards are available, one for each major
administrative unit (UAA, UAF, UAS, and Statewide). the award is
funded by the UA Foundation.
2002
Make Students Count Award Recipients
(pictured from left to right, President Hamilton
center)
- Tonya Trabant, Counselor in UAF Career
Services
- Cindy Marshall,
Student Affairs Manager for the UAA Division of Student Affairs
- Roxy Felkl, Administrative Assistant
for UAS Student Activities and Housing
- Janet Johnson, Senior Lead Analyst Programmer
for the Banner Student Information System
2001
Make Students Count Award Recipients
(pictured from left to right, President Hamilton
center)
- Saichi Oba, Manager
of Electronic Student Services for the university system.
- Karen Wegzryn, Manager of UAA accounting
services.
- Michele Stalder, Student Services Coordinator
for the Tanana Valley Campus of UAF.
- Gail Klein, Student Counselor at the
Ketchikan campus of UAS.
2000
Make Students Count Award Recipients
(pictured from left to right, Shelia Chapin, Rita
Bowen and President Hamilton)
- Rita Bowen, UAS
- Sheila Chapin, UAF
- Carol Piser, UAA
1999 Make Students Count Award Recipients
(pictured
from left to right, President Hamilton center)
- Michael Smith, UAA
- Susan Barlow, UAS
- Colleen Abrams, Statewide
- Sue McHenry, UAF
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