The University of Texas at Arlington

Staff Awards and Recognitions

Student Affairs is proud to recognize some of the outstanding work and accomplishments of its employees, departments and programs over the past academic year.

Division Staff Awards 2011

• Vanessa Balderrama, Outstanding Non-Exempt Professional, Parent & Family Center and Student Governance and Organizations
• Doug Garner, Outstanding Exempt Professional, Campus Recreation
• Laura Kinch, Outstanding New Professional, VPSA Office
• Apartment and Residence Life, Assessment of the Year

Division Staff Awards 2010

• Kristina Clark, Outstanding Exempt Professional, Office for Students with Disabilities
• Cheyenne Hernandez, Outstanding New Professional, Parent & Family Center
• Tak Momose, Outstanding Exempt Professional, Campus Recreation
• Betty Patterson, Outstanding Non-Exempt Professional, Apartment & Residence Life
• Cindy Scarbrough, Outstanding Non-Exempt Professional, VPSA Office

Division Staff Awards 2009

• Lexi Christoules, Outstanding New Professional, Campus Recreation
• Donna Duncan, Outstanding Non-Exempt Professional, Campus Recreation
• John Hillas, Outstanding Exempt Professional, Student Activities
• Leticia Martinez, Outstanding Exempt Professional, Multicultural Affairs
• Dannie Moore, Outstanding New Professional, Multicultural Affairs
• Bonnie Rodriguez, Outstanding Non-Exempt Professional, Student Activities

Division Staff Awards 2008

• Molly Alfers, Outstanding Exempt Professional, Student Governance and Organizations
• Ally Fulton, Outstanding New Professional, Campus Recreation
• Brian Joyce, Outstanding New Professional, New Maverick Orientation
• Bertha Pryor, Outstanding Non-Exempt Professional, VPSA Office
• Durl Rather, Outstanding Exempt Professional, Campus Recreation
• Cindy Roman, Outstanding Non-Exempt Professional, Student Activities

Division Staff Awards 2007

• Marcy Garcia, Outstanding Non-Exempt Professional, Student Governance and Organizations
• Jan Giles, Outstanding Non-Exempt Professional, Office of Community Standards
• Chris Muller, Outstanding Exempt Professional, Campus Recreation
• Seth Ressl, Outstanding Exempt Professional, Greek Life and University Events
• Mike Taddesse, Outstanding New Professional, Greek Life and University Events

INDIVIDUAL Accolades and Honors

2012

• Michael Knox, Assistant Vice President and Director for New Maverick Orientation was elected to the General Board for NODA (National Orientation Directors Association) in January 2012.
• Stephanie McAlpine, Assistant Director for Sport Clubs and Aquatics was selected to serve as Vice-Chair for the NIRSA National Campus Championship Series (NCCS). The NCCS coordinates all NIRSA extramural events, Sport Club Championships, and sponsored and endorsed activities.
• Chris Muller, Associate Director for Campus Recreation was selected for appointment to the NIRSA Foundation Board. The NIRSA Foundation, through fundraising and stewardship efforts, works in cooperation with the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association to enhance the effectiveness of collegiate recreational sports by providing its members meaningful opportunities for scholarship, research, and personal and professional development.
• Veronica Rendon, Graduate Assistant for The Leadership Center was awarded the NASPA Region III Award for Outstanding Graduate Student in May 2012.

2011

• Movin' Mavs Coach Doug Garner was selected to coach the Army National Team at the 2011 Wounded Warrior Games. Coach Garner lead the Army team to victory at the games on May 20th in Colorado Springs. For more information please see the article on the tournament in the U.S Army website. In addition to being listed on the U.S. Army's website, Doug's accomplishment was written about in USA Today and the Ft. Worth Star Telegram.
• Coach Garner was nominated for a national AAPAR (American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation) award in March 2011. He was also selected to represent the USA as an IWBF (International Wheelchair Basketball Federation) technical official/classifier at the 2011 Under 25 Women's World Championships in Vancouver, Canada.
• Dr. Frank Lamas, Vice President for Student Affairs was appointed to the NASPA (National Association of Student Personnel Administrators) Board of Directors in March 2011.
• Bailey Simpson, Assistant Director for Student Governance and Organizations was named a 2011-2012 TACUSA Fellow in August 2011.

2010

• Meighan Burke, Coordinator for New Maverick Orientation was named Maverick of the Month for the month of October 2010 in the University College Parent & Family Newsletter.
• Adam Drew, Production Manager for Student Publications received a College Media Advisers Board of Directors Citation in October 2010 for his work on CMR Review, the organization’s magazine, and his technical contributions to college media advisers nationwide. The board’s Citation honoring Adam was announced at the annual National College Media Convention in Louisville. College Media Advisers is the nation’s largest professional organization for people who work with college media.
• Casey Gonzalez, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Multicultural Outreach and the Parent & Family Center was selected as the chair of the Greater Arlington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in January 2010.
• Mike Knox, Assistant Vice President and Cheyenne Hernandez, Assistant Director for the Parent & Family Center were named the Mid-Level Professional and Outstanding New Professional at the October 2010 TACUSPA (Texas Association of College and University Student Personnel Administrators) Conference in Ft. Worth, Texas.
• Lisa Nagy, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs chaired the 2010 TACUSPA (Texas Association of College and University Student Personnel Administrators) conference in Ft. Worth, Texas in October ’10.

2009

• Doug Garner, Movin’ Mavs Coach and Assistant Director for Adaptive Recreation, was selected as the Coach of NWBA All Star Team at NBA Jam All Star Weekend in Phoenix in 2009.
• Lisa Nagy, Assistant Vice President won the James E. Scott Outstanding Mid-Level Student Affairs Professional Award for NASPA Region III in 2009.
• Bertha Pryor, Executive Assistant to the Vice President won the UT Arlington Outstanding Employee Award in 2009.
• Mardie Sorensen, Assistant Vice President won the Mid-Level Student Affairs Professional Award from the Texas Association for College & University Student Personnel Administrators in 2009.

Department & Program Distinctions

2012

• In March 2012, The Shorthorn received the Gold Crown award and The Shorthorn Online received the Silver Crown Award both from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association in New York City. This is one of the most prestigious awards in college media.
• In April 2012, The Shorthorn received 32 awards from the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association for content published in 2011 and part of the current semester.

2011

• The Division of Student Affairs was awarded the I Am Community Municipal Volunteer Program award by the City of Arlington in 2011. The award is in recognition of the Division’s exemplary dedication to volunteering and to the City of Arlington.
• The Freshmen Leaders On Campus (FLOC) student group was honored in a video made by The Giving Circle (a not for profit volunteer organization working with the people of Uganda to construct The Koi Koi house, an orphanage for the country's poorest and AIDS stricken children) for which the group partnered with for their 2010-2011 community service organization. This service organization coincided with the 2010-2011 OneBook theme of 'Remembrance' and book, A Journal for Jordan: A Story of Love and Honor (2008) by Dana Canedy.
• The recently re-vamped Shorthorn website, www.theshorthorn.com, was selected as a finalist for the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s Crown award in March 2011. This is one of the highest awards in college media. The website received a Silver Crown award on March 13th and was named one of the seven best college websites in the country.
• In April 2011, the cheer squad came in second place and the dance team came in seventh place at the NCCA (National Collegiate Cheerleading Association) competition in Daytona Beach, Florida.
• The Movin’ Mavs played in the 2011 National Wheelchair Basketball Intercollegiate Division National Championships in March 2011 and placed 3rd in the tournament.
• The New Maverick Orientation Guidebook won the 2010 NODAC (National Orientation Directors Association Conference) Publications Showcase Award for Outstanding Handbook at the October ’10 conference in St. Louis, Missouri.
• The Parent & Family Association began the spring 2011 semester with a record of 1,300+ members.
• The RSVP program received a special invitation in October 2011 to attend Vice President Biden's Town Hall meeting on engaging men in stopping violence against women.
• In December 2011, TheShorthorn.com, The Shorthorn's online edition, was named the best-designed college media website in the U.S. by College Media Association, the largest national organization for college media. A Shorthorn sports page also won first place in the contest's Sports Page Design category.
• In December 2011, The Shorthorn was named a finalist for the Columbia Scholastic Press Association's Gold Crown Awards, one of the most prestigious awards in college media. Winners will be announced in New York in March 2012
• The UTA Volunteer’s 2011 Big Event registered 901 student, staff, faculty and community volunteers and successfully completed 3,604 hours of community service during the one-day event on April 16, 2011.

2010

• The cheer squad won the title of Small Coed National Champions at the NCCA (National Collegiate Cheerleading Association) competition in April 2010.
• The Movin’ Mavs were awarded a $70,800 from various grant funds in November 2010, which will support their adapted sports and recreation programming.
• The Movin’ Mavs Adapted Sports and Recreation program was selected as a silver medal honoree in the Athletics, Recreation, Physical Fitness, Non-Varsity Sports and related category at the NASPA (National Association of Student Personnel Administrators) awards in December 2010.
• A program of the department of Multicultural Affairs, Diversity Week: It’s a Maverick World was selected as the silver medal honoree in the International, Multicultural, Cultural, LGBTQ, Spirituality, Disability, and Related category at the NASPA (National Association of Student Personnel Administrators) awards in December 2010.
• New Maverick Orientation staff and leaders were featured in an NBC 5 spotlight video in July ’10 on the thousands of veterans leaving the military for college with the help of the post 9/11 GI bill. New Maverick Orientation created the Veterans Orientation at UT Arlington in partnership with Veterans Affairs and the President’s Veterans Committee.
• The Society of Professional Journalists has named The Shorthorn’s website, theshorthorn.com, one of the top three college news websites in the nation. The awards were presented at the SPJ’s national convention in Las Vegas in September 2010.
• The Shorthorn was named Best Daily Newspaper and theshorthorn.com (the online edition of The Shorthorn) was named Best News Website by the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association at its annual convention in March 2010 in Kerrville. Overall, Shorthorn staff received 24 TIPA awards.
• The Shorthorn also placed second in the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors awards in the Best Daily College Newspaper category, the eighth consecutive year in which The Shorthorn has placed first or second in this contest.
• Theshorthorn.com was honored as the Best Online College Newspaper in Texas and Oklahoma by the Society of Professional Journalists.
• The UTA Volunteer’s 2010 Big Event registered a record of 800 volunteers from 140 different student organizations in addition to faculty, staff and community members and successfully completed 3,200 hours of community service during the one-day event on April 24, 2010.

2009

• A group within the Apartment and Residence Life department, the Residence Hall Association won the Best Delegation Award in 2009 from SWACURH (Southwest Affiliate of the National Association of College and University Residence Halls).
• The Division of Student Affairs received the Ted K. Miller Achievement of Excellence Award from the Council for the Advancement of Standards for conducting outstanding work assessing student learning and development in Fall 2009.
• Freshman Leaders on Campus (FLOC) won the Bronze Program Excellence Award from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators in 2009.
• Multicultural Affairs won the INROADS Award for Outstanding Service from a Higher Education Institution for the last six years.
• Student Governance and Organizations closed out the Fall ‘09 term by awarding 28 scholarships totaling $3,725, which will be given to its student volunteers.

2008

• The Maverick Activities Center won the 2008 Athletic Business Facilities of Merit Award.

Service Awards

The Division of Student Affairs is very proud to congratulate our staff members who recently celebrated their anniversaries with UT Arlington. We thank them for their dedication and commitment to the University.

2011

15 Years:

Bertha Pryor

10 Years:

Molly Albart
Staci Backs
Rita Eckhardt
Erica Jones
Charlyn Webb

2010

10 Years:

Lisa Nagy
Kerri Ressl