The Graduate and Professional Student Council honored five outstanding graduate and professional students and faculty during its Achievement Awards and Resources Mobilization Event on Friday.
Peers of graduate and professional students and faculty were asked to nominate candidates who they felt best exemplified each category, Fifty-seven individuals were nominated, three times more than last year. Winners in each category received a certificate and $100 from GPSC, and runners-up received a certificate and $50. The categories were outstanding mentor of graduate or professional students, outstanding diversity development by a graduate or professional student, outstanding graduate and professional leadership, outstanding research assistant, and outstanding teaching assistant.
The awards ceremony was the final event in the Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week. GPSC President Emily Connally said that the week was to promote and celebrate the academic, economic and social aims of the graduate and professional students of the UA.
Connally also shared the successful transparency initiatives advocated by GPSC, such as the elimination of the Student Recreation Center summer fee and elimination of a co-pay fee for preventative care including diabetes, cervical cancer and screening for sexually transmitted diseases. Connally also cited the success of counseling for alcohol or tobacco use, elimination of a fee for standard immunizations and a parental accommodation package, including six weeks paid leave, for new graduate student mothers or fathers.
Ryan Saxby, the GPSC events director, said that there were three major events for the graduate and professional students this year. Graduate orientation, he said, helped acquaint students with the community during the first week before classes, and about 700 students attended. The student showcase, which was 100 percent student run, presented graduate and professional student research and awarded about $9,000 to the winners.
The Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week had five events, including one focusing on international students, and more than three times the amount of people attended this year in comparison to last, according to Saxby.
List of honorees:
Outstanding Mentor:
Winner: John Koprowski, professor in the Wildlife and Fisheries Science program
Honorable mention: Connie Woodhouse, associate professor in the School of Geography and Development
Outstanding Diversity Development:
Winner: Andrew Huerta, higher education and language, reading and culture
Honorable mention: Nolan Kubota, dance
Outstanding Teaching Assistant:
Winner: Shannon Corkery, family and consumer sciences
Honorable mention: Lahiru Ariyananda, electrical and computer engineering
Outstanding Research Assistant:
Winner: Ashley Randall, psychology and family and consumer sciences
Honorable mention: Steven Gunawan, chemistry
Outstanding Student Leadership:
Winner: Rebecca Covarrubias, psychology
Honorable mention: Eduardo Bendek, optical sciences
Other awards:
Innovation in administration: Vice President of Student Affairs Melissa Vito
Presidential partnership award: Library Dean Carla Stoffle
