Student Employee of the year - 2025

Alexis exhibits and exemplifies every category of SEOTY requirements.  Her dedication to the success of team members and new students supports Community Service. The mentorship program has increased the effectiveness of new hires, as well as their sense of belonging.  Alexis is a fantastic leader.  She is always willing to take on tasks and never lets her role as a program assistant deter her from whatever work needs to be accomplished in the office.

Alyssa personifies what it means to be an outstanding student leader. She is not only dependable and driven, but she is also an inspirational figure for her peers, demonstrating the highest level of professionalism, initiative, and commitment to student success.  Her leadership, passion, and dedication have shaped our campus in meaningful ways, and her contributions will continue to inspire and uplift students long after she graduates.

Kane is known to help other students with feeling welcome, valued, heard, and encouraged within the role as a student employee in the office.   Kane has high integrity, creativity, and knows how to make others feel valued, heard, and encouraged. He does this effectively while holding multiple leadership positions outside of work and his academic priorities.   As the most senior member of the staff, Kane consistently models an effective level of engagement and character with the other staff. During all-staff meetings, Kane is known to ask effective questions, contribute constructive feedback, and advocate for UCCS students. This has looked like helping other student staff navigate difficult conversations with antagonistic visitors, advocating for quiet hours to support different working styles, and always finding ways to bring humor into the conversation to helps folks feel apart of the community. Kane is known for his welcoming spirit, and I’ve heard from several new staff members about how Kane helped them “come out of their shell” and feel more excited to come to work each day.

Katie's contributions to the Aging Center have been invaluable. She proactively identifies opportunities for improvement, applying critical thinking to streamline processes and implement innovative solutions.  Her technical skills have been instrumental in modernizing our insurance processes, transitioning manual tasks to computerized systems and creating new forms that facilitate seamless communication and tracking between herself and the office manager.   Katie is a natural leader and mentor.  She generously shares her knowledge with other student employees, fostering a collaborative and supportive environment.  Her respectful, approachable, and positive demeanor contributes significantly to our team dynamic.

Kay-Lynn shines in community service within the UCCS community. Throughout the semester, she continually went above and beyond to help students working on a collaborative project feel supported. This left a lasting impact on them through their roles within the project, their self-esteem, and boosted feelings of inclusion. She has left a lasting impression on the community at UCCS with her kind heart, willingness to help and make a difference, and is encouraging. Kay-Lynn is an inspiration to others.  
Kay-Lynn has a bright personality that lights up the room. Others feel comfortable opening up to her, and she is very supportive. She receives new ideas from others well, demonstrates curiosity and desire to understand different viewpoints, and engages well in conversation and acceptance of different ideas. This has been observed during her collaborative project with the lab class, and during worktime with other staff members.  Overall, Kay-Lynn consistently goes above and beyond in her position as an archaeological curation assistant.

Reagan is an exceptional leader in our community who demonstrates superior character, interpersonal skills, and a commitment to personal growth and development. She brings a genuine desire to foster community, and her exceptional organizational skills have propelled the success of new student employees within the Orientation Office. Reagan is highly respected by our team, fellow staff, new students, and their families. On a weekly basis she coordinates our weekly staff administrative meetings, including the agenda, a team builder, and personal weather report to explore how she can best support each of her colleagues, and keeps a pulse on any new procedures that may impact new student experiences. Additionally, she has led the training programs for our new staff and continues to elevate the team dynamics and professionalism. Reagan has even coordinated shadowing appointments with other offices including Admissions, Career Center, and Academic Advising to ensure our procedures align with new and evolving best practices.

Riley has stood out for his reliable work ethic and commitment to excellence, while providing exceptional community service to students, faculty and staff. As his supervisor, I entrust Riley to oversee the day-to-day tasks in the Assistive Technology Lab (AT Lab) and he is able to resolve issues or complete projects on campus when I’m working remotely. Riley has a wide range of responsibilities that are executed with great care and attention to detail. For example, Riley has created new software guides for students, ensuring all lab and testing computers are up-to-date, and submitting request AT Lab access for students registered with Disability Services. Recently, Riley has accepted the role of Student Representative for the Digital Accessibility Committee. He will bring valuable perspective as a student along with his technical background regarding digital access around campus for people with disabilities.

Roman began his journey with PCSSC as a Program Coach, quickly distinguishing himself with a remarkable work ethic and a proactive approach to problem-solving.  His outstanding performance earned him the role of Lead Program Coach for the Middle School Pre-Collegiate Development Program, where he has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership skills and the ability to connect with students, families, and staff alike. What truly sets Roman apart is his professionalism and forward-thinking mindset.  He approaches challenges with maturity and consistently makes sound decisions that benefit not only the students and families we serve, but also our department as a whole.  Roman has gone above and beyond by evaluating existing procedures, identifying areas for improvement, and implementing strategies that have enhanced the efficiency and effectiveness of our programs.  Roman has a natural ability to inspire and mentor his peers.  He creates an inclusive, supportive, and collaborative environment that fosters growth and learning among his team members.

Sophia has a lens where they consider all people. They are thoughtful in creating belonging and connections. When they look for content for social media, they are looking at all areas of campus that would speak to a variety of people. We had a conversation about incorporating more heritage month posts on social and they did their research to determine what events our UCCS teams plan like munch and learns and other events and built
that into our social content. From keeping our outreach letters to alumni program going strong, to taking on social media for the alumni platforms, sending out alumni membership cards, attending events, and offering insights on projects, Sophia contributions to this team help us engage with alumni in meaningful ways and build a bridge for those connections. They truly go above and beyond and have demonstrated that level of work since they were hired.  Sophia is someone who takes pride in their work. They show up with curiosity and they are driven. We’ve been so fortunate to have Sophia as a member of this team!

As a Teaching Assistant for ECE 1411: Logic Circuits I, Terrence has played a pivotal role in student success. This course, fundamental to the ECE curriculum, often serves as a gateway for first-year students deciding their future in engineering. Thanks to his exceptional ability to mentor, explain complex concepts, and provide unwavering support, nearly all students in this course succeeded and continued in their major, leading to a remarkable increase in second-year enrollment. Beyond his assigned TA responsibilities, Terrence voluntarily assists students in other courses due to the trust and admiration he has earned from his peers. His ability to communicate difficult technical topics in a way that is accessible and engaging has made a significant impact on the learning experience of countless students. Terrence is always willing to take an extra few minutes to explain a topic or help with a problem, and when he doesn’t have the answer, he is humble enough to admit it. It is also particularly important for me to mention his commitment to his fellow veterans. I am a US Army veteran, and Terrence is of the Navy. He manages to bring veterans together better than anyone I have met at this school. Bringing these people together is extremely important, as we all have similar experiences that make school a lot different than a traditional student.