Honors & Awards
In order to recognize the incredible work happening on campus through faculty, staff and students, this page houses opportunities to celebrate individuals and groups for awards and honors related to community engagement. Those faculty, staff and students who have received recognition are featured on this page.
Community Engagement Celebration Day
2024 Award Recipients
Service Learning/Live Client Project
Kendra Kahl and TheaterUNIs Elementary School Tour: Suzette Who Set to Sea
Student Organization/Student Group Project
319 Empowerment Teen Center
Research-Based Project
Evaluation of Pre/Post Poverty Simulation Attitudes among UNI Teacher Education Students
Social Justice
Thanksgiving Food Basket Project- Jenna Becker
Sustainability and Environmental Awareness
Jordan Williams
Individual Student Project Award- Friends of the Family
Medical Social Work Maddie Hawley
Commitment to Service
International Student Engagements RSVP Volunteering Program/Senior Living Center Partnership
People’s Choice
Alyssa Blackburn: Caring for Memories, A Caregivers Journey with Dementia
Veridian Community Engagement Fellowship
2023/2024 Recipients
Marissa Schweinfurth, Denise Tallakson, and Jennifer Onuigbo
Jennifer, Marissa and Denise will implement a program to address summer learning loss. Activities will range from arts integration and theater, to geocaching and scavenger hunts, serving 60 students grades 3-6.
- 2022/2023
Lindi Roelofse, ReShonda Young & Matthew Gilbert
Roelofse, Young and Gilbert will be creating a catalog of flexibly funded micro-internships to help entrepreneurial-minded students build a portfolio of evidence of real-world impact for their career portfolio, while at the same time supporting Black entrepreneurs purposefully managing new growth and building total factor productivity solutions.
Gary Gute
Starting fall 2023, Gute will begin teaching a new course called "The Creative Experience". In this lively, experiential course, students explore creative persons, products and places that have had an impact upon the arts and culture. In collaborative teams, students use artistic media to tell the stories of creative persons, products and places.
Jennifer Onuigbo & Eric Lange
In summer 2023, the Gallagher Bluedorn and Department of Theatre will join forces to present the first UNI SETT (Science and Engineering in Theatre Technology). Approximately 80 middle and high school students from the area will have the opportunity to participate in hands-on learning in theatre technology, with a particular emphasis on learning the associated STEM concepts.
Michael Fleming
The Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault (IowaCasa) is a statewide coalition representing 22 victim service programs across the state of Iowa. It provides a bridge between victim advocates at sexual assault programs, statewide policy makers and federal responses to sexual harassment, abuse and assault. Fleming will modify the secondary school assessment assignment to collect information on the needs of secondary school systems.
Sponsored by: Veridian Credit Union, UNI's College of Education Dean’s Fund for Excellence and UNI's Office of Community Engagement
The purpose of this fellowship is to encourage faculty to engage with community partners to better the community in a manner that also enhances their teaching and scholarship. Community engagement is defined as the collaboration of the university with the public sector for the mutual benefit of all. This engagement is not simply service or membership, but it is the combination of meeting a community need through teaching and/or scholarship. The proposed engagement work must take place within Veridian's field of membership and with a nonprofit organization to receive the fellowship.
Check out our Veridian Fellowship Impact Report. An Overview of Veridian fellowship recipients from 2006-2018!
Check out our Veridian Fellowship Impact Report. An Overview of Veridian fellowship recipients from 2006-2018!
McElroy Youth Leadership Fund
2023/2024 Recipients
AmeriCorps VISTAs
Skyler Ramsey & Bre Sadler
Harvest Conference
Chiquita Loveless and team
Griot Honors
Planning Team lead by Joy Briscoe
Story Avatars
Taraneh Matloob and team w/ Waterloo Career Center
Community Simulations
Susan Roberts-Dobie
Presidents' Engaged Campus Awards
Iowa & Minnesota Campus Compact (IAMNCC) Presidents' Engaged Campus Award are selected by each president or chancellor from an Iowa or Minnesota Campus Compact member campus. The awards reflect the institute's ability to improve community life and to educate students for civic and social responsibility.
2023/2024 Recipients
President's' Student Leadership
Panther Pantry
Presidents' Civic Engagement Leadership
Bettina Fabos
President's Community Partner
McElroy Trust
Community Collaboration Runner Up
MLK Day of Service