Graduate Mentorship Award

Residence Services held their End of Year Celebration on April 17th, 2017. This banquet, which had a red carpet theme, was held to celebrate and honor the staff teams within the department including resident assistant staffs, area desk staffs, security aides, lock office staff, residential technology team, Kent Interhall Council, and the Black Squirrel Chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary. This end of year celebration included a photo slideshow, speeches, photo booth, 3-course meal, and various student-staff awards.

The Graduate Mentorship Award was presented which is designed to recognize a graduate student employee who, through their efforts and accomplishments, has made a significant contribution to an individual student or groups of students. This individual is viewed as a role model or leader and demonstrates dedication to both the department and university missions. This year the award was given to Allison Burko. Allison is currently a second year graduate student in the Higher Education Administration master’s program and serves as the Assistant Residence Hall Director for Koonce Hall. Allison’s nomination touched on the genuine and meaningful relationships Allison has built and sustained with colleagues, RA’s, hall council advisees, and residential students. Anyone who has worked with Allison can agree that she is such a caring individual. Allison has also been a leader among the ARHD’s as she played a vital role in the creation of the ARHD Curriculum which was designed as a comprehensive professional development plan to give assistant residence hall directors consistent experiences and grow skillsets in all areas of student affairs/housing. These curriculum discussions culminated in Allison co-presenting at the ACPA National Conference in Columbus, OH this past spring on the topic of staff curriculums. Overall Allison has been a phenomenal graduate mentor serving in both the Lake-Olson community as well as Koonce community in addition to working with Recruitment & Selection and Social Justice committee efforts. Congratulations, Allison Burko and best of luck as you become a Residence Services alumna!