Nominees:

• Mary Albrecht from the Office of the Provost 

• Katie Perschbacher from the Dean of Students Office 

• Jeff Williams from the Dorothy A Johnson Center for Philanthropy 

• Dan Hurwitz from University Development  

• Danny Velez from Enrollment Development and Educational Outreach  

• Shelby Harrison from the College of Computing  

• Bonnie Dykstra from the University Counseling Center 

• Shontaye Witcher from Student Accessibility Resources 

This is the highest honor bestowed upon Administrative Professional staff at Grand Valley State University. The award recognizes the singularly outstanding contributions by a staff member to the University, professional field, and surrounding community. The recipient embodies the University's mission, vision, and values and bring distinction to GVSU through their work. 

Dan Hurwitz

Dan Hurwitz is the Associate Vice President for University Development. In his role at GVSU, Dan leads the external and community engagement team and leads the operations of the Grand Valley University Foundation. Dan has played a pivotal role in securing millions of dollars in funding for scholarships, university programming, and signature capital projects, including Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall and the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health. Dan’s commitment to innovation, integrity, mentorship, and excellence embodies the very best of Grand Valley’s values. Beyond campus, his service on numerous local boards and his ability to build bridges, inspire generosity, and advocate for students set him apart as a truly deserving recipient of the AP Achievement Award.

Nominees:

• Bonnie Dykstra from the University Counseling Center 

• Thalia Guerra-Flores from Office of Multicultural Affairs 

• Jullianie Vazquez from the TRIO Pre-College Programs 

• Ben Siebert from Padnos College of Engineering Advising Center 

• Michelle DeWitt from the Chemistry Department 

• Robin Getz from IT Services 

• AJ Young from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Tutoring and Reading Center 

This award recognizes an individual AP staff member who shows a commitment to serve as a strong mentor to GVSU students beyond the person's normal professional responsibilities and regardless of their professional role. The nominee is a person who demonstrates trustworthiness and skills with students in the areas of advising, advocacy, referrals, listening, accessibility, and motivation. Nominations for this award must be either made or supported by at least one student.

Ben Siebert

Ben Siebert is an academic advisor in the Padnos College of Engineering. He has played an instrumental role in the Maple Hall Living Center Engineering tutoring sessions.  In this role he has provided academic support to students while also creating a welcoming and accessible environment where students feel comfortable seeking help. For the past 2.5 years, Ben has spent his Monday evenings supporting students beyond scheduled advising appointments. Students consistently attend these sessions and the pass rates for the first-year engineering EGR 111 and EGR 114 courses have increased by 65% and 14% respectively. Students and tutors at the Monday evening sessions praise Ben’s dedication to students and his commitment to growing the program.

Nominees:

• Mei Mah, Center for Educational Partnerships 

• Elisa Ortega-Schultz, Employee Ombuds Officer 

• Rachel Salinas, College of Computing 

• Whitney Thomas, Trio Upward Bound Detroit 

Established to recognize an individual AP staff member who serves as an example to others through a commitment to diversity beyond the scope of their professional responsibilities. The nominee is a person who demonstrates through action the ideals of cultural diversity and interculturalism, and who helps others gain greater understanding of diversity and interculturalism.

Mei Mah

Mei Mah is the Associate Director of the Center for Educational Partnerships. Mei’s work is truly transformative. She has long championed the development of educators of color through the Educators of Color Network, a student organization she helped launch and grow into a vibrant community. Thanks to her leadership, ECN now has over 30 active members, five alumni teaching in local schools, and a growing presence that’s impacting both campus and community. 

Nominees: 

• Emily First, Engagement and Dean of Students 

• Rachel Salinas, College of Computing 

• Racquel Ramirez, Pew FTLC 

• Nicholas Olle, Chemistry 

• Danny Velez, Admissions/Recruitment 

• Ty Cook, Kirkhof College of Nursing 

This award recognizes an individual AP staff member whose innovative ideas and practices benefit the University in a specific way. This could include methods to improve cost-efficiency, changes in procedures, creating new programs or services, or leading new initiatives.

Nicholas Olle

Nicholas’ day to day role is to implement the curriculum for the laboratory portion of three courses in the chemistry department, which serves about 1,000 students each year. Nicholas transformed this curriculum from a standard set of experiments that can be completed in one 3 hour lab session, into a 7 week long research project that allows each group of students to come up with a different reaction. They then are tasked with analyzing their data, writing a report and presenting their results. This type of High Impact Practice is shown to increase both student retention and success. Nicholas saw an opportunity and pursued this on his own, he includes Chemistry Majors in the development of this curriculum, working through hundreds of experiments to provide the hundreds of students taking these courses each semester, the option of many successful pathways. This research project has been so successful amongst students that it has been adopted by upper-level courses as well. 

Students noted an overwhelmingly positive response to this new project in their class surveys. One student said, “make the research project last the entire semester”. Another “expand the synthesis project”.  Nicholas is continuing to work on improving this curriculum due to its success to date. 

Nominees:

• Kimberly Kenward – Elearning 

• Chris Cirefice - Language Resource Center 

• Adrianna Lynn – Grow Your Own Graduate Teacher Certification 

• Adam Harris – TRIO Upward Bound 

This award recognizes an individual AP staff member who has gone above and beyond professional responsibilities in contributing their expertise and service to at least one of the following: (1) the GVSU community, (2) the professional organization of their discipline, or (3) the local/national/international community.

Adam Harris

Adam has consistently demonstrated an unwavering commitment to service that extends far beyond his professional responsibilities, significantly impacting both the GVSU community and the broader Detroit area. Adam's service to the community is further exemplified by his proactive engagement with local organizations and leaders, while he also dedicates time to mentoring and coaching students on his own time. 

One of Adams colleagues referred to him as a pillar of service, mentorship, and dedication to the Detroit community. Through his work, he made it possible for 11 high school students to obtain their passports and study abroad with TRIO, marking the first time this has happened in the history of the program. Adam exemplifies the qualities celebrated by this award through all that he does for GVSU and the TRIO program. 

Nominees:

• Restorative Practice Podcast 

• GVSU Computing Innovation Team 

• NOAA BWET Team/Great Lakes MWEE Toolkit 

• Continuing Education Registration System Modernization 

This award recognizes the work of an ad-hoc team of AP staff members from two or more departments that accomplish a project benefiting the University. While the nominated project may be ongoing or not yet complete, nominations should emphasize work of staff members across unit lines during the past year.

Award Winner:

NOAA BWET Team for their Great Lakes MWEE Toolkit

Team Members include:

• Vicky Wright, Center for Educational Partnerships 

• Allison Palm, Center for Educational Partnerships 

• Mara Spears, Center for Educational Partnerships 

• Clayton Pelon, Center for Educational Partnerships 

• Amanda Syers, AWRI   

• Andrew Murray, WGVU TV  

• Alan Helzer, WGVU  

• Shelley Irwin, WGVU 

• Jennifer Moss, WGVU  

• Melissa Wright, Office of Sponsored Programs 

• Sheila Newton, Business and Finance 

NOAA BWET Team for their Great Lakes MWEE Toolkit

Through a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Groundswell, an initiative in the Center for Educational Partnerships, and  WGVU, were able to create a one-stop shop for a collection of MWEE (Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience) resources. These educational resources created for K-12 teachers and community members are uniquely tailored to the freshwater region of the Lower Grand River Watershed. Instructional videos, hands-on training, and professional learning opportunities were offered for Kent and Ottawa county teachers, offering projects that engage students in learning about local issues and designing community solutions. In partnership with WGVU, a YouTube channel was developed, with teachers interviewing students about their projects, for a Student Project Showcase channel.