UND Staff Senate announces April UShine Award
UND Staff Senate has announced Shari Nelson, experiential learning coordinator, as the winner of its April UShine Award. The UShine Award is presented monthly to a UND staff member who goes above and beyond to make UND a better place. All award-winners receive a certificate and a one-time $100 bonus, which is added to their next paycheck. For more information on the award, or to nominate a colleague, head to the UND Staff Senate website.
Shari Nelson, experiential learning coordinator, AVP Student Success
Nelson was nominated by Alena Kubatova, Gregory Vandeberg and Ryan Zerr.
From the nominations:
“I have collaborated with Shari for nearly 15 years, primarily through the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded scholarship program, for which we served as co-PIs and which provided over $1 million in scholarships. I am happy to say that our collaboration grew well beyond this effort. I have been always inspired by Shari’s motivation to support, provide inspiration, and create pathways to success for students. Early on, Shari pioneered the implementation of early warning systems, a high-impact practice, which helped our program to ensure high retention. Also, we have seen that one of the most effective practices for student retention in STEM was participation in research. So, I have been thrilled in Shari’s role within the Experiential Learning Center providing support for all UND students and coordinating research experiences for students well beyond the span of one scholarship program. Shari introduced research to many students through personal meetings and showcasing presentations and then sent them to explore research experiences with faculty. Now, I have several undergraduate students in my lab, who came to me to explore opportunities following Shari’s guidance. As a result, they are now learning and figuring out what analytical chemistry research is like. We have many great conversations in which where Shari, always with a positive spark, continues to explore how to reach out more effectively both to students and faculty. Not only she works with students but she also aims to create empathy bridges to both groups ensuring that their needs and mutual understanding are assured.”
“I am honored to nominate Shari Nelson for a UShine award. Shari has been an ongoing advocate for Experiential Learning at UND. Starting with her involvement in the US MASTER II Scholarship Program (Undergraduate Scholarships with Mathematics And Science Training, Exploration and Research) in 2019, Shari was instrumental in helping us track student mentoring using the STARFISH platform. She spent many hours training the faculty in this program to efficiently use STARFISH to communicate and mentor students and set up special mentoring groups for the project. Shari showed deep concern for all of our students, and was always very complimentary of the scholarship program, and how much it meant to the students involved, especially with the hands-on research experiences that were part of the mentoring program.”
