UCM Special Education Major Honored as Student Employee of the Year

University of Central Missouri President Roger Best, right, presented UCM Student Employee of the Year awards to, from left, Jace Uchtman, third place; Grace Hagood, second place; and Sydney Schwartz, first place.

WARRENSBURG, MO – A University of Central Missouri student from Wesphalia, Missouri, has received the top honor in an annual program that recognizes exemplary student employees. The Student Employee of the Year awards ceremony was conducted by UCM’s Office of Human Resources on April 10, also recognizing two other students who placed in the top three. All three students received a trophy, certificate, and a sponsored financial award in recognition of their achievements. 

Sydney Schwartz, a senior Special Education major captured first place. The second-place award recipient was Grace Hagood, a senior Speech-Language Pathology major from St. Louis, and Jace Uchtman, a junior Public Relations major from Osceola, Missouri, was the third-place award winner. UCM President Roger Best presented the student awards during the recognition event in the Elliott Student Union.

The top selections for these awards were based on nominations submitted by faculty and staff members who represent campus units in which each student is employed. Fourteen UCM students were named finalists by the selection committee. In identifying the honorees, committee members considered criteria related to community service, diversity and inclusion, leadership, technology, innovation, and critical thinking.

While this annual event is coordinated by the Office of Human Resources, financial support is provided by organizations outside of campus which established monetary awards for the first-, second-, and third-place honorees. As the first-place award recipient, Schwartz received a $500 prize made possible by Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc.; Hagood received a $250 award sponsored by McConnell & Associates; and Uchtman received a $100 prize from the  Missouri Division of Social Services. 

“On behalf of the university, thank you for serving in the capacities you serve. You make us a better place, but you also make us better people,” Best told the award winners in his ceremonial remarks.

He added that his experience working with student employees at UCM since 1995 has led to many longstanding friendships with students. These UCM alumni not only performed well during his tenure, but continue to stay in contact with Best and other colleagues long after they left the university.

Additional remarks were provided by Shari Bax, vice president of student experience and engagement and professor of political science. She told students that their work on campus is a building block toward a lifetime of achievement. Student workers also make a valuable contribution to the day-to-day operations of UCM and the quality of service the university provides.

“Those of you who are student employees are to be commended, not only for contributing to the university’s efforts but also for seeking to serve in a position that allows you to deepen your ties to the campus and further engage with this campus,” Bax told the gathering. “Study after study has shown that student employment bolsters student learning and contributes to the student’s ability to succeed.  That is clearly evident in the work done by our students who are recognized here today.”

Best introduced each of the award recipients citing excerpts from the nomination materials that were provided. Sydney Schwartz was nominated by the Career and Life Design Center. Her co-workers noted that she taken on a lead role in a partnership between the office and the director of the THRIVE program on campus. For approximately two years, Schwartz has created workshops and lessons for the students in this program and has trained new students to work with the group. This is in addition to making it possible for the office to host a THRIVE intern who assists her in her role as front desk lead. 

“She treats everyone with respect within the needs of why they are utilizing our center,” Schwartz’s nominator stated. “In her role, as a Special Education major, she is learning academically but also getting to work out in the field of life skills which is her future career goal.” They added that during the summer months, Schwartz returns to her hometown to help adults with disabilities, which has a huge impact on these individuals. 

Considered a “go-to” person by her professional colleagues, Schwartz embraces her role at the front desk, where she is often the first person individuals meet when they visit the Career and Life Design Center. She motivates others by trusting the front desk assistants to take charge of their own social media platforms and events in which they assist. While leading by example she has trained about 15 students at the front desk on responsibilities that include customer service, five different technology platforms, Headshot Central and the Professional Clothing Studio.  She also is in charge of duties such as reconciling the office budget, attending monthly budget meetings, and engaging in a number of efforts that require her technological knowledge and skills, and planning abilities.

“Sydney’s role works a lot with technology from social media to multiple higher education management systems and running our office technology plan,” her nominated stated. “Through social media, Sydney is in charge of making sure all front desk assistants are keeping up with projects, posts and creating new content on Instagram, Tik Tok, Handshake and Facebook. She works closely with tour Career and Life Design Advisor that oversees marketing and promotions in the center to ensure that UCM students are aware of events, information and job and internship opportunities.” 

Her nominator also added that Schwartz is “always thinking of others and how she can help support them.” This is among the qualities that have made her a “wonderful leader” in which student employees look up to for guidance and knowledge.

Hagood is employed at the Success Advising Center, where nominators stated that she has exhibited “Opportunity in Action” through her efforts as a student employee. She serves in a senior coach role that requires her involvement with the Academic Success Coach Committee, where she leads and plans different Success Coach training sessions. She is the person other Success Coaches go to if they have questions or need additional training. She also coordinates events that utilize coaches. 

Her wealth of campus leadership and involvement experiences since spring 2000 have included the UCM Kickoff Experience and volunteering to assist THRIVE. She also has positively impacted others through sorority leadership, and through her work in the Welch-Schmidt clinic on campus where she engages with clients in many different age groups who have communication disorders. 

Hagood was praised by her colleagues for her helpfulness, respectfulness and compassion in working with individuals who utilize the Success Advising Center.

Her nominators noted, “Grace is the epitome of problem solving. Her expert advice to students on how to plan their tasks for the week and semester helps our incoming/and or struggling students find success. She is also unafraid to find out answers. She will go find the source of information and ask great questions to come to a resolution to any problem she is working to solve.”

“Our office can be a stressful place to work with the multiple tasks that our Success Coaches are asked to balance,” Hagood’s nominators added. “These tasks include meetings with students, committee work, reaching out to students with poor performance and leadership roles/training that senior coaches like Grace must do. Grace always remains calm and is a source for other coaches and newbies to come to for answers.”

Among her many achievements, Hagood led the office’s social media campaign plan last year to reach incoming freshmen and current students to help inform them of the office’s many services.

Jace Uchtman was nominated by a professional colleague in Integrated Marketing and Communications, where he makes strong contributions to writing projects, in particular UCM Magazine, which is distributed in print  and onlinet o thousands of university alumni.  According to his nominator, he has shown a strong sense of journalistic ethics and news judgement and has developed a good grasp of the alumni audience, mostly individuals who are much older than him.

“We have received positive feedback from people Jace has interviewed and from those who have read his stories and social media posts, demonstrating his impact on the university community and beyond. The relationships he has built reinforce the university’s positive reputation among our global alumni audience,” his nominator stated.
 
They added, “It is his genuine desire to serve this community by connecting them to one another and to the events, resources and networking opportunities available to them through the university’s alumni foundation,” 

Uchtman is setting an example for other students by volunteerism, which include serving as an Alumni Ambassador.  In this role, he interacts with alumni and other attendees at local MuleNation events and acts as a host to alumni who are visiting UCM. He is also active in his fraternity, Delta Chi, where he serves as public relations chair, and has participated in projects such as picking up trash on Highway 13 and helping to move books from one location to another for the Johnson County Historical Society.

He is growing his skills through his participation in Innovative Public Relations, a student-run public relations firm, and as a social media/promotions officer with UCM’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America.  Additionally, Uchtman continually demonstrates a desire to promote diversity and inclusion through his efforts in areas such as social media, where he strives to include posts that include individuals of different ages, races, nationalities and genders. This is also a way to increase the diversity of UCM’s social media followers by allowing people to see themselves reflected in such content.