Ken Freedman Outstanding Advisor Award Nominations Open
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 10, 2021) — The University of Kentucky Advising Network is now accepting nominations for the Ken Freedman Outstanding Advisor Award. This award recognizes outstanding service in the field of undergraduate academic advising for both faculty and professional advisors.
The Ken Freedman Awards have been awarded annually since 1995. Named after UK advisor Ken Freedman, a founder of the UK Advising Network in 1986, the award helps to shine a light on the hardworking faculty and staff who help students navigate the university, ensuring that all students have the tools they need to succeed at UK and beyond.
At UK, academic advising plays an integral role in overall student success, guiding students toward their personal and educational goals. The importance of academic advisors cannot be stressed enough.
“We play such an important role influencing the lives of our students,” says Nate Hibbitts, chair of the Advising Network. “Each student we work with has a different story, a different path, and different circumstances that affect not only the present, but also their future. We are consistently going above and beyond to give every student the guidance they need to make a positive impact on their lives.”
Two award recipients are selected for the Ken Freedman Outstanding Advisor Award, one professional advisor and one faculty advisor. All students, faculty and staff are encouraged to participate in the nominating process. Nominees are not limited to colleges. Any faculty or staff member who plays a role in advising is eligible.
The recipients of the Ken Freedman Outstanding Advisor Awards will be recognized at the Ken Freedman Day of Recognition in May 2021. Recipients will also be nominated by the UK Advising Network for the NACADA Region 3 Excellence in Advising Award and National Academic Advising Association Outstanding Advisor Award.
The UK Advising Network is an allied member of NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising and expanded the awards to align with their national awards.
In addition to the Ken Freedman Outstanding Advisor Awards, three NACADA aligned awards will be presented. These awards will include:
“Advisors genuinely care about addressing the needs of each individual student,” Hibbitts said. “The Ken Freedman Day of Recognition is a day that we celebrate some of the most selfless individuals on this campus. It’s a day we can acknowledge the hard work advisors put toward student success on a daily basis.”
To make a nomination for the Ken Freedman Outstanding Advisor Awards, click here. Nominations will close March 19, 2021.
To see the full list of previous Ken Freedman awardees, click here.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.