Sara Winn, the student success coordinator for the School of Natural Resources, has received the national Outstanding Advisor Award from NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising, a professional association with members in roughly 40 countries.
NACADA is a nonprofit that supports academic advising in higher education and has 14,000 members worldwide. The organization provides professional development and networking opportunities to thousands of faculty, professional advisors and administrators globally to improve student success and retention.
“Congratulations on this achievement and to Sara's contributions to the advancement of academic advising,” NACADA said in announcing the award.
The honor comes in the wake of additional top honors Winn received this year for outstanding student advising: the Dr. Charles Riedesel Outstanding Academic Advising Award from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, and the Staff Inspiration Award from the School of Natural Resources and the university.
The Riedesel annual award recognizes one undergraduate advisor who goes beyond job duties and takes actions like coaching, supporting, counseling, guiding and empowering students to succeed. The Staff Inspiration Award is student-nominated.
Over her 20-year career at UNL, Winn has impacted countless students. NACADA noted that students praise her as a "deeply attentive, compassionate, and responsive" advisor and that she is described as "the glue of the School of Natural Resources.”
Winn is part of SNR’s Student Success Team along with Kenneth Pyle and Bridget Gross.
Winn assists students with academic planning, understanding degree requirements and setting educational and career goals. She also provides information on class scheduling, rules and regulations, graduation requirements, transfer issues, study abroad opportunities, internship searches and life after graduation.
She earned a bachelor of arts degree in geography and a master's degree in community and regional planning from the university.
