Linda Hill, administrative support associate for the Department of Food Science and Technology, has received the 2013 Fourth Quarter Outstanding Employee Award. An IANR employee since 2000, Hill helps facilitate and manage courses, one of which annually enrolls more than 1,500 in-class and online students. Supporters wrote that daily Hill “receives an incredible number of emails and phone calls from students … often the same questions repeatedly. She is always eager to help them.”
Hill helps keep her faculty on track and prioritizes her own tasks yet remains flexible, always ready to stop what she is doing to help students, especially those new to the university or even to the United States.
One of Hill’s roles is to assist with weekend exams for hundreds of students by dispersing, proctoring and retrieving the exams. Afterward she evaluates student responses to determine if there are clearer ways to explain concepts or ask the questions. Hill “consistently and continuously enhances her knowledge of the course content” to better know what students are asked to learn, a supporter wrote.
Hill is credited with always helping where needed, and in one distance education program for professionals uploaded all of the videos and materials into the educational portal.
“Honestly, I don’t know how she does it,” her nominator wrote, “but I’m terribly grateful and fortunate that she has these personality traits and skills.”
Award recipients receive cash awards and certificates. Application materials for these and other IANR awards are at ianr.unl.edu/staff-awards.