University Housing Announces 2019-20 Student Staff of the Year Awards

NC State University Housing recognized some of its most outstanding student workers today with 2019-20 Student Staff of the Year Awards. 

These awards are an inaugural effort by the University Housing RA Council, designed to recognize excellence among student staff members. University Housing employs over 500 students each year. 

The following awards were given, along with comments from their nominators:

Community Assistant of the Year: 

Emmett Walters, community assistant for Wolf Ridge Apartments

“Emmett has served as a resource to fellow CAs and RAs when it comes to the procedures of the desk and frequently helps with staff meetings to make sure that all processes are followed accordingly. Emmett is also always willing to help out the CD and RD with administrative tasks as needed when they have downtime at the service desk. In fact, Emmett will frequently ask for more work to do and offers their assistance whenever possible.”

Community Assistant Coordinator of the Year: 

Walker Thurman, community assistant coordinator for Wolf Village

“One of the many aspects of Walker that showcases his leadership skills has been his flexibility in all situations. There have been several times where change has happened with the front desk, such as losing several CAs at a time or changing key box systems for the entire community. Walker handled all of these situations wonderfully, never showing any frustrations and always willing to help out however he can.”

Resident Mentor of the Year:

Jack Featherstone, resident mentor for the Honors and Scholars Village

“Jack took on a number of significant tasks this year and always excelled. He created a Village Point Google Sheets automation that automatically updates a master attendance sheet for Council, RA, and Village events. He then took on the challenge to integrate this into our community Slack communication hub—and is presenting this work at the National Collegiate Honors Council in Dallas this fall.”

Resident Advisor of the Year:

Alyx Fisk, resident advisor for Wolf Village

“Alyx supported her teammates through several difficult duty and resident situations and showed compassion and strength in leadership. While having 70-plus residents, she was consistently bombarded with questions, connecting students to resources, and helping resolve roommate conflicts. By not shying away from the challenge, Alyx was consistent in communicating concerns with her supervisors and was able to find creative ways to assist her residents. Through quarantine, Alyx also kept her motivation up by staying on top of her responsibilities as an RA and contributed greatly to developing new Wolf Village procedures and operations for next year’s team.”

Senior Resident Advisor of the Year:

Andrew Cunningham, senior resident advisor for Wolf Ridge Apartments

“He provides support and guidance for his fellow staff members and is consistently bringing staff updates and concerns to his supervisor. Andrew is a natural problem solver and works to find and create solutions to make the job easier for his fellow staff members.”

Graduate Assistant of the Year: 

Lee Huddleston, graduate assistant for the Arts Village

“For Capstone projects where Lee has content expertise—textiles and writing projects—Lee served as a great specialist to help walk students through their learning. For projects where Lee didn’t have expertise—3D printing, video game development—she worked diligently to find experts on campus and in the RDU community.”