Thursday night at the NeASFAA Spring Conference, the awards committee honored one outstanding committee and four extraordinary members for their dedication and service to NeASFAA and to their community.

Before we presented the prestigious awards, we had a few "fun" awards to hand out.

Since the conference theme was "Survivor", the awards committee decided to have a "tribal council". Below is the list of recipients, their award and the name of NeASFAA's ultimate survivor! Big thanks to Matt Johnson, for writing up these awards.

Mark Schilmoeller--- Not A "Buffaloed" Survivor
The tribal counsel found out that Mark had been "buffaloed" last June and felt that he would be a liability in the rest of the survivor competition. Mark's torch was extinguished.

Conversion Directors - Mary Sommers UNK, Kyle Rose Wayne State College, Craig Munier UNL, Randy Sell UNO, Diana Lind Peru State College, Judi Walker UNMC, Sherry Douglas Chadron State College--- Immunity
For this season, these directors were given immunity. The tribal counsel asked that they all come back next season so we can see how well they survived the conversion. Immunity monkeys were given to all of the directors. We wish you luck with the upcoming conversion!

The producers of the show (the awards committee) found out there was a birthday in the crowd. We all took a moment to sing Caroline Routh Happy Birthday!!

Kathy McConnell--- Survived by Sailing Away
Ultimately, Kathy had displayed the true marks of a survivor. There was a long list of survival traits involving hockey pucks, retirement etc. but ultimately in the game, the tribe decided that it is best to let her stay out to pasture and voted her off of the island. Kathy was given a beautiful paper ship and her touch was put out.

Vicki Kucera---Mounds of Old Forms Survivor
If you need a form from any year or any decade Vicki is your gal. She had the first FAFSA from whatever that year was for Les. But, unfortunately with that much paper around, the tribe felt that if a fire ever started the whole island might burn down. So with that in mind, Vicki was voted off of the island. The producers gave her a waste paper basket. We hope she puts it to good use.

Les Monroe---FAFSA Survivor
Les was the ultimate survivor. He has single handedly preserved the finest traditions and forms of the tribe. He conquered them and hung them on his wall. They are Les' art. We honor his courage. We were a little concerned about the psychological ramifications of what Les calls art, but all in all found him to be a deserving survivor. However, we thought that Les may still be missing the oldest FAFSA for his collection. The awards committee found a stone FAFSA in a corner of Vicki's office. The FAFSA from 3000bc and we wanted Les to have it. Les was the ultimate survivor.

After all of that fun, it was time to announce the prestigious award winners.

Lisa Gdowski, President Elect, presented Mary Sommers with the Past President's plaque and thanked her for her dedication to NeASFAA.

The Committee of the Year Award was presented to The Communications Committee (Les Monroe-Chair, Sherry Douglas-Co-Chair, Janet Dodson and Richie Morrow). The nominator states, "Les stepped into the position in the middle of the year and has done a lot to get the website up and running again. Just think what his committee could have done with a full year's time." Congratulations to Les and his committee! Thank you for your hard work!

The 2008 Rookie of the Year is Randy Lovins! Randy has worked very hard this year as the Membership Committee Chair. His nominator wrote, "You will find few who work as hard as Randy. He is an asset to our membership not for personal gain, but for his devotion to NeASFAA, its members, and its mission to be a medium in which members work closely to discuss issues, promote professional development and raise awareness of subject matter related to financial aid." Way to go Randy and thanks for all you do for NeASFAA!

Outstanding service to the community is the criteria for the Feel the Excitement Award! This year, Kyle Rose was the very deserving recipient. Kyle has been the Secretary for the local Habitat for Humanity chapter for three years. Her nominators wrote, "This year another house was built in Wayne and Kyle served on the Volunteer Committee. Each week the house was worked on, Kyle lined up workers and people to bring food for breaks and lunch. As serving help was often limited, she often did the serving herself. She kept constant communication with the WSC student chapter of Habitat for Humanity to include their involvement whenever possible. The grateful family was able to celebrate Christmas in their own home due in part to the many efforts contributed by Kyle." Congratulations Kyle on your award and thank you for your service to your community.

The Distinguished Service Award is given at the discretion the NeASFAA President in honor of a person's outstanding service to the financial aid profession and their commitment to NeASFAA's mission. This year, President Mary Sommers presented the Distinguished Service Award to a very shocked Shareen Thewke. Over the past few years, Shareen has worked very hard in the President Elect, President and Past-President roles. Thank you Shareen for your dedication to NeASFAA and congratulations on your special award!

The final award of the night was the Bob Minturn Special Recognition Award. This award is given to an outstanding financial aid officer in recognition of their leadership activities within the financial aid profession. Steve Millnitz was the recipient this year. His nominator shared, "Steve deserves this award for the many years of service to NeASFAA in many different capacities. He is always willing to help out where needed and his intelligence shines through. Not only is he an amazing member of NeASFAA but he is an outstanding financial aid professional."
Unknown to Steve, his wife Pam was in the back of the ballroom. She was able to join the membership in honoring her husband for his outstanding service. In an unexpected moment, Pam took to the microphone to share a few words about her husband. She commented on the friendships Steve has within NeASFAA and Steve's devotion to his profession. We thank you Steve for your tireless service to NeASFAA and to the financial aid profession. Also, thanks to your wonderful wife Pam for attending the awards ceremony and for sharing her thoughts with us.

The awards committee will be soliciting your nominations for fun awards as well as prestigious awards next spring. Be on the look out for NeASFAA members who go above and beyond their call of duty within NeASFAA, their office or their community. There are many members who work hard every day to "make dreams a reality". We appreciate all who nominated members this year for awards and celebrate with the winners. Congratulations to you all!

To see the complete list of past prestigious award winners please visit:
http://www.neasfaa.org/ Click "History & Awards" on the left side of the webpage.

Submitted by:
Laura Schultz

2007/08 Awards Committee
Matthew Johnson - Chair
Laura Schultz - Co-Chair
Steve Carper
Juanita Czarnick
Dale Brown
Jean Phillips

Spring Conference Slideshow