Dr. Charles Riedesel Outstanding Academic Advising Award

Award: $1000

Eligibility: Full-time faculty or staff members with job descriptions that include undergraduate advising (defined as having an official role in MyRED as an undergraduate academic advisor)

The Dr. Charles Riedesel Outstanding Academic Advising Award recognizes an exceptional faculty or staff member who directly delivers advising services to undergraduates. Examples of outstanding advising include going beyond basic job duties and responsibilities, providing support, empowerment, coaching, counseling, and guidance to enable students to succeed academically and in life. The award is named for Dr. Charles Riedesel, former advisor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department at the University, who devoted much of his time to recruiting and advising computer science and engineering majors. The time of service for the nominee to be considered should include the past year, but may extend back through the career at UNL. Awardees are recognized at The Laurels annual award reception.

Awards home

Nomination Instructions

Before submitting the nomination form, compile the documents listed below in the order shown and save as one PDF file.

  • Nomination Letter: (Maximum of three pages in length.) Any student, faculty or administrator may initiate a nomination by submitting a letter outlining how the nominee meets the following criteria:
    1. Develops appropriate meaningful relationships with students, demonstrating compassion and understanding for students’ unique needs.
    2. Consistently goes above and beyond assigned advising job duties.
    3. Creates an ethical, safe, and inclusive environment for all members of the university community.
    4. Provides accurate, comprehensive, and consistent information about program and degree requirements to support undergraduates’ progress on academic and life goals, from the moment of orientation to graduation and beyond.
    5. Seeks out opportunities to serve students, and the campus in ways that benefits students, makes students their top priority.
    6. Knowledgeable of, makes appropriate student referrals to, and demonstrates close cooperation with other campus resources (e.g. financial aid, counseling, academic coaching, tutoring, etc.)
    7. Knowledgeable of and promotes opportunities outside the classroom to support students’ academic and career goals (career services, education abroad, service learning, student organizations, etc.)
    8. Utilizes and promotes resources and academic tools to support and enhance undergraduates’ retention, engagement, and time to degree. Including maintains accurate and complete student advising records using applicable university tools.
    9. Supports and participates in university, college, or department professional development related to advising and/or student development.
    10. Collaborates with others in university initiatives related to advising (eg. probation recovery, first-year outreach, academic advising association, etc.).
  • Supporting Letter(s) (Maximum of four letters.) Letters can be from current or former students who were advised by the nominee, colleagues, supervisors, others within the university community in a position to provide support of the advisor’s impact, or friends/family or others with first-hand knowledge of a student’s interactions with the nominee.
  • Current Vita/Resume: Submit a current vita/resume for the nominee.
  • Current Job Description: Submit either an official current job description or a statement from the nominee’s supervisor outlining undergraduate advising duties.

Nomination Form

Dr. Charles Riedesel
Dr. Charles Riedesel

Past Awardees

Year Recipient Department
2024 Alexis Patridge College of Arts and Sciences
2023 Daniela Martinez Explore Center
2022 Jacqueline Mattingly Music and Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts
2021 Ann Koopmann Computer Science and Engineering
2020 Erin Sayer Biochemistry
2019 Doug Pellatz Mathematics
2018 Kathy Castle Communication Studies
2017 Megan Friesen College of Business Administration
2016 Kelly Payne Department of English
2015 Paul Breitkreutz Explore Center