.Student Life Recognizes Inspiring Leaps Winners
The Office of the Vice Provost for Student Life has recognized six individuals as winners of the Inspiring Leaps: Student Life Staff Awards.
Watch what our awardees and their nominators have to say in the following video:
The Inspiring Leaps: Student Life Staff Awards are a Student Life program that recognizes outstanding contributions and excellence in the areas of leadership and engagement, arts and culture, well-being, community-building, and organizational and operational excellence. All Student Life employees are eligible. One individual each from management/professional staff and service/support staff are honored during each award period. Awards are bestowed multiple times annually.
Staff and students are encouraged to nominate outstanding staff members for future awards. Learn more about the Inspiring Leaps: Student Life Staff Awards and how to nominate here.
More information on the latest winners is below.
Alicia Breeding
Breeding provides direct support to the Office of the Dean of Students team in Indianapolis while providing additional support to Counseling and Psychological Services and University Residences staff. Her role also includes oversight of the student ambassador team, which works the reception desk in the Student Life office, and supports the Business Office for Student Organizations in Indianapolis. She provided instrumental support to the Student Life office during the launch of Purdue in Indianapolis through office support and the establishment of the ambassador team. This included coordinating with other areas of the university and the creation of a desk operations manual that provides student employees with resources to succeed in their roles.
“Alicia is organized, goal-oriented, innovative and persistent in working to find solutions to ensure our office operates smoothly,” wrote Breeding’s nominator. “She collaborates and communicates well with colleagues both within and outside of Student Life. Like most folks in Indianapolis, she has embraced the challenge of creating something new and is committed to making sure students and staff have the best experience possible. She is compassionate and empathetic, and fiercely supports each member of the Indianapolis team.”
Paden Alie
Alie oversees all aspects of RecWell’s Intramural Sports and Club Sports programs, which impact more than 12,500 students. He has been responsible for bringing multiple new programs and sports to RecWell’s portfolio, such as Unified Sports, a program that connects people with intellectual disabilities with Purdue students, as well as cricket and the continued development of a reputable officiating development program. He has created memorable experiences for students in these programs, such as holding championship events in Mackey Arena and coordinating live-streaming of intramural championships. On top of these responsibilities, Alie supervises more than 200 student employees and helps develop these students for their career pursuits.
“Paden has an expansive officiating and professional network across our industry and regularly mentors students on how to grow their network while tapping our students into his network to increase their opportunities for growth,” wrote Alie’s nominator. “He routinely points students in the right direction to advance their careers. Paden embodies servant and selfless leadership. Through his work, he creates an example for others by delivering high expectations, communicating those expectations and following up on progress with student leaders.”
Kris Webster
Webster serves as the lead administrative assistant for Purdue Musical Organizations (PMO). She organizes volunteering opportunities for students in PMO, working with organizations such as WoodHaven Rescue Farm and Food Finders Food Bank. She also supports student well-being by creating opportunities for them to take mental health breaks that involve completing craft projects, learning new skills and visiting with pets to relieve stress before final exams.
“Kris embodies every element of Steps to Leaps while creating an environment for our students to feel accepted, supported and loved from the moment they step into our building,” her nominator wrote. “She is an advocate for all and will always volunteer to help where it is needed. She volunteers to travel with our groups to assist when students are ill or need personal care when we are on tour out of state and is at every concert we have locally.”
Bryan Austin
Austin serves University Residences as the residential academic initiatives and executive in residence director. In this capacity, he oversees learning communities and the Faculty Fellows, Faculty in Residence, and Executive in Residence programs. Under his leadership, these programs have grown and become key components of the residential housing experience. He is lauded for his ability to connect with staff, students and alumni, including during a recent Executive in Residence field trip.
“Bryan took it upon himself to bring one of his favorite card games, Avalon, on the trip,” wrote his nominator. “He taught the students how to play and, in the course of a few short hours, each of the students was having a blast. The game, which depends on trickiness and social cues, was a great way for the students to get out of their own heads for a moment and begin making connections with each other. Bryan was great at making sure everyone felt included as well — asking the quieter students direct questions, acting as a devil’s advocate for the more outspoken students, and so forth.”
Raul Orona
Orona has been a member of the Purdue Dining & Culinary team for more than 20 years. He currently serves as production supervisor at Windsor Dining Court. He is praised for his willingness to tackle any role. Whether it’s arriving early for the first shift after Thanksgiving to ensure staff were able to use newly installed fryers or filling in to cover for staff experiencing personal challenges, Orona leads with compassion and selflessness.
“Recently, one of our production coordinators — one of Raul’s subordinates — showed for their shift and unlocked the doors to the dining court to hear music playing loudly,” his nominator wrote. “There he was, hours prior to everyone else arriving, jamming to music and flipping pancakes. Before he left the closing shift just hours earlier, he had discovered that we had a production oversight and the task hadn’t been performed. This is just one of the many times he has gone above and beyond.”
Haley Davis
In her role as an assistant director of Fraternity, Sorority and Cooperative Life, Davis provides resources, expertise and direction for more than 7,000 students in over 90 groups. She has provided leadership training on numerous topics including academic success, chapter operations, health, safety and service learning. Davis made a significant impact on Council officers and President Leadership Advance (CPLA), an overnight retreat for all fraternity and sorority council officers.
“Through her plan for CPLA and supporting council leaders, Haley brought up aspects of Steps to Leaps and how the pillars would intertwine with the expectations for her role or program,” her nominator wrote. “She did well with upholding messaging to student leaders and ensuring expectations were communicated in a timely manner or frequency, which led to an increase in attendance. She met with each presenter for the different parts of the planned program outline to ensure they understood the goals she developed to align with Steps to Leaps.”
Written by: Matthew Vader, Writer, Student Life Marketing