When Emily Heindel’s supervisor told her to go to Oglesby lounge in FAR on Tuesday afternoon, she had no idea what was in store for her. She and 49 other student nominees were being recognized for excellence by the University and their employers.

“It was an amazing feeling,” said Heindel, senior in LAS and a nominee for the student employee of the year. “It was a surprise. They told me I was just going to a meeting.”

The Office of Student Financial Aid announced the winners of its 2006-2007 Student Employee of the Year and America Reads/America Counts Tutors of the Year Scholarships at the event.

Benjamin Cober, senior in Applied Health Sciences and employee at the Illinois Leadership Center, was named the overall student employee of the year. He received $400 from the Office of Student Financial Aid and a $100 gift card from the Illini Union Bookstore.

The student employee scholarship competition recognizes students who are employed by the University and nominated by their employers. Nominations required that the nominee be employed on campus for at least six months as of Feb. 1.

America Reads/America Counts is a tutoring program that is funded by the Federal Work Study Program and hires undergraduates to tutor students in reading and math, while graduate students supervise the tutors. The program’s scholarship nominees had to have been working with the program prior to the Fall 2006 semester and must have worked there for at least two semesters.

In total, there were 34 nominees for the Student Employee of the Year scholarships and an additional 16 for the America Reads/America Counts Tutor of the Year Scholarships.

In addition to the overall winner, Siedah Hampton, senior in LAS and employee for the UI Foundation Annual Giving Telemarketing Program, was named runner-up to the award and received $300 and a $75 gift card. Seth Franz, senior in Business and employee at the UI Foundation Research Department, and Robert Tardella, senior in LAS and employee for the pathobiology department, won Honorable Mentions and received $150 each plus a $50 gift card.

Alexa Wirth, sophomore in LAS, was named the America Reads/America Counts Tutor of the year for Urbana, and Kyle Dohrman, senior in LAS, was named tutor of the year for Champaign. Each received a $500 scholarship.

For both scholarships, the selection committees sought students who exemplified reliability, initiative, and professionalism. The committees also evaluated them based on their quality of work and the uniqueness of their contributions.

“It really puts a positive spin on students and the contributions they make to the University,” Financial Aid Director Dan Mann said.

Angie Brix, financial aid administrator, said she hopes people are more aware of student contributions to the University.

“We want to celebrate students working in University offices,” Brix said, “and just thank them for all their hard work.”