Anthropology major Alyson Atherton has received the University of Vermont’s Student Employee of the Year award for her work as a Perkins Museum Geology assistant. UVM’s Student Employment Office, which sponsors the award, received a record number of nominations this year. There are currently almost 3,000 students working on campus, all with the ability to be nominated for the annual award. 

“Alyson immediately embraced the goals and mission of the museum, which are to enhance the Geology Museum visitor experience for the UVM community and general population,” said Robin Hopps, a staff member in the Geology Department, who nominated Atherton.

Atherton went above and beyond her job description in many ways, Hopps said, by updating the museum’s outreach efforts, helping create a more visually interesting display and submitting a proposal to start a Facebook page for the museum, for example.

She also took the initiative to apply for Google Open Gallery software to create an online exhibition and is proposing the use of another online exhibition software tool.

“Alyson displayed many of the characteristics that a top employee demonstrates: initiative, creativity, seeing an opportunity and making recommendations on how it could be changed for the better, task completion, openness to feedback and advice," said Mary McClemments, director of the Student Employment Office.  “But the deciding factor was that Alyson shows a true passion for the Perkins Museum and all of its artifacts, and she appreciates it enough to want to share it and teach others about it."

PUBLISHED

04-22-2015