Each year, the Graduate College awards the Excellence Award for Graduate Contacts to recognize the integral role of Graduate Contacts in supporting graduate students and graduate programs. This year’s award goes to Shannon Croft (History) and Michelle Tomaszycki (Neuroscience).
Shannon Croft has worked with the History department for nearly ten years. What truly stands out about Shannon is her compassion for her students. She is described as “a Rock of Gibraltar” and having an “immense reserve of patience.” Always approachable and willing to help, whether it’s answering questions or guiding students through administrative processes, her clear explanations and quick responses make all the difference in navigating the policies smoothly. One student remarked, “Sometimes I feel like she’s doing the PhD with us!” Shannon’s Director of Graduate Study (DGS) wrote, “I have been moved beyond words hearing Shannon offer advice and suggestions informed by her own experiences to help guide one of our students through remarkably treacherous waters. At every step, she has thought and acted with empathy, but also creativity and innovation, to help the student manage a situation that our standard approaches to graduate training does not really take into account.”
Michelle Tomaszycki has been working in the Neuroscience Program for just nearly four years and has made an incredible mark on the program through her student-focused approach. She has gone above and beyond the expectation of merely coordinating courses by revamping all required courses which have enhanced student and faculty engagement through interaction, reflection, and collaboration. She did extensive research to create an admissions rubric, that has now been adopted by other units across campus. When Michelle recognizes a student need, she does what she can to help. When she noted that students wanted to build deeper connections, she created the First-generation Graduate Student Support Group to help students navigate the intricacies of being a graduate researcher. And when she noted that her students were interested in biotechnology, she worked with AbVie to arrange internships.
The winners were recognized at a reception in the Illini Union Art Gallery on Friday, February 28, 2025. “Graduate studies can be complicated territory to navigate,” said Wojtek Chodko-Zajko, dean of the Graduate College. “Graduate Contacts serve as practical guides through this terrain, providing timely information, clarifying procedures, and helping graduate students understand what they need to succeed. They are often the first point of contact for students with questions or concerns, and their knowledge of how things really work makes a huge difference in students' daily lives.”
In addition to the winners, twelve nominees were celebrated along with members of the Graduate College’s Administrative Advisory Committee.
The nominees include:
Matthew Cohn (Geography and Geographic Information Science)
Ellen DeWaard (School of Art and Design)
Julie Jenkins (Health and Kinesiology)
Amy Lamb (Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering)
Adrienne Logue (Business Administration)
Kara MacGregor (Siebel School of Computing and Data Science)
Ashley Negangard (Human Development and Family Studies)
Karen Nichols (Pathobiology)
Ashley Phillips Smith (Materials Science and Engineering)
Ashley Ramm (Psychology)
Karin Readel (Bioengineering)
Brenda Stamm (Political Science)
Read more about the award, including past winners.