Kathryn O’Connor
News Editor
The Nebraska Board of Regents recently presented a KUDOS Award to Karima Goodman.
The University of Nebraska KUDOS award recognizes the accomplishments of outstanding employees and is presented six times a year during NU Board of Regents meetings.
Goodman was nominated for the honor for her outstanding support in the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s (UNO) Department of Teacher Education as an administrative assistant.
Her peers roundly celebrated Goodman in her nomination, with several identifying her ability to go above and beyond her duties with her inclusiveness, willingness to share institutional knowledge with others and problem-solving abilities.
In her role, Goodman is responsible for many tasks: processing travel requests, budget management, hiring, training and course scheduling. Beyond that, Goodman is known for stepping up to fill in gaps when needed.
“Karima is creative in producing ways to support our faculty and their needs with travel and other assistance,” one nominator says. “She often has other assistants in our college sitting at her desk learning a new system to support their departments, and she is always willing to learn and takes part in various trainings throughout the year that expand her knowledge of new systems.”
As a constant learner, Goodman is also someone who challenges conventions thoughtfully and respectfully, according to another nominator.
“Karima is willing to pose thoughtful questions, one that stimulates discussion in the department and helps to improve the processes and programs she supports.”
Many of her tasks require strong relationship-building and coordination, which one nominator says Goodman handles with care and intentionality.
“She is always respectful, patient, and kind. She will stop her work to focus on your question and issue. When I have a question, and I’m not sure who to ask, I often start with Karima.”
A common theme throughout her nominators was that the Department of Teacher Education “simply couldn’t run” without Goodman’s efforts.
“She makes all of us turn every single form, and she also takes the time to teach us how to work out systems that many times look very complicated,” a nominator said. “I don’t know what Karima did to survive [during] COVID with all the moving pieces … I really hope she never leaves us.”
