Innovation Award

Here is what Sarah’s nominator said about her:

“I am writing to enthusiastically nominate Sarah Urbanski, Assistant Director for Student Engagement, for the Student Affairs Innovation Award in recognition of her impressive, creative, and out-of-the-box thinking regarding improvements to her work. Sarah’s commitment to advancing technological solutions has significantly enhanced the efficiency and effectiveness of our student engagement initiatives, benefiting student leaders, organizations, advisors, and staff across campus. Sarah has consistently demonstrated a curiosity with the use of technology to improve the student experience regarding student organizations and student leadership. She understands the evolving landscape of higher education and the critical role that technology has the potential to play. Her innovative approach the tireless efforts have transformed our approach and many of the processes within our department to better serve student organizations and ultimately improve student engagement. 

One of Sarah’s achievements is her harnessing the power of power automate and artificial intelligence (AI) to create greater efficiencies within the operational functions of student organization processes, specifically with the annual re-registration process. Her work has been so impressive, it was selected to be presented by her at the NASPA Annual Conference this year. Sarah’s presentation was highly attended with attendees standing in the back of a filled room just to learn from her experience. One institution’s staff even proclaimed that her presentation alone “made the trip to Seattle worth it.” 

Furthermore, Sarah has demonstrated exceptional leadership through her strategic partnerships, particularly in strengthening collaborations with academic schools and colleges, as well as various departments across UGA, including the Athletic Association. Through her efforts, these entities now have dedicated pages on the UGA Involvement Network, further expanding the reach of the platform and engaging more students digitally. For the past year, Sarah has also worked to use technology to create more access for students. She added a digital map function to the 5000-plus-person fairs for students to be able to better navigate the experience but also made sure they were heavily promoted in case students couldn’t attend the events and could still participate from their mobile device or laptop from anywhere. 

In addition to these achievements, Sarah spearheaded the rollout of the Event Pass function of the UGA Involvement Network this past fall with overwhelming success thus far. This year feature allows students to be scanned into any event and have their attendance tracked all from their mobile device. Recognizing the importance of effective communication and training, she provided printed materials and signage to all Student Affairs departments, as well as in-depth training sessions to ensure student leaders and advisors were well-equipped to maximize the benefits of this innovative feature. 

Over the course of the last year, Sarah has worked tirelessly on redesigning the student organizations resources pages of our departmental website to create a better user experience, as well as increasing access to the very resources meant to support student organizations’ efficacy and impact. These resources serve as valuable tools for student leaders and advisors, offering guidance on organizational governance, event planning, and compliance with institutional policies among others. 

The innovative spirit Sarah brings to her work has also inspired her colleagues to reimagine how power automate and AI can improve operations and logistics within their own roles. Her significant contributions have also contributed to a more transparent and accountable student engagement landscape. Sarah’s commitment to education and empowerment is evident in the thoughtful development and implementation of these technological and digital advances, further demonstrating her dedication to advancing the UGA student experience.”