The UNA Student Employment Recognition Committee named Amber Bodiford the 2013 Student Employee of the Year at a reception April 11 to recognize the nominees and finalists for the award.

Along with university recognition, Bodiford received a $500 scholarship and will be nominated for the Regional National Student Employment Association Organization.

Bodiford has held the position of student assistant to Student Conduct Director Kimberly Greenway and senior administrative assistant Amy Swinford in the office of Student Conduct and Student Affairs Assessment since January 2011. She is the first point of contact for students and visitors and does general secretary duties.

“I have supervised literally hundreds of student employees in my 24 years at UNA; Amber ranks in the top 1 percent of those students in every aspect of her work,” Greenway said. “In fact, she literally may be the most reliable student employee I’ve ever supervised.”

Bodiford, a native of Foley, is a senior majoring in computer information systems with an emphasis in enterprise information systems. She will be graduating at the end of July and plans to be admitted to Kennesaw State University in Georgia to obtain her master’s of business administration. By 2016, Bodiford will pursue a career with the FBI’s Cyber Security Division.

“During the two years that I have worked as a student employee, I have learned to be patient, take responsibility and have a proper work ethic,” she said. “It has also given me a better understanding of expressing empathy toward students.

“Some of the students who are sent to our office may have found themselves in some kind of trouble, so we want them to know that we are not here to punish them in any way but to help them find out why they made a mistake and help them figure out how they can make better choices and prevent the same mistakes in the future.”

She advises future student employees to make sure to be involved at work and try to help students as much as possible, so they can worry about one less thing and focus on schoolwork.

“I recommend students to look into student employment; working as a student employee helps you get better equipped for the professional world and prepares you for the future,” she said. “There’s only so much classes can teach you and student employment is very hands-on.”

Her campus involvement includes Circle K International, Student Government Association, Phi Beta Lambda, Association for Information Systems and the University Student Conduct Board.

Bodiford also volunteers her time to the Shoals community soup kitchen, which she feels is her proudest achievement.