Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs & Provost
2009 Award Winners
Heidi Perman
Assistant Director, St. Paul Campus Career Center
Heidi Perman is known for going above and beyond in all of her work at the University of Minnesota. In her 10 years at the University of Minnesota, she has influenced the lives of hundreds of students through her career counseling, teaching, advising, and mentoring roles. Heidi has helped countless students identify satisfying career paths, gain experience through internships, and transition successfully from student to professional.
Throughout her career, Heidi has gone out of her way to show students that she cares about them. She puts the “students first” philosophy to action throughout her work. Heidi believes small things make a difference for students and works hard to let students know that she cares about them as individuals. Heidi has been known to give out her home phone number for students to contact her over the weekend, when they are working to meet a tight employer deadline. She views her work not as a 9-5 job, but as a life mission to do what it takes to help students meet their goals. She regularly contacts past appointments to check on their progress, follows up with students after graduation to provide encouragement and offer her services, and at the end of each summer she contacts the students on internships to remind them to collect work samples and request feedback from supervisors. Students are often surprised to receive such unsolicited personal attention.
It is the genuine, personal attention that Heidi gives to each of her students that has allowed her to build strong relationships. These relationships have impacted a number of students who might have otherwise left the University due to career indecision, but stayed as a direct result of their interactions with Heidi. As one student wrote to Heidi, “I was at the U only temporarily, but after your class and all that you taught me and helped me understand, I felt completely confident that the U would be a great place for me to stay. Your kindness, compassion, and wealth of knowledge made a big difference in my life.”
Heidi makes a point to incorporate the Office of Student Affairs’ Student Development Outcomes in her student appointments. She keeps copies of the Outcomes in her office and shares them with students as a developmental opportunity arises. Heidi has stopped students in the middle of their appointments and asked them to read the Outcomes as a way to challenge students to reflect on behavior that is not conducive to academic or personal achievement. Heidi uses the philosophy of “challenge and support” when working with students. She works hard to tactfully challenge students when she believes they need an extra push to achieve their goals.
Not only has Heidi provided exceptional service to individual students, but she has made many contributions to student services at the University. She has chaired a number of committees on campus including The Academic, Career and Life Planning Task Group, the Career Development Network, Employer Survey Committee, the Big 10 Committee, and has been a member of a variety of other committee efforts. In a letter of support for Heidi, Kate Maple wrote, “Heidi’s forward-thinking nature and innovative approach results in continuous high quality service to students. Heidi played an integral role in the University-wide online career resource workshops used by students, advisers and career centers across campus. These workshops were developed in such a way that they can be used by students in all majors. The bottom line is that she effectively helps all students. Heidi turns bold visions into productive results by moving important initiatives forward, pulling in appropriate colleagues, and executing her part impeccably.”
It is because of your dedication to students, their lives, careers, and the University’s student services at-large that we congratulate you on excellence in advising. Congratulations, Heidi Perman!