Volunteer of Distinction Award Nominations

Selection of honorees

Colleges, Bredesen Center, University Honors, and Tennessee Tailored* are invited to select undergraduate and graduate students to be honored as Volunteers of Distinction in recognition of their extraordinary academic achievement, community engagement, teaching (graduate students), or research.

The university also recognizes seniors who hold the highest GPAs in their colleges as Top Collegiate Scholars. These recipients are determined by the Office of the University Registrar and automatically honored as Volunteers of Distinction.

Nominating a student

Colleges, Bredesen Center, University Honors, and Tennessee Tailored* are invited to select undergraduate and graduate students to be honored as Volunteers of Distinction in recognition of their extraordinary academic achievement, community engagement, teaching (graduate students), or research.

In addition, the university recognizes seniors who hold the highest GPAs in their colleges as Top Collegiate Scholars. The Office of the University Registrar determines these recipients and automatically honors them as Volunteers of Distinction.

Each college or area determines the processes for nomination and selection of recipients. Undergraduate and graduate students who received their degrees in Summer 2025, Fall 2025, or will receive their degrees in Spring 2026 are eligible to be Volunteers of Distinction.

To nominate a student, please reach out to the student’s college contact listed below.

Colleges

College	Internal Deadline	Point of Contact	Email
Architecture and Design	February 23, 2026	Katherine B. Ambroziak	[email protected]
Arts and Sciences	February 20, 2026	Liem Tran	[email protected]
Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs	March 6, 2026	Zoe Webb	[email protected]
Communication and Information	February 24, 2026	Jennifer Tate	[email protected]
Education, Health, and Human Sciences	February 20, 2026	Brian Francis	[email protected]
Emerging and Collaborative Studies	February 13, 2026	Nneka Walson	[email protected]
Haslam College of Business	February 20, 2026	Mark Willoughby	[email protected]
Herbert College of Agriculture	February 20, 2026	John Stier	[email protected]
Natalie L. Haslam College of Music	February 20, 2026	Brendan McConville	[email protected]
Nursing	February 20, 2026	Shelia Swift	[email protected]
Social Work	February 16, 2026	Javonda Williams Moss	[email protected]
Tickle College of Engineering	February 20, 2026	Michael Danquah	[email protected]
Veterinary Medicine	February 9, 2026	India Lane	[email protected]
Winston College of Law	February 20, 2026	Briana Rosenbaum Jennifer Garren	[email protected] [email protected]

Other Academic Units

College	Internal Deadline	Point of Contact	Contact Email
Bredesen Center	February 13, 2026	Allie Burns	[email protected]
University Honors	February 17, 2026	Talisha Adams	[email protected]

*Tennessee Tailored has a separate selection process and does not accept nominations.