The UMKC Family and Supporter of the Year Award celebrates the supportive role parents, families, and supporters play in the lives of our students. Honoring outstanding supporters serves as a reminder that parents, families, and supporters are essential to the success of our students, the prosperity/viability of our institution, and to the connection with our larger campus community.

At UMKC, we know that it takes a village to love, educate, and foster success in students. Family & supporter can mean a lot of different things – parents, aunts and uncles, foster families, siblings and cousins, grandparents and extended relatives, best friends, significant others, and more. Whole families, parents, or any individual supporter may be nominated.

UMKC Parent and Family Programs encourages students to nominate their Roo Family by submitting a nomination that details why the family or supporter is deserving of the award.

Nomination will be reviewed based on the following criteria:

1. Commitment to student success
2. Enthusiasm for UMKC
3. Contributions to their student’s personal, educational, and professional wellbeing.

Eligibility:

• Nominees must be associated with at least one enrolled, degree seeking student during the Fall 2024 semester.
• Nominees do not have to be UMKC alumni, donors, or financial stakeholders to be eligible.
• Nominators may be students, UMKC faculty and staff, or self-nominators.

Submission & Selection:

Nominations are now closed. 

Nominations will be reviewed by a committee comprised of UMKC faculty, staff, and student representatives. Nominations should include one of the following:

• Essay (minimum 500 words, maximum 2000 words)
• Video essay/presentation (minimum 2 minutes, maximum 5 minutes)

Documents and/or videos must be included on nomination form. Nominations should only include one of the document types.