CLEVELAND – The National Association of Academic and Student-Athlete Development Professionals (N4A) has announced the 2021 recipients of its Kenneth Miles Professional Promise, Professional Excellence, Model Practice and Research Awards. The winners were formally recognized during the 2021 N4A Virtual Convention.

Kenneth Miles Professional Promise Award
Given annually to one member from each region, the N4A Kenneth Miles Professional Promise Award honors "new" professionals who serve student-athletes and who have dedicated their energy to the Association and its mission. Winners must have been N4A members for more than one year but fewer than five years.

The 2021 Kenneth Miles Professional Promise Award recipients are:

REGION I	Jabree Belcher, Delaware State University
REGION II	Sable Lee, NCAA
REGION III	Alex Sommer, The Ohio State University
REGION IV	Erin Haley, University of Oklahoma
REGION V	Diamond Brown, University of Washington

Professional Excellence Award
Given to one member from each N4A Region, the N4A Professional Excellence Award recognizes professionals with 6-15 years in the field who meet the following criteria:

• N4A involvement at the regional and/or national level
• Commitment to improving his/her department, often going above and beyond the tasks/responsibilities outlined in their job description
• Ability to meet their students' needs and address critical issues within athletics and/or the campus community
• Viewed as a leader/mentor among his/her colleagues and is well-respected within the industry

The 2021 Professional Excellence Award recipients are:
 

REGION I	Jennifer Brophy, Villanova University
REGION II	Kristin Rusboldt, UNC Greensboro
REGION III	Stephon Fuqua, University of Illinois
REGION IV	Nikki Grafnetterova, Texas A&M Corpus Christi
REGION V	Kelly Amsler, University of Arizona

Model Practices Award
The N4A Model Practices Awards are given annually to a N4A-affiliated university or college that displays best practices in their programming for student-athletes (this includes, but is not limited to academic advising, academic integrity, disability services, target populations, learning specialists, tutoring, study hall/table, student-athlete affairs / life skills). Two awards are presented each year -- one in the area of academics, and one in the area of student-athlete development.

The 2021 Model Practices Award winners are:

Georgia Tech	JumpStart Jackets Virtual Edge Program	Academic
University of Delaware	B.L.U.E. Program	Student-Athlete Development

Research Award
The Research Award is given to a graduate student working on a dissertation/thesis or a practitioner completing a research project to put towards future research with the hopes of sharing with the organization.

The 2021 Research Award recipients are:

Dr. Stephanie O'Donnell	University of North Carolina	"The Ball is in Your Court: An Advocational Phenomenological Study Examining College Athletes with Learning Disabilities and/or ADHD on College Campuses"
Sarah E. Stokowski	Clemson University	"I have grown": A case study of student-athlete career development at Clemson University
Kelly Coffin	Clemson University
Michael Godfrey	Clemson University
Amanda Paule-Koba	Bowling Green State University

About N4A: N4A, which has been in existence since 1975, is a diverse educational service and professional non-profit organization. Membership of N4A includes academic support and student services personnel who are committed to enhancing opportunities for academic, athletics and personal success for student-athletes. For more information on N4A, visit www.nfoura.org. N4A is administered by NACDA, which is in its 56th year. For more information on NACDA and the 17 professional associations that fall under its umbrella, please visit www.nacda.com