SEMO instructor awarded for commitment to student success

A Southeast Missouri State University instructor recently received an Outstanding Faculty Commitment to Student Success award from the Ohio Valley Conference.

According to a SEMO news release, Lea Anne Lambert, an instructor in the Department of Kinesiology, Nutrition, and Recreation, was presented with the honor May 1 at the university's annual HAWKSPYs awards ceremony.

The news release stated Lambert was nominated by SEMO's Student Athletic Advisory Committee for providing additional resources outside of her time in the classroom for student and athletes, including providing healthy snacks and conducting nutrition counseling sessions.

In the release, university president Carlos Vargas said Lambert has a passion for educating people about the importance of proper nutrition and leading them to live healthier lives.

"She has made significant contributions to our student-athletes' success and is well deserving of being recognized," Vargas said.

Lambert said it was an honor to be nominated by students for the award.

"I think it means more when the students choose you," Lambert said. "I do this for the students, and any way I can help them be successful in and out of the classroom, I want to try to do that. That they recognized those efforts was so touching."

Lambert said one way she helps student athletes succeed is through teaching sports nutrition classes. She said most students coming out of high school don't receive much in the way of nutrition education.

She said her advice may simply be to remind athletes to eat.

"Some of our football players, for example, will try to gain weight through an increased workout regimen," Lambert said. "However, their schedules are so busy with workouts, classes and practice, they will often skip meals."

Lambert said she has a strong partnership with the university's athletic department, which provides healthy meals for athletes in SEMO's Nutrition Center. Lambert said she and her nutrition and dietetic students also host demonstrations of healthy meals and snacks that students can make in their dorm rooms. She said they also post the recipes on Instagram @redhawkfuel.

Per the OVC website, this was the inaugural year for the award, which was created to recognize outstanding faculty at each school in the conference. The recipients were announced at the 2023 OVC Basketball Championship, with awards sent to each school to honor the winners on their individual campuses.

Other recipients included faculty from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Eastern Illinois University and the University of Southern Indiana.