The University of Georgia’s annual Student Employee of the Year Awards luncheon hosted by the UGA Career Center took place on April 8 in the Tate Student Center Grand Hall. The event honored 100 outstanding student employees, nominated by their supervisors. Special recognition was given to the graduate and undergraduate Student Employees of the Year, runners-up and the winning student employee team.
Riya Pandya, a fourth-year financial planning and business administration double major from Griffin is UGA’s 2026 Undergraduate Student Employee of the Year thanks to her work as a residential supervisor at the UGA Summer Academy with Jeffrey Mitchell, director of youth programs at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel.
“She performed at a professional level while remaining a student herself and made transformational contributions when given responsibility and trusted with discretionary authority,” Mitchell said. “Riya represents the very best of what student employees contribute to the University of Georgia.”
Riya is a fiercely independent, hard-working and trustworthy student who has worked her way through entry-level roles and earned increasing trust and authority over the past three years, culminating in her selection as residential supervisor. During this time, she successfully supervised a team of more than 15 peer staff members while taking direct responsibility for 150 campers each week — totaling more than 1,000 campers across six weeks in an overnight environment. She created an environment where her team felt genuinely supported while maintaining rigorous professional standards. When staff members faced challenges with campers or uncertainties about protocols, they consistently turned to Riya, trusting her judgment and expertise.
Riya will graduate in May 2026 with big hopes for her future. For now, the work she did with UGA Summer Academy will benefit the program’s future cohorts long after her tenure. Her creative capacity to develop original solutions while maintaining professional boundaries is a testament to her exceptional performance in this role.
Additional honorees
First runner-up Kylan Campbell, Archway Partnership student worker from Pooler was nominated by Angel Jackson. Second runner-up Haylee Dye, student worker and social media manager in the Office for Student Success and Achievement from Sylvania was nominated by Cara Simmons.
2026 Graduate Student Employee Student of the Year
Dharma Janga, a master’s student from Alpharetta studying cybersecurity and privacy was selected as the 2026 Graduate Student Employee of the Year thanks to her work with Jeremy Daniel, program manager for CyberArch at the Carl Vinson Institute of Government.
“I have seen firsthand her strong technical and analytical skills, along with her genuine passion for cybersecurity,” Daniel said. “She raised her hand to serve as a risk review leader and strategic project leader, which shows her desire to make a lasting, positive difference in the cybersecurity community.”
In her role, Dharma assisted with reviewing client organizations’ security controls, identifying vulnerabilities and providing recommendations to strengthen risk posture. She showed attention to detail while analyzing policies, procedures and technical safeguards and often went beyond her assigned tasks to ensure her work added measurable value to the organizations CyberArch served. Beyond her internship work, Dharma has extended her leadership and mentoring skills by helping design the curriculum and leading a Cybersecurity Summer Camp, where she guided middle and high school students through various challenges and exercises. Her ability to mentor others, whether youth participants or client organizations, reflects her dedication to building a stronger cybersecurity community.
Dharma plans to graduate in May 2027 and has a bright future ahead of her. Until then, her contributions have strengthened CyberArch and created meaningful learning opportunities for others as she prepares to finish her studies and begin her next chapter after graduation.
Additional honorees
First runner-up Kenneth Bennett, graduate assistant for the Certified Nursing Assistant Virtual Skills Evaluation grant program from Blackshear was nominated by Cameron McMillin. Second runner-up Callie Salter, graduate research assistant in the Institute of Government from Albany was nominated by David Tanner.
2026 Student Employee Team Award
A team of four student data interns from the Institute of Government’s data analysis and visualization unit received the 2026 Student Employee of the Year Team Award:
- Faith Fowler, undergraduate student, finance
- Ashley Kim, undergraduate student, electrical engineering
- Rebecca Kenirey, undergraduate student, management information systems
- Avanish Thota, undergraduate student, management information systems
The team was recognized for its work supporting full-time staff in providing technical consulting, analytical infrastructure and reporting tools to campus and external partners.
“As their supervisor, I am routinely impressed not only by their ability to learn and apply technical skills quickly, but also by their active curiosity to find innovative ways to provide value,” said James Byars, data analysis and visualization unit manager in the Institute of Government. “These DADVDI data interns are essential team members; their work serves as a true capacity multiplier and elevates the quality, quantity and diversity of our deliverables.”
The team has successfully worked on many projects, demonstrating noteworthy skills in communication, creativity and analytical thinking with little extra guidance from full-time staff members. Some recent examples of projects include building dashboards using institutional and national benchmarking data, contributing to data governance strategies for the new UGA School of Medicine and developing dynamic capabilities for evaluating and exploring promotional testing data for local law enforcement.
“Faith, Ashley, Rebecca and Avanish are exceptional team members who approach their roles with a level of maturity and distinction rarely seen in student employees or new hires,” Byars said. “A recent quote from an unknown source said, ‘A little learner today, a world changer tomorrow,’ and I believe this captures the amazing potential and current talent of the DADVDI team.”
About the award
Student Employee of the Year is an annual award determined by a 15-member selection committee that features faculty and staff members from across the UGA campus. The committee evaluates each student nominee utilizing the six professional competencies that UGA has designated to measure and assess student professional growth:
- Critical thinking
- Analytical thinking
- Communication
- Social awareness and responsibility
- Leadership and collaboration
- Creativity and innovation
The Student Employee of the Year awards are a creation of the National Student Employment Association, and awards are given out on hundreds of campuses across the nation.