The director of campus recreation at Bemidji State University (BSU) was named the recipient of the Board of Trustees’ 2017 Professional Excellence in Service Award.

Kierstin Hoven received the honor on April 19 at the 2017 Board of Trustees Awards ceremony in St. Paul.

“Kierstin’s determination to make a difference in others’ lives distinguished her as a nominee for the Board of Trustees Professional Excellence Award,” said Faith Hensrud, president of BSU. “For her, having a revolving group of student workers in the BSU Department of Recreation is not merely an asset to be efficiently leveraged. She seizes the chance to provide these young adults an engaging experience that can prepare them for future opportunities.”

Hoven has a history of more than 20 years at BSU and completed both her undergraduate and graduate degree from BSU.

“It was an honor and so humbling,” Hoven said. “To think that we can get recognized for the things we love to do with our students is pretty amazing.”

Hoven also collaborates with admissions, advising and other offices, serves as a Beaver Success Coach and is a First-Year Experience instructor. She led the development of BSU’s “Best You @ BSU” wellness initiative and has been an active participant and presenter at local, regional and national conferences.

The Professional Excellence in Service Award has been bestowed upon university service faculty to acknowledge and reward exceptional individual professional accomplishment for the last three years. The award encourages ongoing excellence in the key roles that service faculty fulfill at the Minnesota State system’s universities.

By — Haydee Clotter