A University of South Carolina staff member and program were recognized for excellence at the Association for Student Conduct Administration annual conference in Portland, Oregon.

Kat Yoffie won the ASCA New Professional of The Year Award, which recognizes a new professional in the field who has demonstrated excellence in the past year.

In her role as coordinator of residential student conduct, Yoffie indirectly supervises over 20 housing professionals who are tasked with adjudicating conduct cases in their communities. She oversees over 1200 cases per year in addition to her 400-person case load.

Yoffie regularly takes advantage of professional development opportunities, has assisted the Civil Rights office while they work to hire additional staff and has begun teaching University 101. Her supervisors, colleagues and students regularly praise her for her compassion, dedication and work ethic.

The university won the ASCA Innovation Award, which recognizes an institution that has implemented an outstanding not-for-profit initiative that advances the student conduct profession.

USC was honored for its program Mutual Expectations, an informal conversation between faculty, staff and students about academic integrity and technology use in the class. The program equips students and faculty to develop a more collaborative learning environment.