Lori Arias Earns Board of Regents KUDOS Award

The University of Nebraska KUDOS award recognizes the accomplishments of outstanding employees and is presented six times a year during NU Board of Regents meetings.

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The Nebraska Board of Regents presented a KUDOS Award to Lori Arias, Associate Director of International Advising for the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s International Programs Office, as part of its April Meeting.

Lori has been a part of the international advising team since 1988, which she joined after serving in the U.S. Peace Corps in community development. In her role, she helps lead the team that supports students navigating the process of beginning their studies at UNO as they arrive from different countries, which includes assisting students upon arrival with settling in needs such as airport pickup, shopping, and housing, advising students on a variety of matters including person, visa, and culture throughout their time at UNO, and, among other needs, serving as a 24-hour on-call resource for any crises students may encounter.

The support Lori provides students has been extremely vital during times of international crisis, but especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, where many international students were unsure of what the future would hold and how they could stay enrolled as travel was grounded in and out of the United States.

Lori’s ability to be an advocate for international students is tied to her own experiences as an exchange student at UNO. She traveled to Bolivia and Peru during her time as a student and was the first student to travel to under a now 42-year partnership with Shizuoka University, located in Omaha’s oldest Sister City, Shizuoka, Japan.

Generations of students have since traveled between the two countries with Lori serving a vital role in bridging the two universities. She has served as coordinator of the annual Shizuoka Summer Tour, where students from Japan spend two weeks in Omaha, exploring the city and state, since its inception. In 2019, during a 40-year celebration of the partnership, Lori was publicly honored for her years of commitment to the international student experience.

For all these reasons; the countless hours spent advocating for global engagement and global partnerships; the care with which she treats each student regardless of background; and the passion for the work done by UNO and the University of Nebraska system, Lori is a truly invaluable asset not just to the University of Nebraska, but to the city and state.