OFFICE OF ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENTVETERANS SSS ADVISOR SHAY BOYD RECIEVES 2024 CHANCELLOR’S LEADERSHIP AWARD
Veterans SSS advisor Shay Boyd receives 2024 chancellor’s leadership award
MEDIA CONTACT: James Dalton, Veterans Student Support Services (SSS) coordinator, Office of Academic Engagement, james.dalton@wsu.edu
April 16, 2024— Third-generation U.S. Air Force Airman Shay (Warren) Boyd sought opportunities and experiences when she enlisted in 2017 following high school graduation. Seven years later, her active duty completed and now an ROTC Cadet and Air National Guard member studying marketing at Washington State University, she was honored with a Distinguished Leader Award from the WSU Pullman Chancellor’s Office.
“I feel I’ll always be a developing leader and working on those skills, but I’m proud to receive this public acknowledgement for what I’ve done so far,” said Boyd. Of the 200 students nominated for the chancellor’s award in 2024, she was one of just 25 students to land a crystal trophy presented at formal April ceremonies.
Her nominator cited several examples of her noteworthy leadership. He wrote that her engagement and efforts as a peer tutor have catalyzed positive changes for the Veterans Student Support Services (SSS) program in the College Success Programs (CSP) of the Office of Academic Engagement in the provost’s office. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Veterans SSS supports increased engagement, persistence, and graduation of Cougars, and uses a supportive community, personalized advising, academic development, peer and professional mentoring, emergency grant aid and financial wellness, and other means to ensure student success during and beyond college.
As a Veterans SSS peer tutor, Boyd has enhanced the educational and personal development of more than 40 military and veteran students. Through her consistent efforts, she helps them transition from military to campus life, and to access college resources.
Her nominator also noted that Boyd also travels the 80 miles from Pullman to the Fairchild Air Force Base southwest of Spokane to spend two days each month to serve as a human resource specialist in the Air National Guard, holding the rank of Staff Sargeant. Her work requires her to review members’ records to ensure they are cleared for deployment readiness, and to update records, create government identification cards, and support customer service and readiness programs to ensure accuracy.
Also, in WSU’s Air Force ROTC (AFROTC) program, she is a Cadet who leads several efforts. She is the Arnold Air Society director of operations and has organized canned food drives, sessions to create fleece blankets for the Whitman Humane Society, and a door-to-door Food Ruck to fill backpacks with donations for the Cougar Food Pantry. She coordinated AFROTC Cadets to collect donations that benefited more than 50 regional families. And, she is credited with fostering a “more inclusive, supportive, and engaged university community.”
“I do well with group work and I like to take the lead on school projects,” Boyd said. “AFROTC offers great opportunities for that because its social side is somewhat like a club.”
The opportunity to join AFROTC was one of the main reasons WSU was at the top of her university list to earn a four-year bachelor’s degree. While at Nellis, she had earned a two-year associate degree from the College of Southern Nevada in Henderson.
“I knew a lot about WSU because I went to high school in Bonney Lake in western Washington. We searched for information on many universities and found that WSU’s AFROTC program is filled with hardworking cadets and that WSU touts its support for its military programs.”
When Boyd’s enlistment ended, she came to Pullman in 2021 with her husband, Noah, a psychology major from Colorado who is also a senior. They met as Airmen at Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas, Nevada, where she was stationed after basic training in Texas and job training in Mississippi. At Nellis, she was a Senior Airman working as a human resources specialist who developed relocation paperwork for military members and analyzed promotional packages. Her husband was in munitions.
When they graduate next year, they will be commissioned into the Air Force as Second Lieutenant officers.
“With my business education and four-year degree from WSU, I’d like to work as a Contracting Officer for the Air Force. I’m also interested in finance operations. I think I’ll be well prepared to be an asset wherever I’m assigned.”
This summer, Boyd is helping at orientation events for new students, doing administrative work to support current students, and preparing presentations for CSP’s orientation week.