smithjn2@lopers.unk.edu

Karlee Nuttelman is proof of once a Loper, always a Loper. 

Eleven years after her graduation from UNK, Nuttelman returned on Jan. 3 with a new title as Assistant Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life. 

She can hardly believe that she has been in this position for two months.

“I have been so welcomed,” Nuttelman said. “Being trusted and empowered to jump in and do what this community needs has been refreshing.”

In 2010, Nuttelman joined a sorority, Gamma Phi Beta, and other Greek groups like Panhellenic and Order of Omega. Once she graduated, she attended school at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where she pursued her master’s degree.

After receiving her second degree, she moved to Ohio to work at the University of Dayton in the FSL office advising Panhellenic, IFC and the National Panhellenic Council. She also established the Sigma Kappa sorority and was offered a position at their headquarters in Indiana.

Nuttelman worked there for two years before she moved south to Bloomington, Indiana for a job at Indiana University in 2019. She focused on educational programming, wellness and prevention and worked on an e-learning curriculum.

She imagined herself spending time at Indiana for a couple more years, but something, and someone, was calling her back to Nebraska.

Her niece was born in May, and the interview process convinced her to consider Kearney.

Council leaders for UNK Greek Life were in the process of changing positions at the beginning of the semester.

“I felt like that timing allowed me to kind of just jump feet first and try some new things right away,” Nuttelman said.

The Student Engagement Office has also been supporting her with learning opportunities to make her comfortable.

“The Student Engagement Office has done something I call a learning tour,” Nuttelman said. “I was introduced to a lot of folks during that first week on campus just so I knew who the people were so I would be pretty self-sufficient from the get-go.”

Renae Zimmer, the Director of Student Engagement, detailed goals for Nuttelman

“In terms of planning and goal setting, it is recruitment for the Greek community,” Zimmer said. “Specifically with the new housing and filling those beds and spaces, and finding how we can up our recruitment game for everything.”

Nuttelman is implementing an extra pillar of “wellbeing”.

“Fraternity and Sorority Life is a part of a student’s identity, and should be the best influences on their life,” Nuttleman said.

Austin Jacobsen, a graduate assistant for the Student Engagement Office with an emphasis in FSL, sees Nuttelman as a great addition to the team.

“She is doing a tremendous job just keeping up with the pace,” Jacobsen said. “Coming from a large, ‘Big Ten’ university, she’s done a good job of taking that large perspective, scaling it down, and is saying ‘you don’t have as many limitations as you think’, and applying it to UNK.”