Champaign, Ill.— Four Illinois International colleagues received service recognition awards on March 22.
Anna Kasten, Boswell Hutson, Ben England, and Andrew Collum were honored with the awards for the time they dedicated to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Hutson, England, and Collum were recognized for serving five years, and Kasten was recognized for serving 30 years at UIUC.
Anna Kasten
Kasten is the program manager for the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Gifted Student Program.
She is also a senior lecturer for the Intensive English Institute (IEI).
Kasten joined the Global Education and Training (GET) team in Fall 2019 after working at the IEI since 1993.
In her current role she is the principal point of contact for day-to-day student advising and management of KAUST Gifted Student Program activities.
She holds an M.A. in Teaching ESL from UIUC and has taught abroad at universities in Japan and Venezuela.
As a Senior Lecturer at IEI, Kasten’s duties included coordinating student services, supervising instructors, advising, and teaching students, liaising with partner institutions such as Fulbright-IIE, and serving as PDSO for SEVP.
Kasten is passionate for her work with international students, and she enjoys her role as part of students’ support system as they assimilate in their new culture.
Boswell Hutson
Hutson is the assistant director for media and marketing on the Global Communication team for Illinois International.
He joined the team in November 2021, and in his role, he serves in an embedded role in Illinois Abroad and Global Exchange (IAGE) to collaborate on communications with campus study abroad offices and Illinois International units.
Before joining the team, Hutson served as a communications specialist for the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at UIUC. There, he was tasked with communicating both broadly for the Center and as the external relations manager with the National Science Foundation-funded XSEDE Project.
He holds a B.A. in Classics from UIUC, during which time he studied abroad at University College London.
Ben England
England is an office support specialist under Shared Administrative Services at Illinois International.
In his role, he provides specialized administrative support in a variety of operational functions that are designed to execute effective and efficient procedures and workflow.
England first joined GET in July 2020 as the Office Support Associate where he performed a variety of office support functions and assisted in the daily operations of GET.
Originally joining the University of Illinois’ Grounds Department in 2014, he later secured an Office Support Associate role for the Dining Services Office in 2017 before finding his home at GET.
Andrew Collum
Collum is the director for International Safety and Security at Illinois International.
He joined in 2017 as the Associate Director for International Safety and Security then assumed the role of Director in 2020.
He develops and coordinates policies and procedures that support the safety and well-being of Illinois students, faculty, and staff while traveling abroad for study or university business.
Before working for Illinois International, Collum served in the U.S. Army as a political-military specialist on Africa. He holds an M.A. in African Studies from Ohio University and a B.S. in International Relations from the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York.
Thank you and congratulations to Kasten, Hutson, England and Collum!
