Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions (RMU) employees Amber Collins, Gretel Cosman, Max Martinez, and Kristen Schnurman were honored as winners of the 2025 Presidential Prominence Award of Excellence during a special luncheon on Thursday, April 23.
The winners of the annual employee awards—including two staff members and two faculty members—were nominated by their peers and supervisors. The four recipients were also recognized during a University Forum in March when results were announced at the quarterly staff-wide meeting.
“We evaluated and looked through the nominations and, with the impact that you all have made at this institution, you are most deserving of this distinction and honor,” said RMU President Cameron K. Martin, who honored winners with his wife, Julie. “We want to make sure that you know that we know what you’ve done for this University.”
After asking winners and their guests to talk about themselves in extended introductions, President Martin shared snippets from the nomination forms from their colleagues. Among the excerpts:
Amber Collins, PA Program Director of Clinical Education
Collins, who also serves as an assistant professor, elevates our students, strengthens our program, and enhances RMU’s reputation locally and nationally. She embodies every core value this award seeks to recognize. Her research now directly informs many areas of healthcare education, including RMU’s clinical site development and sustainability, preceptor engagement, recruitment and retention, programmatic responses to national rotation shortages, data-guided improvements in adjunct faculty onboarding, and workforce and preceptor trend awareness across the region. “Amber is a very loving human being who makes me want to be a better human being,” one of her PA students commented.
Gretel Cosman, Registrar
Having worked at RMU since 2004, Cosman is committed to data-driven decision-making. It was not an easy task to take RMU’s tri-annual commencement ceremony and scale the logistics into one, large annual ceremony in August at the UCCU Center. She has fostered a culture of teamwork, accountability, innovation, and respect within the Registrar’s Office. She recognizes the importance of diverse perspectives and actively welcomes feedback on current processes. Cosman was also lauded for taking on an additional role at RMU as the accreditation liaison officer.
Max Martinez, Admissions Advisor
During challenging moments, Martinez was a natural leader for others on the admissions team by providing support, perspective, and crucial feedback on how to successfully move forward. Over the last year, he was instrumental in elevating the Enrollment, Marketing, and Communications team and helped provide resources for everyone to learn more about RMU programs. One of the ways that he has achieved this goal is by implementing a programmatic training Canvas course for all Enrollment Management members. He also serves dutifully on the Employee Senate.
Kristen Schnurman, Assistant Professor/Interim PA Program Director
Schnurman, the newest team member of RMU’s Physician Assistant program, made the most impact on the PA program over the last year as Interim PA Program Director, among other accomplishments. Her authenticity helped immediately make a positive impact on the PA team. She hit the ground running as a faculty member and quickly gained students’ trust, becoming a favorite professor. She continued to encourage gratitude and team building by incorporating a section at the beginning of every faculty meeting in which the team discussed good things and what they were grateful for. She also implemented positive changes to decrease stress levels and redistribute workloads among faculty and staff.
“Thank you all for your impact at this institution. We appreciate the good work that you’re doing. I appreciate your leadership,” President Martin added. “I’ve had impactful experiences with each of you, and I think it’s wonderful to know that your colleagues think so well and highly of you.”
