More than a promise: UNMC supports employees in the guard, reserve

UNMC and Nebraska Medicine in 2023 jointly signed a pledge affirming the medical center’s partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense’s Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.

The med center promised to serve as a supportive employer for those serving in the National Guard and Reserve and to recognize, honor and build opportunities for service members who are looking to begin their journey into civilian life.

But it’s more than a promise, said Perris Scott, recruitment and marketing coordinator in the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions office of enrollment management and student affairs. Scott is a first sergeant for the security forces squadron at the 155^th Air Refueling Wing in Lincoln, in the Nebraska Air National Guard.

She said UNMC, specifically allied health and her direct supervisor, Maggie Winnicki, have been nothing but supportive.

Scott, who has a crucial job at the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions, was activated for weeks during the COVID pandemic. She’s also been deployed to Texas to help with Hurricane Harvey relief and has supported tornado response within the state. When she was promoted to the position of first sergeant, that meant more time away from her UNMC job for additional training.

“We are pulled away much more often than people realize,” Scott said.

Yet Winnicki, allied health’s senior director of enrollment management and student affairs, never blinked.

“I appreciate her support,” Scott said. “It’s hard. It’s hard doing both things. UNMC is amazing. But at the supervisory level, it’s so important. Some Airmen of mine, their employers are not as supportive of them leaving. And I get it. But it takes a load off me mentally when I don’t have to worry about my job and being gone.”

Winnicki said she realizes the impact a supervisor can have on an employee in the military “just by working with them.”

Winnicki said: “When she’s not here, we need her to be focused on what she is doing there, because it’s important. Her mission is important.”

Scott has appreciated Winnicki’s support so much she’s nominated her supervisor for two awards. The U.S. Department of Defense’s Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve has recognized Winnicki as an official “Patriotic Employer.”

But she also got to take part in a “Boss Lift,” where a handful of outstanding civilian supervisors got to experience firsthand the mission of the 155^th Wing in action: Winnicki and others so honored on July 16 flew in a KC-135 refueling tanker to watch as it filled up fellow planes in the air.

Scott calls it a “gas station in the sky.”

“I loved it,” Winnicki said. “I had no idea I was going up in a plane.”

But as exciting as that was, Winnicki said the best part was seeing how everyone on base reacted to Scott. From the Airmen who serve under her to the highest supervisors, “you could tell they all have a lot of respect for her. You get to see how they feel about your employee.”

Scott went on to explain what she really does is watch out for her Airmen and connect them to resources. “My job,” she said, “is making sure they can do their job well.”

“It’s all supporting people,” Winnicki said, “mentoring them to get them to their next best thing. And that’s what she does for us, too.”

On Nov. 15, she’ll retire from the military after 10 years of active duty and now about 11 more in the Guard.

Those last 11 were made possible in part by a supportive employer and a supportive supervisor. “She’s made it easy to serve,” Scott said, “and for that I am grateful.”

“I’m so grateful that she thought of me” for the awards, Winnicki said, “when she is the one who has sacrificed so much. We are so incredibly proud of all that she does on behalf of UNMC and the Air Force. And that allied health gets to claim her, because she is amazing.”