Las Vegas City Wire

A UNLV administration assistant is looking back at the career that recently landed her on the 2022 President's Classified Employee of the Year list.

Heather Nepa, admin III in anthropology, is a first-place recipient of the award and tries to balance her personal and work life in order to maximize its blessings, according to a news release provided by the university.

“My dad, Jim Ratigan, is a grad of UNLV 78 BS Business Administration," Nepa said. "He was heavily involved in the Alumni Association. UNLV just has kind of been in my blood since the beginning. I remember being 8 and my dad taking me to all the home basketball games. That was the year they won the national championship. I will be a diehard Runnin’ Rebels fan until the end of my days.”

Nepa has been working at the school since 2013 when she began in the history department before transferring to anthropology in 2019. When not working at UNLV she is focused on furthering her education. 

“When I was graduating from Bonanza High School, my dad told me I had three choices for college — UNLV, UNLV, and UNLV," Nepa said. "I graduated from UNLV in 2004 with a BA in history. Now I am using the grant-in-aid benefit to get another degree. Fingers crossed, I will graduate with an Executive MBA in December 2023."

She added that she was honored to be recognized as a Classified Employee of the Year and believes that working at UNLV is a perfect fit for her.

According to Nepa: “When I was looking to rejoin the workforce, I thought working at UNLV would be perfect. I’ve really found that I have a passion for helping other students. I think everybody deserves to have a good college experience.”