A Graduate Fellowship at UNO Aims to Keep Nebraska’s Game Developers in the State

Nebraska has no shortage of aspiring game developers, but many don’t see a clear path to a career in Nebraska. The GamePaD Fellowship aims to change that.

published: 2026/11/13
contact: Yahya Shema - College of Information Science and Technology
email: yshema@unomaha.edu

A pixel-art game screen showing a green-roofed cabin, rocky cliffs, and a dirt path. The top left reads “Mushrooms Found: 5 of 80,” and the backpack inventory at the bottom holds two mushrooms. A tooltip reads “Press E to Research mushrooms from your Backpack.”

A screenshot of the video game Book of Myko, produced by UNO students and published by Maverick Meadow.

A person in a black t-shirt points at a monitor showing a game’s title screen, while two students in dark shirts look at the screen. A third person in a cap stands behind them in an orange-walled hallway.

Maverick Meadow students show off a game in progress at the Nebraska Indie Games Expo 2025.

Maverick Meadow’s booth at the Nebraska Indie Games Expo 2025.

UNO Game Programming and Design (GamePaD) Program logo

What’s happening

The UNO College of Information Science & Technology (IS&T) and the student-run Maverick Meadow Indie Game Studio are raising $60,000 for a two-year graduate fellowship in game programming and design, known as the GamePaD Fellowship.

Nebraska has no shortage of aspiring game developers, but many don’t see a clear path to a career in Nebraska. TheGamePaD Fellowship aims to change that.

Why it matters

Nebraska has a talented community of developers, and UNO has graduated students who went on to work at major game studios. The U.S. video game industry supported 250,838 jobs and generated $95.8 billion in total economic impact in 2025 (Entertainment Software Association, 2026 Economic Impact Report). Nebraska’s game developers and designers are well placed to share in that activity, and investing in them helps grow the state’s game industry.

The GamePaD Fellowship will act as a catalyst for industry growth by reducing brain drain and directly investing in local game development and job creation. In addition, the fellowship’s mentoring structure and curriculum give graduates stronger skills and a robust portfolio of game design projects while they build careers and game studios in Nebraska.

How the fund will work

Fellows receive covered tuition, medical benefits and a stipend while developing a commercial game as part of a thesis-equivalent project. Throughout the program, they receive direct mentorship from UNO faculty, who help them hone their game design and programming skills while they build, publish and commercialize their game. Each two-year fellowship requires $60,000. The long-term goal is self-sustainability: a portion of the funded game’s sales will go back toward the fellowship.

What they’re saying

William Barnard IV, president of Maverick Meadow Indie Game Studio and a computer science student at UNO: “As president of UNO’s Maverick Meadow Indie Game Studio, I’ve seen firsthand the incredible game development talent Nebraska holds. From Omaha to Lincoln, programmers and artists, and many more in the community, Nebraskans have a passion that they need help to express. Local game dev clubs and the Nebraska Indie Games Expo are great places to connect with others and show off work, but the fellowship has the opportunity to also provide financial support and mentorship that will be invaluable in kickstarting an aspiring game developer’s career.”

Ada-Rhodes Wish, Ph.D., assistant professor at the College of IS&T and chair of the UNO Game Programming and Design (GamePaD) Program: “As a teacher, I get to see so many amazing, interesting, and uniquely Midwestern games that students develop, but so many students dismiss their own skills and potential because they do not see a path forward for themselves. Supporting the GamePaD fellowship is a way for us all to come together to support those students and help them create unique, amazing, and groundbreaking Nebraskan art that, in turn, will contribute to creating an industry with creatively fulfilling and financially impactful careers in Nebraska.”

How to support the fund

The GamePaD Fellowship is actively accepting gifts to launch the fund, and every gift brings it closer to its goal. Learn more on the GamePaD Fellowship fundraising page.