October Academic Employee of the Month

October Academic Employee of the Month

by | Nov 4, 2022 | Academic, Staff of The Month

October Academic Employee of the Month

Jen Conwell has been instrumental in helping decorate our campus for both the Fall Parents Weekend Gala and our Halloween festivities, working with students to create an array of really spectacular artwork that was auctioned off for the Gala.
Jen Conwell has been instrumental in helping decorate our campus for both the Fall Parents Weekend Gala and our Halloween festivities, working with students to create an array of really spectacular artwork that was auctioned off for the Gala.
Jen also volunteered her own time and expertise to help Nathan Talley, our Admissions Director, and LaNeal Nance, our Marketing Coordinator, to plan a fun and enjoyable Paint and Sip event for the Parents, Alumni, and Students to participate in during the Fall Parents Weekend. Participants were asked to draw geodes and Jen did a great job of keeping it lighthearted, yet informative so everyone could follow along.
Not only did they line our campus with carved pumpkins, Jen and her Art students dutifully carved at least 50 pumpkins that were on display as part of the Green Earth’s Pumpkin Glow event. The Green Earth Inc. operates nature trails throughout Carbondale, and on this particular trail, they lined the walkways with illuminated pumpkins that created a beautiful scene at night. Our students helped to set up the carved pumpkins, add lights to them, and ensured that everything worked before the evening’s festivities. One worker remarked that the work usually took them 7 hours to complete, but with our group, it was finished within an hour and a half.
Not only did they line our campus with carved pumpkins, Jen and her Art students dutifully carved at least 50 pumpkins that were on display as part of the Green Earth’s Pumpkin Glow event. The Green Earth Inc. operates nature trails throughout Carbondale, and on this particular trail, they lined the walkways with illuminated pumpkins that created a beautiful scene at night. Our students helped to set up the carved pumpkins, add lights to them, and ensured that everything worked before the evening’s festivities. One worker remarked that the work usually took them 7 hours to complete, but with our group, it was finished within an hour and a half.
Jen is also co-sponsoring Student Council this year, and they have a lot of really exciting ideas and initiatives lined up for us this year, the first of which was the Boo Bash. In coordination with Barb Drew, our fantastic Speech and Language Pathologist and Student Council co-sponsor, Jen and her Student Council set up and tore down the Boo Bash in record speed! The Boo Bash was also a tremendous success amongst the student body, in no small part because of the tireless effort put forth by Jen.
Student Life Staff of the Month: September

Student Life Staff of the Month: September

by | Oct 6, 2022 | All Posts, Blog Post, Staff of The Month, Student Life

Student Life Staff of the Month: September

Our Student Life Staff of the month is Samuel Busse. 

Sam Busse is a veteran Student Life staff member of 10 years. Over the years, he has served multiple roles, including recreation staff, lead assistant dorm parent, and dorm parent. Sam strives to meet the students where they are while maintaining a therapeutic approach. He builds excellent rapport with the students making him a trusted adult the students can turn to when they are feeling challenged. He actively engages in guiding the students as they build social skills, especially when it is appropriate to joke and when to be serious. Sam’s masculine yet caring demeanor makes his presence in Jenner Hall a strong representation of how to model appropriate behavior. Thank you, Sam, for being a positive male role model for our students!

Academic Student Staff of the Month: September

Academic Student Staff of the Month: September

by | Oct 6, 2022 | Academic, All Posts, Blog Post, Staff of The Month

Academic Student Staff of the Month: September

Jocelyn Keehn has been instrumental in creating a sense of unity and cohesion on campus, working with student advisors and dorm staff to create homework management plans for students who are in Arrowsmith.

Jocelyn has taken that a step further, by making herself available to work in the dorms on Wednesday nights to better support Arrowsmith Homework completion, but also to get a better sense of what the evening programming looks like for our students. Dorm Parents and teachers often work collaboratively during various meetings, but they rarely get the opportunity to work their respective jobs while the other is on campus, seeing as the teachers largely work from 8-4 and the dorm staff largely work from 5-10 pm. Without someone like Jocelyn making that level of effort, that level of collaboration doesn’t occur.

Jocelyn has taken that a step further, by making herself available to work in the dorms on Wednesday nights to better support Arrowsmith Homework completion, but also to get a better sense of what the evening programming looks like for our students. Dorm Parents and teachers often work collaboratively during various meetings, but they rarely get the opportunity to work their respective jobs while the other is on campus, seeing as the teachers largely work from 8-4 and the dorm staff largely work from 5-10 pm. Without someone like Jocelyn making that level of effort, that level of collaboration doesn’t occur.