William Paterson University - Honors and Awards For Academic Year 2011-2012

Honors and Awards For Academic Year 2011-2012

University and College Awards

William Paterson University's campus radio station, WPSC 88.7 FM, was named the Best College/University Station (with more than 10,000 enrollment) in the 2012 Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) awards. In addition, the station won eight more awards including first place in the categories of Best Talk Program and Best News Interview. March 3, 2012

WPSC 88.7 FM was also among the Top 25 Nationwide for the MTVu Woodie for College Radio Station of the Year 2011, and took the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System's (IBS) Golden Microphone Award for Programming Excellence, and Bronze Microphone for programming operations.

William Paterson University has been named a finalist in the 2012 Second Nature Climate Leadership Awards contest. The awards recognize innovation and excellence in climate leadership at signatory institutions of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment.

The North Jersey Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention presented an award to William Paterson University on October 16, 2011 in recognition of efforts by students and staff members to raise money and awareness for suicide prevention.

University's Financial Planning Program in the Cotsakos College of Business is named one of top ten programs in U.S. by Financial Planning Magazine, November 1, 2011.

William Paterson University has been honored as a “Military Friendly School” by militaryfriendlyschools.com and is included in their 2011 and 2012 Guide to Military Friendly Schools.

William Paterson University’s College of Education received the Best Practice Award in Support of Global Diversity for 2011 from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE). The award honors the integration of diversity awareness into educator preparation and was presented to representatives of the program at AACTE’s 63rd Annual Meeting and Exhibits in San Diego.

William Paterson University solar panel facility ranks among the top ten largest installations at higher education institutions in the United States, according to a report released by the Association for Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) in October 2011.

William Paterson University's Office of Marketing and Public Relations, through its agency, Lipman Hearne, Inc, received a Silver Award for the University's Internet/World Wide Website and Admissions Re-Skin at the 26th Annual Educational Marketing Advertising Awards in April, 2011.

Faculty/Staff/Student Awards

Julie Bliss, professor and chair, nursing, was appointed to the National Advisory Committee for Evaluating Innovations in Nursing Education, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation project that has designated $4.2 million to evaluate innovative educational strategies for nursing education.

William Paterson students Nick Bowman, Claudia Capilla, and Mike Walsh placed second overall in the National Financial Planning Association (FPA) Competition in San Diego on September 14-17, 2011 and won $5,000 in scholarship money for the University.

Sgt. Lynette Butler, coordinator of veterans affairs and mediation services at William Paterson University, has been appointed to a two-year term on the Operation College Promise (OCP) National Advisory Council. OCP was founded in 2008 by the New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities. The organization offers outreach and educational support for student and alumni veterans in the post 9/11 era.

Tamara Cashour, adjunct professor, music, was awarded a 2011 ASCAPLUS award for composition from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP).

Wartyna Davis, chair of the political science department, has been selected as a member of the Class of 2011 of Leadership New Jersey (LNJ), a prestigious statewide organization of leaders in their professions and communities.

Bruce Diamond is the winner of the New Jersey Psychological Association's Distinguished Researcher award for his work in the area of neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience.

Charley Flint, sociology, has received the Dr. Robert J. McCormack Leadership Award, presented to her for outstanding leadership as president of the New Jersey Association of Criminal Justice Educators. The award covers the term she served from 2008 to 2010.

Ofelia Garcia, recently retired professor of art, and former dean of the University’s College of the Arts and Communication, was appointed as chair of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts in 2011. The council is an agency of the New Jersey Department of State, and works to support the state’s arts industry.

Cindy Gennarelli, director of the Child Development Center, was awarded the Practitioner of the Year Award from the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators in November 2009.

Michael Gordon, assistant professor, psychology, was granted membership in the Psychonomic Society, an honor reserved for those who have made significant contributions to cognitive psychology.

Sergeant George Guzman Jr., Sergeant Lourens Latona, and Police Officer Javier Hernandez of the University Police Department were awarded the 2010 Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Law Enforcement Distinguished Service Award Certificate.

Cyril S. Ku, professor and chair, computer science, and Linda Kaufman, professor, computer science, have been inducted into the Upsilon Pi Epsilon Computer Science Honor Society.

Tina Lesher, professor, communication, won first prize for fiction for her novel The Abaya Chronicles, from the National Federation of Press Women at their 2011 annual convention held in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Payton MacDonald, associate professor, music, was awarded a 2011 ASCAPLUS award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP).

Elizabeth Mullin, kinesiology, was recently designated a certified consultant by the Association for Sport Psychology, the international professional organization of sport and exercise psychology.Maureen Martin, assistant professor, English, will serve as Fulbright Teaching Fellow at the University of Nizwa, Oman, spring 2011.

Karen Phillips, assistant professor, nursing, received an excellence in teaching award from St. Clare's Hospital in 2011.

Sheetal Ranjan, assistant professor, Sociology, was presented with the Women's Initiative Award at the Bergen County celebration of Indian Independence Day held on August 15, 2011. Ranjan was recognized for her research in the field of violence against women and children.

Robb Rehberg, assistant professor, kinesiology, received the highest honor given to an athletic trainer in New Jersey by being inducted into the Athletic Trainers’ Society of New Jersey Hall of Fame in February 2011. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees, Brain Injury Association of New Jersey.

Erica Seguine, a graduate student in jazz arranging, won first place at the 2010 Zurich Jazz Orchestra Composer Competition, for her piece Gray Sky.

Triicia Coxwell Snyder, associate professor, Cotsakos College of Business, won a bright idea award from the New Jersey Policy Research Organization Foundation (NJPRO) and Seton Hall University for her paper, "Do Federal Budgets Cause Crowding out?” in 2011. Her paper was selected from a field of 109 entries.

Janis Strasser, professor, early childhood education, received the National Early Childhood Teacher Educator of the Year award.

Amanda Switzer, a student majoring in environmental science, received the Federal Student Intern Award from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, one of only three awarded in the nation.

Legendary jazz artist Clark Terry, permanent artist-in-residence in the University’s Jazz Studies Program, received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, January 2010.

Aaron Tesfaye, assistant professor, political science, was named Fulbright Research Fellow at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, 2010-2011.

Miryam Wahrman, professor of biology, won the first place award for her article, "Aphasia," published in The Jewish Standard in 2011. Hilary Wilder, associate professor, educational leadership and professional studies, was named a Fulbright Scholar for the spring 2010 semester, lecturing and conducting research at the University of Namibia (UNAM).

Melkamu Zeleke, chair and professor, mathematics, earned the Fulbright Award at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia in 2010-2011.

Honors and Awards Received in Previous Years

University and College Awards

William Paterson University received the Environmental Stewardship Award from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in recognition of voluntary, proactive, innovative actions that go beyond compliance to improve the environment and ensure a sustainable future, September 2008.

William Paterson University received the Energy and Climate Action Award from New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability (NJHEPS) in recognition of meritorious performance in energy and emissions reduction, 2005.

William Paterson University has been honored as a “Military Friendly School” by militaryfriendlyschools.com and is included in their 2011 Guide to Military Friendly Schools.

Faculty/Staff/Student Awards

Ask Me No Questions, a novel by Marina Budhos, assistant professor, English, was selected for the Nutmeg Book Award by the Connecticut Public Libraries in 2009 and received the James Cook Teen Book Award in 2007.

Maya Chadda, professor, political science, received a Fulbright research fellowship to India, 2007.

Philip Cioffari, professor, English, won the Best Director Award for his film, Love in the Age of Dion, New York International Independent Film Festival, March 2009. The film was also an Official Selection at the Bergenfield Film Festival in May 2009.

Ming Fay, professor, art, was awarded a Public Art Commission at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Terminal 2, and was a finalist in Public Art Competition, San Francisco Central Subway Station.

Rochelle Kaplan, professor, elementary and early childhood education, was the recipient of the Thomas F. Donlon Memorial Award for Distinguished Mentoring from the Northeastern Educational Research Association.

Sarah Nalle, professor, history, won a Guggenheim Fellowship for the 2007-2008 academic year.

Charlotte Nekola, professor of English, received a Fulbright Hays Senior Scholar Teaching Fellowship, University of Liege, Belgium, spring 2008.

Glen Sherman, associate vice president and dean of student development, was named the 2008-2009 Outstanding OAD (Alcohol and Other Drugs) Professional by Outside the Classroom, Inc.

Robb Rehberg, assistant professor, kinesiology, received the National Athletic Trainers Association Dan Campbell Award for Legislative Excellence for efforts leading to the passing of athletic training legislation in New Jersey, June, 2008. Rehberg also received the New Jersey Coaches Association Hall of Fame award, April 6, 2008.

Darlene Russell, assistant professor, secondary and middle school education, received the National Women Educators (WE) Activist Curriculum Award by the Research on Women in Education, American Educational Research Association (AERA), October 2009.

Ronald P. Verdicchio, associate professor, elementary and early childhood education, was elected Lifetime Director of the Board of Directors, The Atlantic Council of the United States, Washington, D.C., September 2008