STUDENT CENTER:
Graduation Celebration Honors Mandel Center Graduates
It was with great pleasure this year that the Mandel Center graduated 13 students from the Master of Nonprofit Organizations degree program, two students from the MNO – Executive Option program, one MNO/MSSA student, 18 students from the Certificate in Nonprofit Management program, one MBA/CNM student, and 11 MSSA/CNM students. Please view the full list of the 2008 Mandel Center graduates. At the Celebration, the Center also recognized five Executive Doctor of Management/Nonprofit Fellows.
To honor this impressive group, family members, friends, faculty and staff gathered at the Graduation Celebration held for the first time in the Center’s new building. Recognized at the celebration were Monica Craven, Shelly Green, and Debra Illes, recipients of the 2008 Dean’s Academic Achievement Award. The Weatherhead School of Management and Mandel Center Dean’s Academic Achievement Award recognizes students who have the highest cumulative grade point average for their degree program at the Weatherhead School and the Mandel Center.
"It was a beautiful day, and it was exciting to be the first class to celebrate graduation in the new building" said Joann Watterson, MNO ’08. "My family and I had a wonderful time celebrating with so many friends and colleagues."
Danny Williams, MNO- Exec. ’04, took part in the Celebration as he welcomed the newest class of alumni to join the Mandel Center’s Alumni Association and encouraged them to become active participants in the group, which recently passed new by-laws at its annual meeting.
Adjunct Instructor Barbara Clemenson was also honored as being the recipient of this year’s Mandel Center Teaching Award. Criteria for the Teaching Award include: Creation of a dynamic, high impact learning environment within the classroom; demonstration of effective engaging teaching methods; encouragement and guidance toward life-long learning; and exceptional accessibility, assistance and guidance given to individual students in helping to resolve questions and problems. This was also a special graduation year for Barbara, as she is one of the 2008 graduates of the EDM/Nonprofit Fellow program.
“Receiving the Mandel Teaching Award was both the most meaningful and the most humbling event in my life,” Barbara said. “It was meaningful, because I deeply care about our colleagues in the program and helping prepare them to successfully understand and lead in our nonprofit sector; but humbling because I'm not near the teacher I aspire to be, and because I know the incredible qualities and abilities of the other instructors they have in their courses. I'm so thankful to have the opportunity to work with our students and to know that I have to some degree enriched their lives, as they surely immeasurably enrich mine.”
The Mandel Center thanks the faculty members and special guests who attended this year’s Celebration for helping to make it such a special and fun event. Congratulations to the 2008 graduates and award winners!
Barbara Clemenson, Adjunct Instructor, EDM ’08 Graduate, and winner of the Mandel Center’s 2008 Teaching Award.
Danny Williams, MNO-Exec. ’04, speaking to the graduates on behalf of the Mandel Center Alumni Association.
2008 Graduates, along with Executive Director Susan Eagan.
