Today's Update: Friday, January 10, 2025
January 10, 2025
Dear Student Life team,
Happy High Five Friday.
I hope your break was good and that you are ready to dive into a new year and new semester. It’s going to be Scarlet and Great!
Snow and ice can always make traveling an adventure. One of our Dining Services chefs wrote to say how much he appreciated crews clearing the pathways during Monday’s storm. He said it made a “world of difference” to have the shoveling and salting done, especially for delivery trucks. High Five!
High Five to Jenna Sparrowe for her exceptional leadership and hard work in managing yet another successful finals week for Student Life Disability Services. Coordinating the proctoring of over 3,000 final exams is no small feat, yet Jenna handled it with professionalism, organization and poise.
Academic breaks can be a staffing challenge, especially without many of our student employees. High Fives to those who helped out at the vitally important Ohio Union Information Desk: Natalie Hornback, Tom Reeves, Candace Floyd, Abby Frank, Ryan Lovell, Annie Maxwell and Brooke Olson.
The Center for the Study of Student Life’s Graduation Survey is extremely important for getting a pulse on how those about to graduate feel about their Ohio State experiences. High Fives to a number of Student Life departments for helping with a final push to promote participation, including Buckeye Careers, Center for Belonging and Social Change, Housing and Residence Education, Leadership and Community Engagement, Off-Campus and Commuter Student Engagement, Parent and Family Relations, Recreational Sports, Sorority and Fraternity Life, Second-year Transformational Experience Program, Student Activities, Student Life Marketing and Communications, Student Philanthropy and the Student Wellness Center.
High Fives to everyone who participated in the Faculty/Staff Dodgeball tournament over break, including Student Life teams Kennedy Ballers – Dining; Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and Dining – Dining; Don’t Stop Ballieving – Financial Management; and Dodge Dat! (mic drop) – Student Wellness Center.
High Five to Matthew D’Oyly for being elected to the Board of Directors for ACCED-I, the Association of Collegiate Conference and Events Directors-International.
Dave Wiseley gets a High Five for earning the Certified Auxiliary Services Professional (CASP) designation from NACAS, the National Association of College Auxiliary Services. The certification demonstrates recipients have met a high standard of excellence.
Pay it Forward has successfully completed another Battle Against Hunger, a month-long initiative focused on bringing awareness to the issue of food insecurity. This year, the food drive benefitted the Mid-Ohio Food Collective, and Pay it Forward collected over 1,500 pounds of food to donate. High Fives to advisors Kelsea Brown and Madi Barnes, as well as student members of the Pay it Forward cohort, for coordinating these initiatives. High Five to Cortney Martin for working on a collaborative informational session between Pay it Forward and Buckeye Food Alliance. High Fives to Megan Haddock and Julius Mayo for helping establish convenient drop-off locations for the food drive. High Fives as well to Abby Hertzfeld, Adrienne Gladish, Jenn Miller, Jon Christopherson, Kathie Serif, Kris Loudon, Richard Kirk and Steven Williams for assisting with the coordination of getting the donated items to Mid-Ohio Food Collective.
High Fives to Leah Halper, Rebecca Kapusta, Chelsea Black and former Student Life staff and friends Matt Van Jura, Liz Lubinger and Susie Whittington on the recent publication of their article, “Effects on Students’ Holistic Development Through a Comprehensive Second-year Program," in the Journal of College Orientation, Transition and Retention.
Chelsea Black and Erica Szeyller get High Fives for a recently completed project that analyzed operational data from STEP signature projects that resulted in tangible recommendations for the team to make the review of projects more efficient.
High Fives to Keith Glenn, Pat Nolan and Matt Stiles for getting several patch-and-paint projects completed in the Ohio Union over winter break.
Bridget Hildreth, Paul Wojdacz, Nora Rodriguez De Paz, Colleen Lins, Sarah Rensko and the whole Environmental Services and Operations teams at the Ohio Union get High Fives for their efforts to coordinate floor work on all of our wood, terrazzo and carpeted floors. Thanks to their efforts, we are well-prepared for all that spring semester will throw our way.
High Five to Peggy Butauski of Student Health Services, who just retired after 41 years of service to Ohio State.
And High Five to Travis Barnhart, who takes over next week as director of Student Life Marketing Operations.
Don’t forget, Monday is our next Scarlet and Great Gathering where we will be honoring people with significant years of service to Student Life. I hope to see you at 9:30 a.m. in the Ohio Union’s Archie Griffin Ballroom. You can stream it online live, or watch it later, if you can’t attend.
Have a Scarlet and Great weekend and GO BUCKS!
Melissa S. Shivers, PhD
Senior Vice President for Student Life
The Ohio State University