Today's Update: Friday, September 27, 2024

September 27, 2024

Dear Student Life team,

Happy High Five Friday. 

We had a terrific Big Table discussion this week. Aaron Yarmel, the Associate Director of Ohio State’s Center for Ethics and Human Values, and I had the honor of being the hosts. Using the principles of the university's Listen. Learn. Discuss. program, attendees talked about how the goal isn’t to agree on issues, but to understand, inspire and trigger respectful discussions. High Five to Tracy Stuck for organizing our Big Table and to those who helped make it successful including Tanisha Jenkins, Candyce Williams, Stacy Smith, Adrienne Gladish, Chris Nesler, Lori Green, Roger Garland, Kellie Uhrig, Natalie Hornback, Travis Barnhart, Dave Isaacs, Anita McCoy and Jen Vandemark. 

High Five to Student Life Technology Services’ Dan Hausman for stepping up to help a teammate by building about a dozen servers over the past few weeks. 

High Five to the Housing and Residence Education team for handling a busy on-call week that required a lot of after-hours crisis management. 

Newark Housing and Residence Education suggests Steve Starr of the Facilities team for a High Five. A colleague appreciates “his amazing commitment and self-sacrificing dedication to his job! Steve is a great colleague that always goes above and beyond for his co-workers and the residents that live here on the Newark Campus 24/7. Steve’s number one priority is to make sure our facilities are in excellent condition and when they are not, he makes sure to fix them in a very timely manner or find a solution to the problem as quickly as possible. He is a tremendous asset to the Newark Housing Team, and we could not do this without him!” 

Last weekend was Parent and Family Relations' annual Buckeye Football and Family Tailgate with more than 4,000 attendees. High Fives to Beth Ullum, Adam Specht and Noah Gilbert for organizing it, and High Fives to those who helped including Abby Hertzfeld, Angie Wellman, Anne McDaniel, Brianna Fuentes, Brooke Tacsar, Christy Muhoberac, Gabe Simms, Julie Schultz, Kathy Grant, Kristen Rupert Davis, Leah Fetters, Lexi Simon, Lori Green, Matt Couch, Nancy Thompson, Rachel Conners and Ryan Lovell. 

High Five to Kristen Rupert Davis for co-authoring an article just published, “Expanding the boundaries of leadership development: Propositions for leadership educators,” in the New Directions for Student Leadership journal.  

Tori Rehr and Chrisse Edmunds get High Fives for representing Student Life at the Office of Academic Affairs annual Academic Assessment conference. 

Last week I briefly mentioned the University Wide Career and Internship Fair and High Fived Tara Nord for her leadership. A record of over 2,200 students attended, meeting with more than 200 employers. High Fives to the those who helped make it so successful, including Debbie Wakefield, Molly Chandra, Erica Regan, Tori Rehr, Leah Halper, Erica Szeyller, Julie Schultz, Stacy Smith, Alex Thomas, D’Arcy Oaks, Ian Trautman, Jess Romer, Kyra Fife, Kayana Jones, Michelle Norris, Julie Sanzone, Chelsea Black, Aisha Echols, Erin McAlhaney, Ryan Lovell, Anne McDaniel, Ann Talbot, the wonderful staff at the Ohio Union and college career services colleagues from around the university. Special High Fives to Buckeye Paws dogs Ellie, Bo, Ashby and Wally, along with their people, for attending.   

High Five to Anne Schira, our partner in the Office of Legal Affairs, for always providing thoughtful, careful guidance and such a positive attitude. 

The Student Life Involvement Dashboard brings together data from across Student Life to provide a comprehensive view of student involvement at Ohio State. High Fives to everyone who has submitted information for this important Center for the Study of Student Life initiative. 

High Five to Seth Rhodes for taking time to meet with an undergraduate student about their desire to go into higher education marketing.  

Have a Scarlet and Great weekend, and of course, GO BUCKS!  

 

Melissa S. Shivers, PhD  
Senior Vice President for Student Life   
The Ohio State University