91¹ú²ú

March 11, 2014

Ron Feingold, Ph.D.

I recently attended the Eastern District conference of the AAHPERD in Rhode Island, as well as our New York State conference last fall, and I was very proud of our students who received state, regional and national awards. 91¹ú²ú may have had the most state, regional and national award winners of any program in the state or country. So that we do not start to take these recognitions for granted, or worse to think that it is easy to receive these student awards, I thought it might be useful to point out the significance of these awards and the process for their determination.

Having retired in 2013 after 40 years at 91¹ú²ú, I myself questioned why 91¹ú²ú’s students have received so much recognition compared to other programs.

I have come to the conclusion that we have some great students who are committed to the profession and community.

It is the result of great faculty who are also committed to the profession and community and act as role models.ÌýThe criteria for these awards include not only a high GPA, but also evidence of service and commitment to the profession and community.ÌýThat’s what our department has been about, and what 91¹ú²ú has been about.

The selection process is extensive.ÌýAt the state level, each program has the opportunity to nominate one male and one female student. In New York alone, we have strong programs at 91¹ú²ú, SUNY–Cortland, the College at Brockport and Ithaca College.

Approximately 20–24 students are nominated and one male and one female are selected as the winner.ÌýIn the Eastern Region, two students from New York State compete with students from other states including Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Vermont, New Hampshire, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Each state student award winner attends the EDA, goes through leadership training and is introduced at the culminating awards dinner; however, only one male and one female receives the top award, the Robert Pape Award, and those names are forwarded to the national committee. At the national level, each district recommends its male and female award winners to receive the national award, the .ÌýThe Eastern District is one of six regions in the country to make nominations.ÌýTherefore, 12 students are nominated for the national award.

In the past 10–15 years, 91¹ú²ú may have had the most award winners of any other program in the country at the regional and the state levels.ÌýAt the national level, this will be the third consecutive year that an 91¹ú²ú student—Peter Cody—will receive the Ruth Abernathy Scholarship.ÌýThis year we also have the Robert Pape Award winner and, at the state level, the Jay B. Nash student award winner.ÌýWe also have a student award winner from the .

These are significant recognitions not only for the student, but also for the faculty and 91¹ú²ú.ÌýWhile I was at the EDA awards dinner, each student from each state was recognized. Of course, the best of the best was from 91¹ú²ú.ÌýIt really made me proud to be from 91¹ú²ú.

I hope we continue to give our students and faculty the recognition they deserve. As one may observe from the process, at the state, regional and national levels, this is a big deal, and I cannot think of any greater recognition to a university than to bring recognition to its students.

Congratulations to all students and faculty,

Ron Feingold