Three employees with over 60 years of combined service – Dr. Ivani Vassoler-Froelich, Eric Hadley and Michael Kozlowski – were formally recognized as recipients of the President’s Award for Excellence, and Dr. Susan McNamara received the Fredonia College Council Award for Community Engagement, at the annual President’s Award for Excellence luncheon held April 20 at the Williams Center.
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Dr. Ivani Vassoler-Froelich with President |
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Michael Kozlowski with President Horvath. |
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Award recipient Dr. Susan McNamara (center) with |
More than 250 people attended the gathering, now in its 17th year, that also recognized recent or soon-to-be retirees and awarded certificates to employees who reached milestone anniversaries with the university.
Dr. Ivani Vassoler-Froelich, who earned the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, is an associate professor in the Department of Politics and International Affairs. She is recognized for effectiveness in teaching performance, innovation and continued personal growth, as well as being an exemplary ambassador of the campus that she joined in 2003.
Known for being highly involved in students’ learning and reflection, both in and out of the classroom, Dr. Vassoler-Froelich has been consistently ranked at or near the top of teacher evaluations within her department. She is passionate and informed about the material that she teaches and draws upon an energetic and personable style that resonates with students.
Vassoler-Froelich has developed and coordinated student learning and research through conference presentations on campus and at the Council of Latin American Studies. She has directed several study abroad opportunities for students in Brazil and Mexico, was a Fulbright lecturer in Bulgaria and also taught in Brazil.
The interdisciplinary International Studies program, which she has coordinated for many years, nearly doubled its enrollment between 2007 and 2014. As a member of the Oaxaca taskforce, Vassoler-Froelich helped develop academic exchanges between Fredonia and the Autonomous University of Oaxaca, Mexico. She advises Sigma Iota Rho, the national honor society for International Studies, and was responsible for establishing the Fredonia chapter.
Vassoler-Froelich also serves on the Professional Development Center’s advisory board, the Sustainability Committee, the Student Creative Activity and Research planning committee, the Sexual Assault and Title IX taskforce and is a longstanding representative on Faculty Senate. She has a doctorate in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, a master’s in International Relations from the University of San Diego, and a bachelor’s in Journalism from the School of Social Communication in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Eric Hadley, recipient of the President’s Award for Excellence in University Service, has served as operations manager/technical director of Rockefeller Arts Center since 1999. In that capacity, he ensures that Rockefeller is a fully functioning performing arts center for various departments, the college and community. He schedules hundreds of events every year in the facility’s three performance venues, works effectively with numerous performing groups from the School of Music and Theatre and Dance Department, as well as off-campus organizations. He also supervises student personnel who oversee technical aspects of events held in King Concert Hall.
Mr. Hadley has also served as the daily point man for much of the planning in terms of merging the RAC’s construction schedule with the ongoing daily operations of the facility.
A 1997 Fredonia graduate with a degree Theatrical Design and Production, Hadley has kept abreast with new technologies, including software used in theatrical production, and hardware, such as lighting and projection. He has also demonstrated resourcefulness, securing funding for new rigging and new electrical service in Marvel and Bartlett Theatres, among other projects.
Other areas under Hadley’s charge include facility maintenance, equipment maintenance and inventory and safety and security. He also participates in policy development, strategic planning and special projects.
Michael Kozlowski, who received the President’s Award for Excellence in University Service, has the title senior launderer, but that represents a small portion of the contributions that he has made to Athletics and Recreation for more than three decades. He also serves as an equipment manager and events manager for all home athletic contests, in addition to being general handyman.
Veteran coaches embrace him as a trusted colleague who willingly shares the considerable experience he has in a variety of areas, such as equipment orders and trip preparation.
His commitment to Fredonia student-athletes and coaching staff is centered on service; he anticipates their needs and goes out of his way to see that they are filled, regardless of the day of the week or time of day. Ensuring that uniforms are washed, pressed and distributed and equipment repaired is one of his primary responsibilities, but he goes the extra mile to satisfy a need.
Mr. Kozlowski is considered the “go-to guy” to take are of last-minute matters at home soccer and lacrosse contests. It’s not unusual given his far-reaching duties that his work day can begin before sunrise and last beyond sunset.
Known simply as “Koz,” he has also proven to be an exceptional leader, assembling and guiding a new student workforce each semester.
Kozlowski also established a fundraiser, held in conjunction with the annual men’s and women’s Soccer Invitational, which raised over $3,000 for the Roswell Cancer Institute’s Team Cure Challenge this year.
A graduate of Brocton Central School, Kozlowski began working at Fredonia as a cleaner in 1981 and was promoted to his current position in 1983.
Finalists for President’s Award for Excellence were also acknowledged including Dr. Robert Deemer, Dr. David Herman, Eric Johnson, June Miller-Spann and Jonathan Titus.
Dr. McNamara, an assistant professor of Management and recipient of the second College Council Award for Community Engagement, has been a driving force behind the student group Enactus. Under her leadership, 60 to 80 Enactus students worked each year on projects that directly benefit local businesses, non-profits, entrepreneurs and civic agencies. Dr. McNamara also coordinated the internship program in the School of Business.
She is also closely involved with numerous organizations that include the Chautauqua Leadership Network, Chautauqua Opportunities for Development Inc., Women and Girls Coalition Steering Committee, Fredonia Technology Incubator and NCCF Local Economic Development Business Support Cluster.
McNamara, who joined the School of Business as an adjunct faculty member in 2008 and was promoted to assistant professor in 2012, earned a doctorate in Organizational Behavior at Purdue University, and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Miami University, Ohio. She previously served as executive director of the Chautauqua County Workforce Investment Board.
Her service to the university includes First-Year Orientation faculty adviser, Graduate Council member, Professional Development Committee chair, Start-Up New York Advisory Committee member, Carnegie Task Force committee member, Arts Incubator Initiative team member and Fredonia Technology Incubator board member.
