CPS Announces Experiential Learning Award Winners

The Experiential Learning Awards are a recognition opportunity for students within the College of Professional Studies. They are awarded to students who have successfully integrated the classroom with real world projects, going above and beyond in their educational journeys. Our programs engage students with the world through professional work, research, and service on seven continents. They learn how to transform ideas into impact and become global citizens with successful careers. 

Each year we recognize outstanding students who demonstrate great skills while on Co-op, through XN projects or sponsorship, through the Experiential Learning Awards. We hear nominations of highly accomplished students about what they were able to accomplish through our experiential opportunities. The students selected for these awards are nominated by their Co-op employers, XN Project Sponsors, Faculty or staff. The awards are broken down into three main categories: Co-op Excellence, XN Excellence, and Humanics.  

Cooperative Excellence Award Winners

This award is for students who have demonstrated dedication and success in improving their organization through their workplace contributions and experiential learning.

Isha Barot
MS Analytics, 2020

“Isha joined Tradewater during a period of transition for our Engineering department and was quickly asked to take over many of the responsibilities of a full-time developer. She helped us implement a new CRM system, a new call center software tool, and API integrations for both. She also developed new sets of metrics to track the implementation and success of our refrigerant collection programs. All of this was done with a great work ethic and a wonderful attitude that made Isha a pleasure to work with.” – Kevin Schwartzenberg, Director of Engineering and Innovation at Tradewater

Watch Isha’s nomination video

Adam Masciangelo
MS Regulatory Affairs for Drugs, Biologics, and Medical Devices, 2019

“Adam joined VoxNeuro as part of this program and is now a full-time employee at VoxNeuro leading our FDA strategy, ISO 13485 development, and audit, along with full training and implementation of our QSPs. He has an incredible ability to think at a high-level while simplifying his communications for the average colleague. He is diligent, articulate, thoughtful, and a no-nonsense speaker, when he speaks, the team listens. I have personally received emails from our regulatory consultants, our main contact at the FDA and Health Canada, as well as our most valued investors, who all had gone out of their way to share with me how professional, productive, focused, and reliable Adam was for them. Adam is young in his career yet taking on a leadership role and thriving. I can see the pressure he is under and he manages it like a seasoned veteran.” – James Connoly, CEO of VoxNeuro

XN Excellence Award Winners

Experiential Network (XN) helps Northeastern University students work in their respective fields while working with different sponsors on a wide array of projects. The XN Experiential Awards celebrated a student who excelled in their XN curricular course project by applying knowledge gained in their academic program through the integration of key theoretical elements and related practical experiences.

Nicole Bernstein
MS Corporate & Organizational Communication, 2019

“Nicole thoroughly reviewed CareerAgility’s content strategy across all internal and external channels as well as marketing collateral/materials and provided recommendations on how to drive the CareerAgility brand forward by gaining visibility from prospective clients, and establishing thought leadership in the diversity, inclusion and belonging industry.

Nicole provided insightful and practical recommendations – the sponsor was so impressed that they asked her to serve as a consultant (which our guidelines do not permit). This was a top-notch experiential capstone!” – Carl Zangerl, Program Lead of Corporate and Organizational Communication

Watch Nicole’s nomination video
 

Joshua Roberts
MS Project Management, 2019

“Mr. Roberts made a highly favorable impression in my project management integrated experiential learning seminar. This advanced course requires students to apply principles of project management within their own professional workplace. For the course, as part of Joshua’s broader responsibilities as an associate production manager for a Boston-based theatrical company, he meticulously researched, created, and then implemented a tailor-made and comprehensive internal communications plan and external social media campaign that applied principles of organizational management. His project focused on the interrelation among various determinants of effective organizational communication and the impact of these determinants on successful outcomes for his theater company’s managers, actors, and staff as well as the audiences attending each theatrical production.” – Peter Lifton, Professor

Watch Joshua’s nomination video
 

Humanics Award Winners

Humanics is specifically the integration of technical literacy, data literacy, and human literacy. This award celebrates and highlights a student who exhibits and demonstrates Humanics, contributes significantly to the understanding of the universe, and practices lifelong learning by combining technical, data, and interpersonal skills throughout their Northeastern career and within their respective communities. 

Andres (Carlos) Garcia
BS Liberal Studies 2020

“The student exhibited exemplary qualities of intentionality and passion during his Capstone course, in which Carlos researched mindfulness practices and techniques best suited in a yoga format for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Carlos’s research worked to break down barriers allowing for an inclusive and enriching environment for all while practicing mindfulness. Carlos was also very helpful in providing his peers with thoughtful feedback on their projects during peer-review. Carlos deserves this award because of his unwavering focus to help others be more inclusive.” – Steven Soares, Professor

Chen Fang (Anna) Hung
MS Project Management, 2020

“Chen Fang (Anna) Hung is a dependable, hard-working intern who has contributed greatly to our online support group for Chinese women living with breast cancer with her bi-lingual capacity and tech support. Her knowledge about WeChat and her dedication to the project enables us to capture valuable data and assess the effectiveness of this new initiative!” – Chien-Chi Huang, Executive Director of Asian Women for Health

Watch Anna’s nomination video

Congratulations to all of this year’s Experiential Learning Award winners!

Celebrating our Newest Graduates– Virtually

The college celebrated the achievements of undergraduate and master’s graduates in a virtual recognition ceremony on May 15.  Watch highlights from the ceremony below, and click here to watch the full ceremony, which includes candidates’ personalized messages and photos as well as messages from faculty members. Congratulations to our newest graduates! 

Mary Loeffelholz, Dean of the College of Professional Studies, welcomes students, families and friends to the virtual recognition ceremony. 

David Fields, Senior Associate Dean, Academic and Faculty Affairs and Professional Programs, introduces this year’s student speakers. 

Anh (Ann) Doan and Tien (Tiffany) Nguyen, this year’s student speakers, discuss their career goals and how the college has helped them on their journey to create a start-up that supports women’s development.  

Dave Hagen, Associate Teaching Professor, announces this year’s Excellence in Teaching award winners:  Dr. Margaret Gorman and Dr. Wendy Crocker. 

Dean Loeffelholz introduces the recognition ceremony speaker. Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Robert DeLeo, AS’72, gives his address to graduates.  

Dean Loeffelholz introduces the ceremony’s alumni speaker. Clifford Harrison, CPS’15, addresses graduates as this year’s alumni speaker. 

Congratulations to all of our newest graduates! Click here to watch the full ceremony, which includes graduates’ personalized messages and photos as well as individual messages from faculty members.

Faculty Promotions

Congratulations to 11 faculty members of the College of Professional Studies who have been promoted, effective May 1, 2020. The following faculty members have been recognized for their excellence in teaching and curriculum development. Promotion also recognizes their contributions to the college and university through their leadership, service, educational innovation, discovery and professional engagement in their fields. 

Dr. Jacques Alexis
Dr. Jacques Alexis, Assistant Teaching Professor of Project Management in the College of Professional Studies, has been promoted to Associate Teaching Professor.


Dr. Earlene Avalon
Dr. Earlene Avalon, Assistant Teaching Professor of Health Management in the College of Professional Studies, has been promoted to Associate Teaching Professor.


Cynthia Baron
Cynthia Baron, Associate Academic Specialist of Digital Media in the College of Professional Studies, has been promoted to Full Academic Specialist.


Dr. Darin Detwiler
Dr. Darin Detwiler, Assistant Teaching Professor of Regulatory Affairs for Food and Food Industries in the College of Professional Studies, has been promoted to Associate Teaching Professor.

Dr. Constance Emerson
Dr. Constance Emerson, Assistant Teaching Professor of Project Management in the College of Professional Studies, has been promoted to Associate Teaching Professor.


Patricia Goodman
Patricia Goodman, Assistant Teaching Professor of the Communications and Media programs of the College of Professional Studies, has been promoted to Associate Teaching Professor.


David Hagen
David Hagen, Assistant Teaching Professor in the Security programs of the College of Professional Studies, has been promoted to Associate Teaching Professor.


Cristine McMartin-Miller
Cristine McMartin-Miller, Associate Teaching Professor of NU Global in the College of Professional Studies, has been promoted to full Teaching Professor.


Dr. Pamela Wojnar
Dr. Pamela Wojnar, Assistant Teaching Professor of Sports Leadership in the College of Professional Studies, has been promoted to Associate Teaching Professor.

Dr. Xiamou Zhou
Dr. Xiamou Zhou, Assistant Teaching Professor of Informatics in the College of Professional Studies, has been promoted to Associate Teaching Professor.

Dr. Elizabeth Zulick
Dr. Elizabeth Zulick, Assistant Teaching Professor of the Biological Sciences Biotechnology programs of the College of Professional Studies, has been promoted to Associate Teaching Professor.

‘I Want to Make the Arts More a Part of Our Culture’

As a professional ballet dancer for the past two decades, Kathleen Breen Combes grew accustomed to changing directions on a dime. She did it since she was 18—floating across the stage during productions of Don Quixote, Romeo and Juliet, and Swan Lake, among many others.

But now she’s facing a pivot of a different kind. Breen Combes, who closed out a 16-year career at the Boston Ballet with a final performance of ELA, Rhapsody in Blue on June 9, is retiring as a dancer to take the helm at Festival Ballet Providence, a professional ballet company in Rhode Island. And she’s doing it with the help of a bachelor’s degree in organizational communication and a graduate certificate in nonprofit management from Northeastern University.

READ MORE

‘All Progress Scrapes and Claws Before It Glides and Soars’

by Greg St. Martin —

Forty years ago, Billy Starr founded the Pan-Mass Challenge, a charity bike ride across Massachusetts that raises money for cancer research. He said that a 400-mile hike on the Appalachian Trail and a 120-mile bike ride a couple of years earlier had helped him to discover what he wanted to do with his life: build a business that “serves a vast public need.”

On Friday, Starr urged graduates of the College of Professional Studies at Northeastern to find a way to nurture their own most fervent interests in life.

“Find a way somehow, utilizing all the skills and knowledge that you have acquired, to nurture that passion and maintain it as a central driving force in your life,” said Starr, who served as the graduation speaker at a ceremony for students who earned their bachelor’s and master’s degrees this year. “That pursuit does not come with guarantees. But I stand before you as a testament to its uniquely, exhilarating power on the path to success and happiness.”

Starr, who earned his master’s in education from Northeastern in 1978, traced back his job today as the executive director of the Pan-Mass Challenge to the early 1970s, when his mother, uncle, and cousin died of cancer. He also shared how the death of a rider in the fifth year of the event challenged him, recalling how he struggled to cope with the tragedy and pain that it caused the rider’s family.

But Starr said he never doubted the mission of his organization. Over the past 40 years, nearly 200,000 cyclists and volunteers have participated in Pan-Mass Challenge, and $654 million has been donated to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

“Triumph and tragedy often walk hand in hand,” Starr said. “To cope efficiently, it is essential that you have a clear grasp of who you are and why you set out on a particular path.”

Starr congratulated the graduates for earning their degrees. He told them to remember that most success is born of failure, and that “all progress scrapes and claws before it glides and soars.”

“That is why having a genuine passion for your work is so vital,” he said. “It is what keeps you going in the face of the inevitable obstacles on the road ahead.”

In opening remarks, Mary Loeffelholz, dean of the College of Professional Studies, told graduates that they represent “Northeastern’s global network of learners.” She said many students had earned their degrees online and through the university’s network of campuses in Charlotte, North Carolina; Seattle; the San Francisco Bay Area; Toronto; Vancouver; and London.

“You graduate already having begun to build a national and global network of your own making,” Loeffelholz said. “You have experienced learning without boundaries.”

Loeffelholz highlighted the diversity and accomplishments of the graduating class. She asked graduates to stand and be recognized if they had studied at Northeastern’s campuses outside of Boston, had come to Northeastern from another country, have served in the military, or attended the Lowell Institute School, through which students with previous college experience finish their bachelor’s degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering, or business.

The College of Professional Studies offers 95 undergraduate, master’s, graduate certificate, and doctoral programs, many of which are available online or through a combination of online and in-classroom learning. More than 1,600 students from 42 states and 44 countries received bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degrees from the College of Professional Studies this year, including over 200 students who were recognized for receiving their doctorates at a ceremony on Thursday.

Philomena Mantella, senior strategic advisor to the president at Northeastern, told the graduates that their education has positioned them well for a “lifetime of growth, discovery, and learning.”

“Learning will never cease, nor will your relationship with your university and those who comprise it,” Mantella said. “As you continue to grow, we are here to remind you that the Northeastern network will always be accessible to you.”

In addition to the graduates, Friday’s ceremony honored professor of the practice Baktybek Beshimov and assistant teaching professor David Hagen for receiving the college’s 2019 Excellence in Teaching Award.

To see more pictures from the college’s 2019 graduation, visit the photo gallery. 

A Year In with Year Up

College partnership with national nonprofit founded in Boston helps students thrive

A College of Professional Studies partnership that lets students who are part of the Year Up Greater Boston workforce development program to earn college credits for previous training and internships looks likely to expand. The program strives to move young adults from minimum wage jobs to meaningful careers. 

The agreement, inked in January of 2018, allows Year Up Greater Boston graduates to apply their work in that program toward up to 31 credit hours in one of two degrees at CPS: the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and the Bachelor of Science in Management.

Mike Jackson, Associate Dean of Academic and Faculty Affairs, says the Boston-based nonprofit is a perfect partner for the college.

“What’s exciting about it,” Jackson says, “is that this gives us an opportunity to help students who have used their time in Year Up to really find their direction, and what interests them, to achieve their goals. We can take the experiences that they have had and translate those into college credit. Basically, they’ll have completed a year’s work of their undergraduate degree when they come to us.”

Founded in 2000, Year Up offers a year-long workforce development program that combines hands-on skills instruction with classes and corporate internships, matching students with professional mentors and offering a network of support that includes a stipend during training and internships. The program’s focus on professional training, Jackson says, is one reason it fits so well in partnership with CPS—an industry-aligned college with numerous faculty leading successful careers in the sectors about which they teach.

“We have folks who work in these industries teaching classes for us,” Jackson says, “so they bring that expertise and day-to-day experience into the classroom. It helps students better understand and appreciate what these jobs and careers will look like.”

The partnership with Year Up isn’t the first of its kind for the college. Agreements with Google, Major League Baseball and other organizations have been helping Northeastern students earn credit toward their degrees for years. 

“At the root, it’s a similar kind of thing,” Jackson says. “We don’t want students to waste time or money taking coursework for material that they’ve already mastered. It’s a little bit different, though, because with Year Up we’re working with a nonprofit organization and we’re building in additional support services for students.”

That support includes a dedicated staff member to help students navigate the application process, their course requirements, problems with technology, and any other issues they might encounter. After a year, students move on to a regular academic advisor. 

With the applicant pool growing, Jackson says CPS is looking at instituting similar collaborations in its master’s degree programs—and at expanding the partnership with Year Up to include the university’s regional campuses in Seattle and in Charlotte. 

“We’re looking to model a program out there that fits the experience of those students,” he says, “which will be similar in some ways and different in others. But we’re looking to scale this. We’d like to reach more students and to provide this opportunity to as many of them as we can.”

Student Spotlight: Sunny Rodrigues

How an idea that started as a way to gather a couple dozen CPS students over coffee turned into an event with over 250 attendees.

Sai (Sunny) Rodrigues came to Northeastern from India in January, 2017 to complete a Master of Science in Project Management. “I looked up Northeastern and it came up as one of the most innovative schools. For project management, you require innovation to come up with different ideas,” Sunny said when asked why he chose Northeastern. “I hate redundant work. I really felt that Northeastern was the most compatible with my own views.”

Sunny’s decision was soon validated—he found he loved both Northeastern and his studies. But he also noticed an opportunity for more student events, and was determined to help grow that community.

The College of Professional Studies, where Sunny is a student, is known for its flexibility and diversity. Students of all ages take courses online, on-ground on the Boston campus, or through Northeastern’s regional campuses—meaning the student body is spread out across the country, and beyond.

Additionally, with a large international population, many students are starting a new phase of their life in a new country. And due to limitations on international students working in the U.S., Sunny found that many of his peers had more free time between classes and coursework than they expected.

Northeastern offers myriad extracurricular events, and lectures, among other things, for students to attend. These are all open to CPS students, but Sunny felt that CPS students weren’t always aware of these events, something he wanted to help remedy. He also saw an opportunity to organize events geared towards the unique population of CPS.

Sunny decided to work toward creating more opportunities for CPS students specifically to gather on the Boston campus. He took a position on campus as a Community Ambassador for Off Campus Student Services. He went to every department on campus asking what they offered CPS students in terms of events and extracurriculars. He then began a WhatsApp group called “What’s Happening Around Where,” or WHAW. Using this platform he began sharing posters of campus events with other students.

Thanks to Sunny’s role as a Community Ambassador, he also started meeting many more students, broadening his network around Northeastern and eventually growing his WhatsApp group to over 1,800 students.

He continued his mission when he started a new position as program assistant at the Northeastern Center for Intercultural Engagement in January 2018. He believed that this role would give him the ability to help grow the community for students even further. To that end, Sunny had a meeting with Karin Firoza, director of Center for Intercultural Engagement and told her his goal of organizing more CPS community events.

He also went to a trusted professor, Mary Ludden, an assistant teaching professor in project management, who told him to follow his gut. “She told me I have a great position right now [at Center for Intercultural Engagement] and that I should turn my ideas into actions.” Ludden’s support gave him the push he needed to start making strategic moves for change. “I went back to Karin and she agreed that Center for Intercultural Engagement needed to host an event for CPS students.”

While Sunny was planning what he wanted the event to look like, he was also meeting with Kristen Lee, an associate teaching professor in behavioral science at Northeastern. Professor Lee agreed to spearhead the event now titled “Coffee and Convos” and speak about imposter syndrome, or the feeling that you are a fraud, despite evidence to the contrary. It was a topic that hit home for Sunny and one to which he felt that many of his peers could likewise relate.

Sunny created a flyer, sent it to his 1,800 contacts via WhatsApp, and placed flyers around CIE and Nightingale Hall. The turnout for the first Coffee and Convos was significantly beyond what they expected. “There were more than 280 people standing in Center for Intercultural Engagement —that was such a great moment for me,” Sunny recalled. The turnout validated that this population of students was thirsty for more opportunities to gather together and learn.

Sunny Rodrigues has spent his time at Northeastern helping to grow the CPS community around the Boston campus. Coffee and Convos turned into a series, where professors, faculty and students could get together to discuss imposter syndrome and what that means to the CPS population. The sessions became gatherings where students could make connections and become a part of the larger community.

While Sunny set out to come to the U.S. and complete his Master’s in Project Management, he has achieved far more than just a degree. He has built a network of students that has coalesced around common interests and backgrounds.

Sunny is graduating December 2018, but plans to continue to be a part of the Northeastern community as an active alumnus and hopes to return one day as a faculty member.

Husky Proud

From supportive faculty, to the convenience of online classes. Find out why CPS Students are Husky Proud! 

2017 CPS Graduation

Words of advice from Lindsay Levin as the College confers nearly 1,500 degrees

“In these times, it is more important than ever that we learn to be wise as well as smart.  To listen to our own intuition – the still small voice inside – and choose how you will respond to whatever life brings up. What we spend our time on, how we behave towards others – the means as well as the ends. This is our agency in the world. The imprint we leave behind.”

This was the message offered to nearly 1,500 graduates at the Northeastern University College of Professional Studies ceremony by Lindsay Levin, entrepreneur, leadership expert, and Founder and Partner, Leaders’ Quest, a social enterprise organization.

Levin, whose work focuses on the transformation of companies and organizations, has created a model for learning and social change through Leaders’ Quest.  She believes that leaders can be found in communities and neighborhoods, in addition to corporate offices, and that tapping into one’s own network can provide extraordinary outcomes and opportunities.

Thousands of family members and friends attended the ceremony on the Boston campus, celebrating a total of 1,491 degrees conferred— 315 Bachelor’s, 1,011 Master’s, 164 Doctoral and 1 Associate’s.

Read more about two graduates:  Ryan Daley, a veteran who is looking ahead to apply his dedication and ambition to a future of politics and Fran Lee Hutton, a lifelong learner who parlayed her love of maps and her degree into a one-of-a-kind job.

Faculty Recognized for Teaching Excellence Award

During graduation, the College presented the Excellence in Teaching Award to two outstanding faculty members: Dean He and Yufeng Qian.

Nominated by students in the Doctor of Education program, Professor Qian is described by one student as “actively engaged in cultivating a dynamic online learning community, and assigns relevant coursework and discussion prompts that challenge student thinking and provide the opportunity for students to critically examine their role in the research process.”  Professor He, faculty member in the Master of Science in Commerce and Economic Development program, was praised for embracing teaching as an opportunity to engage and inspire his students. One student noted: “”Professor He enhanced my confidence on a career choice. He is a teacher I respect and will keep in touch with after graduation.”

Doctoral Candidates Earn Symbol of Academic Achievement

On May 11, the College hosted a Doctoral Hooding Ceremony for candidates in the Doctor of Education, Doctor of Law and Policy, and Doctor of Physical Therapy programs symbolizing their transition from student to scholar-practitioner. Candidates received their doctoral hoods from their thesis advisers at this annual ceremony.

At every doctoral hooding ceremony, one student is selected to receive the Dean’s Medal for Outstanding Doctoral Work, the highest honor awarded by the College to a doctoral graduate. The award was established to acknowledge exemplary academic achievement and to recognize demonstrated creativity and writing quality.

This year, the Dean’s Medal winner was Dr. Ted Johnson, of the Doctor of Law and Policy program, for his thesis, “Beyond the Veil: The Electoral Uniformity and Political Heterogeneity of African American Voters.”  Dr. Johnson, who is a National Security Research Manager at Deloitte’s Center for Government Insights and an Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fellow at New America, noted in his speech that he went into his doctoral studies not believing the literature reviews he conducted.

“So, I did what scholars do – I questioned it. I challenged assumptions and tackled the open questions. And I set out to create myself into the man I wanted to be: A scholar. A professor. An author. And a public intellectual on black American politics,” he said.

“The College of Professional Studies made this possible,” he went on to note. “It showed me that the reason I didn’t believe the literature reviews wasn’t because the findings were wrong – but because they were incomplete. The assembly of knowledge about any given topic – to include who you are and who you aspire to be – is never complete. Adding to the body of knowledge is our charge as doctors and a duty we each owe to ourselves.”

Dr. Chris Unger, Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education, was the faculty speaker at the ceremony.

“Your work has just begun,” Unger stated to all the graduates before him.  “And hopefully you are graduating not only with the brain of a scarecrow…but the heart of a tinman…and, importantly, the courage of a lion.  I harken back to these three gifts from the movie the Wizard of Oz because I see each of these as important to your future, as both change agents and as ambassadors of Northeastern.”

“I hope we have told you to follow your passion,” Unger said in his closing remarks. “Amidst the hard work and the challenges, don’t forget from time-to-time to reflect on what it is that you care about, what drives you, and your passion. Don’t forget that. And then use your brain, your heart, and your courage to make that difference.”

About Northeastern University College of Professional Studies

The College of Professional Studies is one of nine colleges of Northeastern University, a nationally ranked private research university in Boston, MA. Founded in 1960, the College teaches undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students on campus and online in more than 65 degree programs and is part of The Professional Advancement Network.

About the Professional Advancement Network

The Northeastern University Professional Advancement Network helps professionals participate in dynamic, experiential learning opportunities, earn degrees and certificates, build connections, and keep pace with the rapidly evolving business world—now and in the years to come. This is achieved through real-world experiences and rigorous curriculums, a supportive learning environment, and comprehensive academic and career coaching—all powered by an extensive network of alumni and employer partners. The Professional Advancement Network is an innovative approach to lifelong learning, offering access to over 200 distinctive, high-quality educational programs, degrees, certificates, and boot camps.

2016 Co-op Awards Ceremony

Excellence at Work

A Year of “Firsts” for Annual Co-op Awards; Eight Students Receive Awards

Each academic year, approximately 500 Northeastern students take part in work placements related to their field of study through the College of Professional Studies (CPS) Experiential Learning program. At the end of each year,  the College honors select students at the annual Co-op Awards ceremony, based on nominations from employers. 

The 2015/2016 Co-op Awards, which honored eight students, saw a series of firsts: the first award winner from the Experiential Network program; and the first recipient from the University’s Charlotte campus.

Zubi Aziz (Master of Science, Regulatory Affairs for Drugs, Biologics, and Medical Devices) received a Career Development award for her co-op at Baxalta, a start-up biopharmaceutical company. Zubi was known as the “go-to resource” in the department, according to Patricia Carolini, the head of safety analytics at Baxalta, who described Zubi as someone with exceptional integrity, character, and professionalism. They were so impressed, in fact, that Zubi has been offered a full-time position at the company.

Shuli Ciu (Master of Science, Regulatory Affairs for Drugs, Biologics, and Medical Devices) also received a Career Development award after completing two co-ops at Cerulian Pharma, Inc., first in regulatory affairs and then in clinical operations. Tiffany Crowell, vice president of clinical operations, saw Shuli “grow from an observing student to become an active participant in clinical trials, working well in cross-functional teams.”

Pamela Darcy-Demski, (Master of Science, Corporate and Organizational Communication) received the new Experiential Network Award, designed to recognize students involved in short-term projects offered through a corporate sponsor. Pamela conducted a feasibility analysis on Massachusetts State Police Academy’s use of technology in training cadets, helping it transition to a more user-friendly cloud technology. Melinda Lovick, the e-learning coordinator for the academy, spoke of Pamela’s capacity to “exercise professionalism and poise and routinely go above and beyond.”

Jennifer Krajewski (Master of Science, Regulatory Affairs for Drugs, Biologics, and Medical Devices) was awarded the Integrative Experiential Learning Award for students who participate in a co-op in their own place of employment. In Jennifer’s case, this was TreeHouse Foods, where she led a cross-departmental initiative to update labels based on the release of the State of Vermont’s Genetically Modified Food Labeling Regulation—all outside of her normal duties at the company. Her new role increased her contact with staff from other departments. “This program set me up for some of the best learning experiences I have had at Northeastern so far,” said Jennifer in her acceptance speech. 

Kyle Moore (Master of Arts, Homeland Security) was one of two recipients of a Leadership Award for his work with the National Guard Homeland Security Institute. Captain Christopher Johnson, deputy director of the Institute, praised Kyle’s hard work on a small team of four staff members leading national and state-level initiatives. “People are better protected and better able to respond to disasters than they were before, thanks to work that Kyle did,” said Captain Johnson.

Nicole Wilde Merl, (Master of Science, Corporate and Organizational Communication), a student at Northeastern’s Charlotte campus, was awarded the Student Scholar Award for initiating a virtual co-op with Washington, D.C.-based public relations agency, Thomas Cooke and Associates. Nicole described her internship as a “true two-way internship” with faculty and Thomas Cooke equally invested in the project, which created a social platform to empower women to vote in 2016 and beyond through a project called WomenVotes.org.

Chirag Rathod (Master of Science, Project Management) was a recipient of the Leadership Award. Joe Flynn, Northeastern alumnus and director of inside sales for Akamai Technologies, credited Chirag for helping his company secure a $1 million deal, its biggest that year, and praised Chirag for leading by example, seeing the big picture, and coming up with creative solutions to challenges. “I never felt like an intern,” Chirag said in his acceptance speech. “I was always encouraged to participate in every team meeting and was given an opportunity to innovate and challenge the traditional way of working without having that fear of failure.” Chirag has since been offered the opportunity to stay on with the team full-time.

Qi Qin (Master of Science, Global Studies and International Relations) was awarded the Student Scholar Award for her work with Quincy Asian Resources. As an outreach specialist, Qi hired, trained, and supervised a team of eight bilingual undergraduate students and volunteers, and, in the words of Executive Director John Brothers, “the department‘s performance improved remarkably under her leadership.” She has now transitioned into the role on a permanent basis.