PPSA Election Meeting: May 29

PPSA invites all professional staff to attend the annual PPSA Election Meeting in Bodek Lounge, Houston Hall on Thursday, May 29 at noon. Clifford Stanley, executive vice president,will be the special guest speaker. The candidates for the chair elect, vice chair elect and members at large are listed below.

Candidate for Chair Elect

Andy Atzert, associate director, Executive Education, Wharton. He has been part of Penn for seven years, and has served as a Member-at-Large on the PPSA board for the past two years. He is associate director at Aresty Institute of Executive Education where he collaborates with faculty and corporate clients to design and manage customized educational programs for senior executives. He had been coordinator of Business English Programs at the English Language Programs. He earned a bachelors degree from Rutgers and a masters from GSE.

Candidates for Vice Chair Elect

Sharon E. Smith, director, Student Intervention Services, VPUL. She brings more than 15 years of experience working at Penn in various positions of increasing responsibility. Her experience includes associate director of Student Transitional Programs, assistant director of PENNCAP, and most recently, director of Student Intervention Services. For eight years, as associate director of Student Transitional Programs, she managed and implemented orientation programs for undergraduate, graduate and professional students and developed a number of programs focusing on mentoring. She also served on the New Student Orientation Committee, which was instrumental in redesigning orientation week; the Women of Color Committee and the African American Senior Awards Committee.

Kath Ward-Gaus, MS Ed, associate director, Office of Health Education, VPUL. She has been at Penn since 1995. She has staffed and/or chaired a variety of University committees and task forces including: Alcohol and Other Drug Task Force, 1998 President's Special Committee on Alcohol Abuse, and the 2002 Mental Health Outreach Task Force. She served as co-chair of the Community Programming Committee, one of the three committees for the Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander University of Pennsylvania Partnership School.

…for Member-At Large (choose 3)

Betty Thomas, staff assistant, Tobacco Use Research Center, Psychiatry. She has worked at Penn for the past 17 years. She worked in the Office of Student Financial Services as a financial aid counselor. She has earned her B.A. from the Wharton Evening School. As a former vice-chair of the A-3 Assembly, she has served on various University-wide committees, including Benefits Redesign, Women of Color, and Safety and Security.

Ty Furman, director, Student Performing Arts in the Office of Student Life, VPUL. He has been at Penn for six years and he advises and facilitates the activities of the 43 member organizations of the Performing Arts Council. He also assists in coordinating the all-campus leadership retreats through the Office of Student Life. He is the building administrator for the ARCH, and the director of Penn Life Sketches, a new student orientation program. He has served on several search committees for University Life and as a committee alternate of the Parking Violation Review Board.

Joseph D. Fischer, sergeant, Division of Public Safety. He has been in law enforcement for 32 years, beginning with the Philadelphia Police Department. He joined Penn in 1998; in 2001 he was promoted to corporal with the responsibility of crime prevention initiatives. In 2002 he was promoted to sergeant. He is responsible for developing crime prevention measures and acting as liaison to various departments throughout Penn. He has routinely worked with the FBI, ATF, U.S. Marshall's Office and Secret Service.

Isabel Sampson-Mapp, CSW, associate director, Faculty, Staff, & Alumni Volunteer Service; director, Penn VIPS, Center for Community Partnerships. She has been with Penn since 1986. She is responsible for creating and managing volunteer activities. She has held positions with the School of Social Work and the African American Resource Center. President Rodin named her as a distinguished employee on behalf of the Service Recognition Program. She received an award for extraordinary service and commitment to enhancing the quality of life in Philadelphia communities; the Women of Color's Recognition for Excellence; and the Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs' Certificate of Merit for services performed as a mentor. She was selected to represent Penn at the HERS Summer Institute.

Tabitha Dell'Angelo, MS, house dean, Hamilton College House. A former GA in both Hill and Hamilton College Houses, she was appointed House Dean of Hamilton in fall 2002. She is currently completing a doctorate in Human Development at Penn and holds an M.S. in education from Penn and a B.A. in special education from Rowan University. Since 1997 she has been a research coordinator at Penn's Center for Health, Achievement, Neighborhood, Growth and Ethnic Studies. Her honors include a Kellogg Fellowship, Annenberg Summer Statistics Fellowship and Washington State University Summer Doctoral Fellowship. She has taught courses on Human Development and Child Development at Penn and is a New Jersey certified teacher of the handicapped.

Paulina Sockolow, IT project manager, Business Services. She received her bachelors and MBA degrees from Penn. She has worked for over 20 years in information systems. Four years of her career were spent at the Health System doing information systems strategic planning and special projects. She returned to Penn two years ago as a project manager in the Business Services Division of Information Technology Services. For the past three years she has been an alumni interviewer for first year applicants to Penn.

-- PPSA Executive Committee

  Almanac, Vol. 49, No. 34, May 27, 2003