How long have you worked at Buffalo State College and if applicable what other areas have you worked/positions have you served in at Buffalo State College?
35 years in the Educational Opportunity Program.
What motivates you to provide excellent services for your colleagues, students, and supervisor?
Most of our students in EOP come from low-income homes and are the first in their family to go to college. They aren’t expected to succeed. I have heard their personal stories. This motivates me to encourage them, assist them and direct them to people on campus who can also assist them. My supervisor, Yanick Jenkins, provides all EOP employees with an enjoyable workplace, allows us to go to workshops, encourages us, praises us, and although I may have been part of the secretarial staff, she always welcomed my opinions with respect to our program.
What personal philosophy about working with others guides your day-to-day work?
My personal philosophy revolves around the fact that I am to do my job, work with my fellow employees in an amicable manner and to ultimately provide our students with a path to their dreams.
What do you do when you are not working?
I spend most of my time with my family. I am also involved with my church as a trustee.
I first met Cathy in 1989 when I was an EOP freshman. She was always kind and made certain the EOP office was a calming and peaceful environment for students. In 2013, I returned to Buffalo State as an EOP counselor and immediately saw that Cathy put in the same effort to make certain that EOP was a comfortable and empowering environment for staff as well. One thing that stands out above all is her kindness to students. Whenever a student arrives and is in distress, Cathy immediately offers support to students. She will right then and there seek out the appropriate staff member to see to the students concerns and needs. If the student's EOP counselor is not available, Cathy will connect the student with are on-call counselor or with another staff member to ensure the student receives immediate help. Cathy's sincerity, kindness, and proactiveness have help countless students over the years. Without question, Cathy is a major reason EOP has been a safe space for so many students and staff.
She takes part in multiple EOP committees geared towards fine-tuning and/or developing support programs for students. On those committees, Cathy is always mindful of developing resources and programs that contribute to the EOP space and its mission to be supportive of all and a place filled with kindness.
Students love Cathy and how inviting she is to everyone. She certainly made me feel save and welcome when I was a student, just as she does now for other students and college staff.
Cathy is always ready to spring into action and reaches out to the students, faculty and staff consistently. This doesn't stop with the EOP Department but reaches campus wide. If the students need an answer she is quick with what she can direct and reaches out to others to assist the students with the things that she cannot. She always has words of encouragement for everyone.
Cathy is always there to help with the EOP Summer Program and works well with faculty, student and staff. She represents the EOP Department and Buffalo State College as an ambassador through her helpful planning, assisting with the organization, ordering and running of the department for the Summer Program. She never declined any endeavor and stepped up to help the department when they were short staffed.
You can always count on Cathy to have a smile and a welcome every morning. She would never sing her own praises and will be the first to say that we are a team. Cathy always leaves the room with everyone being encouraged from her visit.
In stepping into my position here, Cathy has helped with the onboarding and explained the operations of this department thoroughly. She has reached out to our student workers and included them so that they feel a part of everything.
When students enter the Education Opportunity Department Cathy welcomes them and directs them to the appropriate offices. She takes and interest in the student's lives and encourages them to succeed.
When the department lost their Administrative Assistant due to a promotional opportunity Cathy rose to the challenge learning duties that embraced a higher position and excelled. Cathy did an excellent job assisting and taking care of procurement and other duties. Cathy is a true BENGAL!
