OHIO students honored at OCPA conference

Two Ohio University students received awards at the recent Ohio College Personnel Association Conference (OCPA), held Jan. 26-27 in Worthington, Ohio,

OHIO graduate student Brittany Kincaid and undergraduate Ceci Rockwell were recognized for their work, dedication and leadership as well as their achievements as they have pursued their career goals. 

Kincaid was presented with the Robert F. Rodgers Graduate Student of the Year award. The annual Robert F. Rodgers Graduate Student of the Year award recognizes “the dedication and unlimited energies” of a full-time Ohio graduate student, master’s or doctoral candidate, in the field of student affairs, college/student personnel or a related field.

A second-year master’s student in the College Student Personnel program, and a graduate assistant for the Learning Communities program, Kincaid will be graduating this May. 

“Unlimited energies” is certainly an apt description for Kincaid.

“I volunteered to lead a professional-development session for the professional staff and GAs in the office around diversity, equity and inclusion, and how we could further incorporate this into our work,” she said. “I also have worked on our evaluation and assessment project, and assisted with updating our evaluation this year – coding data from our qualitative reports and creating a report on student responses to share with campus partners.”

This year, she took a PhD-level writing course as an elective “due to my love for writing, and also to challenge myself to become a better scholarly writer.”

Currently, Kincaid is in job-search mode.

“I’m awaiting a call back from an institution in Cleveland Ohio, which is the place I call home,” Kindcaid said. “Wherever I end up, I look forward to putting all of the skills I’ve learned in the Office of First Year and Student Transitions and my classes into practice.”

Rockwell received the Undergraduate Student Leader award. The OCPA annual Undergraduate Student Leader Award is presented to an undergrad who is enrolled in an Ohio higher-education institution and has demonstrated leadership, has contributed to student affairs on campus and has a desire to begin a professional career in student affairs.

Rockwell will be graduating in May with her bachelor’s degree in communication sciences and disorders. Next up, she’ll be going on to graduate school in the fall to study college student personnel, with an emphasis on higher education and student affairs.

“I have been fortunate to have many experiences during my undergraduate times that has led me to this point today,” Rockwell said.

“I worked with orientation programs and Learning Community programs in many different roles. In these jobs, I’ve grown my leadership and supervising skills, grown in my knowledge of different backgrounds and identities – and truly found my passion with helping college students.”

That enthusiasm, she explained, is a primary motive for her future plans.

“I’ve chosen to pursue college student personnel because of the amazing people I have met along the way, and because of my passion for helping others,” Rockwell said. “I have learned throughout my undergraduate time and experienced many different transitions. I feel that with my knowledge and these experiences, I’ll be able to help college students through their college experience. I’m very excited about pursuing a graduate degree in higher education and student affairs, and I look forward to my future and growing as an individual through this program.”