EVERY DAY, the Center for Student Success hears about a member of the Marshall Community who has made a significant difference in the life of an individual student, who has made it possible for them to succeed in college.

Inspired by hundreds of great stories about Marshall faculty and staff, beginning in the spring of 2024, Marshall University’s Center for Student Success formalized its process to recognize campus personnel who contribute to student success.

Invitations for nominations will be sent to all students through their Marshall email and posted electronically on the university’s webpages.

You can access the history of the Student Success Champions award and previous years’ information by viewing the Previous Student Success Champions section.

Make a Nomination

Frequently Asked Questions

Any student enrolled at Marshall for any part of AY 2025-2026 can nominate someone.

Anyone who works at Marshall in any capacity can be nominated.

Full-time employees who work in the Center for Student Success are not eligible, however, students who work in CSS’s programs are eligible.

Nominations were due in March 2026. Our next round of Student Success Champion nominations will be due around March 2027.

Unfortunately, no. It is great that each student benefits from the work of many student success champions, but, as we formalize this process, we are asking each student who participates to nominate only one student success champion each year.

The Center for Student Success will select nominees to be recognized based on the number of nominations and the reasons for the nominations. Approximately 20 campus personnel will be selected in the following categories:

Faculty
Staff/Administrators
Housing/Food Service
Student Employees

This is not a monetary award. Student Success Champions will receive a plaque and be honored at a modest ceremony in April 2027.

Yes! We will let you know if the person you nominated will be recognized and invite you to the event.

Please contact Kateryna Schray, Director, Center for Student Success at rudnytzk@marshall.edu or 304-696-2404.

Previous Student Success Champions

In the Spring of 2021 and the Spring of 2023, students identified campus personnel who have made their time at Marshall better in some way and shared these names with the Center for Student Success (CSS).

In the Spring of 2021, the names came from freshmen, sophomores and transfer students in emails and texts to their FAM Peer Mentors.
In the Spring of 2023, the names came from all categories of students in response to CSS’s call for nominations posted throughout campus and distributed through email.

The results were amazing, truly a testament to Marshall’s commitment to student success and investment in student wellbeing.

This recognition was intentionally intended not to be competitive, and that is a good thing: the springs of 2021 and 2023 were difficult semesters for students and, ideally, everyone on campus should be championing students. Unlike Teaching Awards that start with dozens of nominees, select a handful of finalists and recognize one award recipient, the Student Success Champions recognition aimed to honor as many nominees as students submitted.

Kayla Barber
Wendi Benson
Hilary Brewster
Deb Carder-Deem
Shane Darling
Peyton Fannin
Toni Ferguson
Madison Higgins
Dan Hollis
Hanna Kozlowski
Manoj Manna
Dalton Monk
Tyler Perry
Dee Dee Perdue
Zelideth Rivas
Kandice Rowe
Megan Russell
Niyah Sapp
Mikey Taylor
Jacob Walker
Jessica Woodrum

Jeremy Bailey, MURC assistant – Center of Excellence for Recovery
Dr. Marybeth Beller – Faculty member, College of Liberal Arts
Dean Crawford, Program manager – College of Health Professions
Robert Ely, Campus Minister – Baptist Campus Ministry
Bethany Felinton, Faculty member – College of Health Professions
Jessica Hutchinson, Faculty member – College of Liberal Arts
Ashlee Hutchison, Faculty member – College of Health Professions
Dr. Thomas Jones, Faculty member – College of Science
Emilea Justice, Resident Advisor – Housing and Residence Life
Eugene Lacy, Director – Upward Bound
Jacob Longoria, Advisor – College of Science
Haden Maloney, Athletic Trainer – Track and Field
Dr. Sean McBride, Faculty member – College of Science
Katherine Meek, Supplemental Instruction Leader – Center for Student Success
Dr. Bryan Moore, Faculty Member – College of Science
Shelby Nelson, Faculty member – College of Arts and Media
Dr. Nasim Nosoudi, Faculty member – College of Engineering and Computer Sciences
Carmin Plante – Food Service
Dr. Yousef Sardahi, Faculty member – College of Engineering and Computer Sciences
Donny Speas, FAM peer mentor – Center for Student Success
Teanna Stubbs, Resident Advisor – Housing and Residence Life
Sarah Trautwein, Faculty member – College of Liberal Arts

The following department was honored as 2025 Student Success Champion:

Department of Chemistry – College of Science

The following individuals were honored as 2024 Student Success Champions at our Spring 2024 ceremony:

Dr. Mindy Backus – Faculty member, College of Education and Professional Development
Dr. Chuck G. Bailey – Faculty member, W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Scott Ballou – Officer, MU Police Department
Michelle Biggs – Director, HERD Start Early Academy
Gabby Casey – Graduate Assistant, Center for Student Success
Dr. Ronald Childress – Faculty member, College of Education and Professional Development
Drew Davis – Resident Advisor, Housing and Residence Life
Caylin France – Student Support Specialist, Student Support Services
Mandi Hurley, Esq. – Title IX Investigator, Title IX Office
Jennifer Jimison – Project Director, Marshall for All
Jonathan McCormick – Director, Military & Veterans Affairs
Dr. Laura McCunn-Jordan – Faculty member, College of Science
Dr. Greg Michaelson – Associate Dean and faculty member, College of Engineering and Computer Sciences
Dr. Sumeeta Patnaik – English Language Program Manager, English Language Institute
Dr. Joel Peckham – Faculty member, College of Liberal Arts
Tammy Reynolds – Program Manager, College of Liberal Arts
Amanda Shaver – Academic Advisor, Regents Bachelor of Arts
Patricia Spence – Resident Advisor, Housing and Residence Life
Annjela Twardy – FAM Peer Mentor, Center for Student Success
Dr. Stephen Young – Faculty member, College of Liberal Arts

By the spring of 2023, CSS had once again heard great things about many campus personnel who continued the often-unseen work of retention through daily acts of kindness and behind-the-scenes heroism. Grateful for this work, the Provost’s Office committed to recognizing these individuals, this time expanding the recognition to include staff and all campus personnel.

Students identified 136 campus personnel as their Student Success Champions:

63 Faculty
9 Advisors
2 Librarians
2 Counseling Center Employees
2 Student Support Services Staff
2 Financial Aid Counselors
2 Housing & Residence Life Staff and 6 R.A.s
9 Student Peer Employees
9 Food Service Employees
4 Members of the Housekeeping Staff
2 Rec Center Employees
2 Front Desk staff
1 Grounds & Maintenance Employee
2 Bookstore Employees
3 G.A.s
16 Other (includes administrators)

Each of these Student Success Champions received a framed certificate with a photo of the John Marshall statue overlayed with a text acknowledging their contribution to student success and retention.

The Student Success Champions represented 7 colleges and 27 departments plus many non-academic units. Of the teaching faculty, Chemistry had the strongest representation with 13 professors or staff named; English had 12 and Music had 7.

Nineteen faculty members appeared on both the 2021 and 2023 list.

The spring 2021 recognition was initially a one-time event, intended to recognize faculty in a semester of unprecedented challenges with continued COVID, inclement weather, power outages, increased anxiety and widespread homesickness. That spring, students recognized 111 faculty members for making a difference in their lives, for helping them get through a semester of crises. Each of these faculty members received a framed certificate with a photo of the Memorial Fountain overlayed with a text acknowledging their contribution to student success and retention.