Director Appointed to Lead Park Scholar Program

Susannah Maxwell has been named the first full-time director of the Park Scholar Program, a merit-based financial assistance program that covers the full cost of up to four years of undergraduate study in the Roy H. Park School of Communications. Established in 1996 with a grant from the Park Foundation, these awards are currently given annually, per class, to 10 academically gifted students who have demonstrated significant involvement in cocurricular activities and community service. Starting in the fall of 2002, the scholarships will be expanded to 20 students per class. Maxwell, formerly the special assistant in the Office of the Dean of Harvard College, was hired to provide leadership and direction to this dynamic program and to formulate long-range strategic plans for its successful growth. She began her duties August 13.

"I am looking forward to a year of creating new initiatives, maintaining old traditions, and reviving energy and excitement in what the Park Scholars are doing at Ithaca College," Maxwell says.

Her goal, she adds, is to expand the impact of the Park Scholar Program. "The potential influence a group of 80 students can have on their community is great," she says. "Plans are already under way to clean up the environment, work with children, organize a food drive, engage elderly people, walk in support of breast cancer research and survivors, and help serve food to those in need. I am counting on the Park Scholars to contribute to the decisions made about the direction this program will go, with the expectation it will see some significant growth and changes over the next several years."

Before coming to Ithaca College, Maxwell spent a year in the dean’s office at Harvard College evaluating a host program between freshmen and local Harvard University alumni. Previously, she served in various teaching and administrative positions, including assistant director of admission at the Buckingham Browne and Nichols School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Maxwell holds a master of education degree in administration, planning, and social policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a bachelor’s degree in French from Middlebury College.

"We are delighted to have Susannah with us," says Thomas Bohn, dean of the Park School. "Her experiences working with gifted and talented students at Buckingham Browne and Nichols and developing first-year initiatives at Harvard are an ideal match for the Park Scholar Program. She brings great energy and enthusiasm to the Park School and the College."

To be considered for a Park Scholarship, applicants must be accepted into the Park School with a major in television-radio; journalism; media studies; or organizational communication, learning, and design. In addition to academic achievement, applicants must also show participation in service activities, such as volunteer work in religious, community, or professional organizations.