The Outstanding Faculty Service Leadership Award is given to a full-time faculty member whose service has significantly advanced the mission of Stonehill College. The Faculty Academic Vision statement affirms that “a Stonehill education prepares students for meaningful lives by encouraging service to the common good, the practice of responsible citizenship, and the pursuit of professional and personal fulfillment.” As we expect this for our students, we expect the same from our faculty. Therefore, public service and service to the academic community are highly valued by the faculty at Stonehill College. This award recognizes a cumulative record of noteworthy accomplishment in service on the part of a faculty member. The recipient stands as a symbol of the entire faculty’s commitment to sustaining our community. In 2018, Stonehill College is proud to bestow the Outstanding Faculty Service Leadership Award on Professor Anne Mattina.

You came to Stonehill in 1997 in a temporary position and the rest, as they say, is history. From the beginning, you saw new opportunities to engage students within and beyond the classroom and even long after graduation. If there is a phrase that captures your time at Stonehill it is this: fearless advocate. You simply have been tireless in your fearless advocacy for students, colleagues and for a better Stonehill

Your leadership in the department of Communication is exemplary. Prior to becoming department Chair in 2013, no other full-time faculty member had taught more courses than you. You would think that the sheer work of developing and teaching courses would keep you busy enough, but no, you found extra hours in your day to manage a large advising load, guide a thorough-going curriculum review, lead a successful 2011 national departmental search, and guide departmental assessment. You serve your department where needed and with unflappable good humor. You added even more hours in your day in 2015 when you joined the Rank and Tenure Committee. And we won’t even speak about the many additional hours of service to your town and regional and national disciplinary organizations.

Your most significant contribution is to advocate that the College make a more intentional commitment to creating a more diverse and inclusive campus. The urgency with which you spoke about this issue brought appointments to the 2011 President’s Task Force on Diversity, the Provost’s Advisory Committee on Diversity and the Bias Response Team. Yours was an important voice in the development of the Faculty Hiring Guide and you have been an indefatigable supporter of faculty and students of color. At this critical moment in our national and campus discourse about race and privilege, we need your energy and wisdom more than ever.

It is rare to go to women’s basketball game and not see you in the stands…even when they play in Ireland, Portugal and Spain! In your role as a Team Faculty Advisor, you have been an educator, a mentor and a fan though perhaps not in that exact order. In 2007, you were named by student athletes as Faculty Member of the Year, an award that was echoed in 2010 when the Student Government Association named you Faculty Member of the Year. Among faculty, you are an exemplar of what it means to be student-centered.

Your signature course is COM 203: Persuasion. You have certainly persuaded us that your boundless commitment to making Stonehill better and your countless hours of selfless advocacy on behalf of students and colleagues makes you worthy of this small recognition we give you today.

And so with deep pride we confer the 2018 Outstanding Faculty Service Leadership Award to you, Professor Anne Mattina, for your tireless service, consistent example, and exemplary contributions to Stonehill College.

Given this third day of May,

Two thousand and eighteen