Dean Samara honored for outstanding performance
Scott Goodnight Award presented to one of our own

Jacqueline Cain | staff writer

Dean Michael Samara was honored with an award from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) for outstanding work as a dean on Nov. 6 at the Sheraton in Burlington.

Samara, who is both vice president of student affairs and dean of students, has been at St. Michael’s for 30 years.

The award

The Scott Goodnight Award for Outstanding Performance as a Dean is "presented to a student affairs leader who meets students’ needs in creative ways, who effectively mentors a student staff, and who is a leader in community and university affairs," according to a press release.

Dean Mike Samara poses with Deb Cady, associate dean of students at Fairfield University. Samara was presented with the Scott Goodnight Award for Outstanding Performance as a Dean. Photo courtesy of Buff Lindau

NASPA is a professional organization of higher education faculty that works on the professional development of colleges’ and universities’ departments of student affairs, Samara says.

The organization is broken into six regions. The Region I (Northeast) conference was held in Burlington this year; the location was coincidental with Samara’s receipt of the national award, he says.

Tuesday night’s awards banquet was part of a four-day conference that went from Sunday to Wednesday, says Deb Cady '92, associate dean of students at Fairfield University, who presented the award to Samara.

As an undergraduate at St. Michael’s, Cady worked for Dean Samara as a residential assistant. She also worked in the student activities office during her summers as a student, she says. Cady has been in the field of student affairs since graduation.

She sent NASPA’s nomination request form to Jennie Cernosia, Lou DiMasi, Grace Kelly and other members of the St. Michael’s department of student affairs, in order to help nominate Samara for the Scott Goodnight Award.

“So many of us model our professional careers after the model that Mike set for us,” Cady says. “It made sense to us to recognize his work as dean.”

NASPA contacted Cady two weeks before the conference to inform her that Samara had won. She told his family, and they decided to keep it a secret, Cady says.

He was very surprised to receive the award and thought it was touching to have Cady present it to him, Samara says.

“Deb presenting the award and learning later that several former students and colleagues wrote letters supporting the nomination made it very meaningful,” he says.

In his 30 years as an educator, this is the first award for which a national organization has recognized Samara, he says.

Cernosia, who worked as director of student activities for 29 years and is now a Peace and Justice first-year seminar professor at St. Michael’s, was part of the group that nominated Samara. Cernosia also won an award from NASPA on Nov. 6, she says.

“The number is really small of those who have been committed to one school for so long,” Cernosia says. “That’s really what Mike and I have done. It was kind of a thank-you from the organization,” she says.

Thirty years of work

Samara started teaching at St. Michael’s in the fall of 1977, when he was 28 years old, he says.

Prior to coming to St. Michael’s, Samara worked in the Residence Life and dean’s office at the University of New Hampshire upon graduating from the school. He then worked as associate dean of students at a college in the Midwest before deciding to relocate back to New England with his family, he says.

“I had some decent [residence life] experience, but I’m not sure I was fully prepared to fill the position [of dean at St. Michael’s],” Samara says.

The Edmundite community was a great support to Samara in his first few years. He also began building a staff as soon as he got here, hiring Cernosia first, he says.

“From the beginning, many people on staff worked long, long hours,” Samara says. "I couldn’t have lasted without them.”

In 1980, Samara became vice president of student affairs as well as dean of students. As vice president, Samara says he is the manager of most of the non-academic services on campus that have to do with the personal development of students.

“I consider myself to be a generalist who works with great specialists,” he says.

Samara works closely with the directors of many campus services, including athletics, Student Life and food service.

“You don’t do anything by yourself in this field,” he says. “I am truly blessed by the competence and support of others.”

A model and mentor

Samara has worked at St. Michael's College as dean of students for 30 years. Alex McIntire, photo

Students and faculty at St. Michael's have had positive encounters with Samara.

Lydia Southworth, a first-year whose work-study is in the Student Life office, says Samara is always around the office, ready to help with anything.

“He doesn’t just go into his office and say, ‘Oh, they can deal with that,’” she says.

Senior Christine Kehn has worked in the Student Life office as long as she’s been at St. Michael’s. Samara works very hard at what he does, she says.

“You can tell he has genuine concern for the student body,” Kehn says.

Cernosia, who Samara hired in his first year at the college, worked with him for 29 years.

“He is a model and mentor to his staff,” she said in her letter recommending Samara for the Scott Goodnight Award.