KSC Vice President for Student Affairs Jen Ferrell has recently been recognized
for her work on campus with the American College Personnel Association’s (ACPA) Annuit Coeptis Senior Professional Award, which she formally received at a conference in Baltimore this past week.
According to ACPA, the Annuit Coeptis Senior Professional Award is presented to three people each year who have made significant contributions to the field of student affairs in higher education during their careers. The Latin phrase “annuit coeptis,” which can also be found on the U.S. one-dollar bill, represents optimism for the future and roughly translates to “He has smiled upon that which we have begun.”
For Ferrell, she said her contributions to student affairs at KSC mean that she “oversees all of the areas of the co-curricular experience” at the college, including athletics, campus recreation and fitness, campus safety, community standards, the Dean of Students office, dining, student involvement, the Wellness Center and community living.
“I have an amazing team of leaders, and they each have amazing teams that make sure that the student experience is running smoothly and all of the pieces of having a residential campus are taken care of,” said Ferrell.
While she has been working at Keene State for 21 years in a variety of roles, Ferrell said she has held her position as the college’s VP of student affairs for the last five and a half years. She explained that she has been interested in pursuing a career in the field since she first learned that it was a possibility when she was in college.
“When I was an undergraduate at my institution, I got really involved really quickly in a number of things outside of class that opened up my eyes to different opportunities and created a network of friends and faculty and professional staff who really helped me to develop during my time in college,” Ferrell said. “At some point, I had the a-ha moment that said, ‘Oh, this is a thing I can make a career.’”
“All along I knew that I wanted to work in a college environment, I just didn’t realize what else there was besides being a professor,” she continued. “By the time I graduated, I knew I was going to go on to graduate school for student affairs in higher education, which you don’t even know is an opportunity until you’re in it.”
Ferrell said her favorite part of her job is being able to support students and celebrate their successes.
“I had such an amazing experience as an undergrad that I have wanted to ensure that we provide those opportunities for students,” she said. “I get to see amazing celebrations, wonderful times for students and I get to see students during really challenging, tough times and everything in between. It’s really meaningful for me to help students in all of those ways.”
One of the students Ferrell has worked with is senior Student Assembly Speaker Amanda Rotigliano. In Ferrell’s role of student government advisor, she works closely with the student assembly e-board and supports them in making sure the organization is fulfilling all of its responsibilities, according to Rotigliano.
“She is a really good supportive figure to anyone who sits on student assembly,” Rotigliano said. “She cares a lot about all the students within the positions and helps us make sure that assembly and student government as a whole is working to the best of its abilities and doing all the things it can be doing on this campus.”
Rotigliano said she meets weekly with Ferrell and described working with her as a “great experience.”
“She always is so supportive with things within student assembly, but also she knows all the other roles on campus I’m a part of, and she’s really supportive in any advice I may need,” said Rotigliano. “She’s really great at being there to help in stressful situations when something may not be going according to plan and we may need to fix something or change something. She’s really incredible.”
Rotigliano also said they think Ferrell is “very deserving” of being recognized with the Annuit Coeptis Senior Professional Award for her work at KSC.
“Everything she does for student government shows how happy she is to be in a position where she can help us, and she’s always willing to step up or step in,” said Rotigliano. “She spends so much time doing so many other things, but always makes time for us and makes sure that the students have the experience on this campus that they deserve, and that makes Keene State College special.”
Ferrell said she is a trustee for ACPA, which is the organization for student affairs professionals that gives out awards, including the Annuit Coeptis Senior Professional Award each year. Ferrell also explained the criteria for this particular award and why she was honored to be nominated for it.
“Some of the criteria around sustained service to student affairs in higher education and a commitment to mentorship for early career professionals, that’s something that I’m proud to say has been a big part of my focus for a long time because I want to make sure that we continue to have folks who want to do all the good things in support of students,” she said. “It was a nice surprise and honor to hear that folks put together a nomination packet in my name.”
While Ferrell knew she was going to be nominated for the award, she said she did not necessarily expect that she would be chosen as one of its three winners.
“I was so humbled and honored, and then really proud,” said Ferrell. “Not just of myself, but of all the students that I started to think of over the years. The reason that I was receiving this award is in part because of my mentorship of them and them going on to be really successful in their careers. It was really surprising and honoring and humbling, but very cool.”
Additionally, Ferrell explained what it means to her to have her work in her field recognized by receiving this award.
“It means to me that the work that I am doing matters, and it means that it matters to people who then go on to make it matter for other people. It’s that generative or sustaining kind of thing that I think is so cool and I appreciate so much about the spirit of this award,” she said. “I take it really seriously when I’m working with students and when I know that there are students who have a desire to go into higher education or student affairs. I want to make sure that they have the best opportunity for success that they can, so I try to pour a lot of myself into those students and it’s nice to see that that is recognized.”
KSC Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Kirsti Sandy said that Ferrell now reports to her as of this year, which has allowed Sandy to get a proper understanding of how much Ferrell is responsible for on the campus. “It’s a lot, and she manages it all really well,” said Sandy.
Sandy also said she tries to meet with Ferrell and Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Nathalie Houder weekly to discuss any relevant issues on campus that have come up that week.
“Jen has been really great in that group because she has such a clear sense of what’s going on in all of the units that she manages,” she said.
Sandy continued to explain what it has been like to work with Ferrell, whom she described as “incredibly independent.”
“Watching her work, she is very calm and centered, and she’s got a lot of things thrown at her,” Sandy said. “She can deal with crisis situations really well with a sense of calm and a sense of, ‘What do we need to do to manage this situation?’ If something comes up the chain to me, I know that it must be very serious because Jen can handle things really well and honestly keeps things from getting to me because they get resolved before they ever do.”
A skill of Ferrell’s that Sandy said sticks out to her the most is the way that Ferrell listens to people.
“She listens and tries to get a sense of what the real story is. She’ll talk to people before she makes a judgment,” said Sandy. “That kind of listening is rare. A lot of people talk more than they listen, and she’s a really good lesson in how to do it well.”
Sandy said that Ferrell deserves to be recognized for her work with the Annuit Coeptis Senior Professional Award because of the “sense of focus and community” she has brought to the KSC campus. Specifically, Sandy explained that Ferrell was the person who introduced the term “community living” to KSC, as opposed to “residence life” as it is known on most college campuses.
“It gives a whole different spin on what it is like to live on campus around a whole bunch of people that at first you didn’t even know,” Sandy said. “Instead of rules, she calls them ‘community standards,’ which emphasizes that everyone’s responsible for upholding the community standards that we set together. I love that. She has that sense that what you call something really matters. That’s one very specific contribution that she has made to our campus culture that she really deserves national recognition for.”
“I don’t know how she finds the time to do everything she does to be honest, but I’m glad she does,” Sandy concluded. “She does so much for us. She really makes our community so kind, warm and supportive for students. She makes it look easy, and I know it’s not.”
Justin Dearborn can be contacted at
