For the first time since the Office of Equity and Success’s introduction of the popular and fruitful Inclusive Excellence and Belonging (IEB) employee training sessions and awards certificate program, gold-level IEB certificates have been awarded to members of the Mount St. Mary’s University community.
On May 16, the five gold-level certificate award winners were honored at the IEB awards luncheon. Associate Professor of Management Christina Green, Ph.D., Assistant Dean of Students Jonathon Hager, Student Success Librarian Emily Holland, Director of the Center for Service Francis Lukban, C’19, MA’23, and Director of Phillips Library Jessica Boyer, Ph.D., C’16, were recognized for creating and implementing projects that further the Mount’s equity efforts and completing at least 15 IEB workshops and programming.
In 2023, Christina Green, founder of and advisor to the Women in Business Club (WIBC), launched the first annual Women in Business Symposium. She was awarded a gold-level certificate for the second symposium, held on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2024.
"I was honored to [be recognized] and thankful that the Mount offers IEB learning and development opportunities that represent the commitment we have to ensure that everyone is set up for success and feels that they belong here,” she shared.
“I organized [the symposium at] the request of WIBC members who wanted to hear ‘real talk’ about and from women currently in business. The members acknowledged that our business programs at the Mount are male-dominated and were craving for representation of women in the classroom and on campus to help prepare them for the business world,” Green explained.
Jon Hager was awarded for his efforts last year in implementing the Mount P.E.A.K.. (programs, activities, and events to know) app, which serves as a one-stop tool for students to see events and extracurricular offerings on campus. Mount P.E.A.K. includes a feature that tracks feedback and attendance demographics, which is being used to offer events that meet the needs of diverse groups on campus.
“Receiving a gold award has helped me understand that I am on the right path in my quest to help students find their niche on campus. Professionally, it signals the Mount’s commitment to bettering itself using the talent and ideas of employees,” Hager noted.
Emily Holland was a 2023 recipient of an American Library Association (ALA) grant that brought their Great Stories 
Club to campus, a program that aims to engage students facing various challenges through extracurricular reading and group discussion.
Holland decided to partner with the Mount’s Summit Scholars Program and incorporate the Great Stories Club programming into a general education course offered to academically vulnerable first-year students. The club provided nearly 60 students “the opportunity to explore reading non-academic texts in a structured setting, allowing for guided practice of critical literary skills.”
“Library science involves removing barriers to information, so I believe very strongly that all library work should be IEB-focused and informed,” Holland said. “Receiving a gold-level certificate affirms that my work reaches members of our community who are historically unfamiliar with or underserved by the library.”
Francis Lukban’s gold-level certificate was awarded for his efforts in developing and piloting IEB training for student workers at Phillips Library in the spring of 2023.
Lukban, who worked as the library’s evening services manager before heading the Center for Service, noted that the library had the largest group of student workers on campus, students who directly serve an increasingly diverse campus population. “It seemed important and timely to develop communication competency and IEB cultural competency with my staff,” he said.
In 2023, Jessica Boyer oversaw a renovation project funded by an ALA grant that saw old shelving in the lower level of the library replaced with shelving and furniture that creates a welcoming and accessible space for students with disabilities.
“I’m proud that we transformed an underutilized area of the library into one of increased and accessible seating, and 
so grateful to staff of the Library, Learning Services and Physical Plant who aided in implementing this project, as well as the American Library Association who provided the grant funding,” she shared.
At the same awards luncheon in May, 25 employees received bronze-level recognition after completing three IEB employee workshops and activities, and 20 received silver-level awards (nine of whom earned bronze awards in the same year), for completing six more IEB employee programs and writing a reflection on their experience.
Four employees, Faith Biesecker, Manual Garzon, Ph.D., Jonelle Hook, Ph.D., and Hannah Katzen-Cramer, were specially recognized for completing the Fostering a Culture of Belonging Course through the Association of College and University Educators.
Six faculty members, Alexandra Osondu Akpodiete, Ph.D., Rika Dunlap, Ph.D., Sarah Krueger, Ph.D., Alejandro Canadas, Ph.D., Elizabeth Strauss, Ph.D., and Boris Morozov, Ph.D., were honored for participating in the Faculty Equity and Success Institute, a yearlong program involving weekly meetings on deepening IEB awareness and opportunities for faculty.
The popularity of IEB learning opportunities for employees illustrates the Mount’s commitment to creating an ethical, welcoming, equitable campus for every member of the community.
Note: The gold certificate award recipients are pictured with Director of Inclusive Excellence and Belonging Initiatives Rosie Bolen, Ph.D., and Vice President and Chief Equity and People Officer Paula Whetsel-Ribeau, Ph.D.