Robert Bonfiglio, vice president for student and campus life, has been selected to receive this year's Ted K. Miller Achievement of Excellence Award by the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education.
CAS is a professional organization that establishes benchmarks for student affairs programming in colleges and universities across the nation. Bonfiglio, who began work at Geneseo 11 years ago, said, "I decided I would use these benchmarks to help build our student affairs program."
There are 35 functional areas that CAS creates benchmarks for. Some examples include "Academic Advising," "Campus Religion and Spiritual Programs," "Clinical Health Programs" and "College Honor Societies."
Student affairs encompasses a variety of programming initiatives including the Geneseo Opportunities for Leadership Development program, the College Union, Career Services, the Center for Community, Residence Life, University Police, Health and Counseling, and Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreation. Bonfiglio's office oversees all of these departments.
According to CAS, the award is "to be given to an individual, higher education institution or professional association in recognition of outstanding accomplishments in advancing standards of practice and quality assurance in educational programs and services in higher education.
"We are paying attention to how our programs and services measure up [to nationwide standards]," Bonfiglio said. "We aspire to have highly-regarded programs."
Although Bonfiglio was named as the sole recipient of the award, he said that it is really a recognition of "all of the departments in student and campus life."
Bonfiglio will receive the award at the CAS national symposium this month. The award is accompanied by a plaque and $1,000.