Ithaca College

Sharon Policello, director of the Office of First Year Programs and Orientation, was selected to receive the 2005 Robert H. Shaffer Distinguished Alumni Award presented by the Indiana University Higher Education and Student Affairs program.

Robert Shaffer, professor emeritus and former dean of students at Indiana University, made numerous contributions to higher education administration, to higher education and student affairs literature, and to the developement of many outstanding administrators. The Shaffer Award is presented annually to a graduate of the Indiana University doctoral program who exemplifies the traits that characterized Shaffer's work for more than four decades.

Policello received her Ed.D from Indiana University-Bloomington in 1981. From 1978 to 1994, she served as the director of the Ofice of Campus Activities and Orientation at Ithaca College. In 1994, Policello was charged with creating the Office of First Year Programs and Orientation, which was recognized by the US News and World Report in 2004 for best practices in the area of first year experience programs. In 2001, her work with orientation and peer leadership was distinguished as an exemplary program award winner by the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA). From the program's inception in 1979, Policello has been responsible for developing, coordinating, and leading Ithaca College's Summer Orientation and Continuing Orientation.