Scholars News Desk
Colson Concludes 15 Years of Service to College Park Scholars
October 1, 2009
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Mike Colson, Associate Director for Admissions and Registration, will conclude his fifteen years of dedicated service to College Park Scholars -- its faculty, staff and most of all, its students -- this month. He has accepted the position of Coordinator in the Office of Academic Planning and Programs, within the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost. Mike will work closely with Associate Provost and Professor Elizabeth Beise, providing guidance and oversight for all academic program and curriculum proposals, and unit additions and modifications.
Mike is highly qualified for this new position, having overseen every detail of program development in College Park Scholars since its inception in 1994. A Phi Beta Kappa Bachelor's graduate from Ohio Wesleyan with a Master of Arts in English Language and Literature from the University of Maryland, Mike was hired away from Maryland’s Professional Writing Program by Dr. Nancy Shapiro, the inaugural Scholars Executive Director, to matriculate the first class of Scholars. During these past 15 years, Mike has developed and managed a highly regarded admissions and recruitment process, guided faculty directors with their course design and class scheduling, served as liaison to the Department of English for the instructors of all Scholars ENGL 101 sections, mentored numerous student ambassadors and assisted in each and every Scholars-wide initiative and program. In 2005, the campus recognized Mike’s service with the President’s Distinguished Service Award.
According to Scholars Executive Director Greig Stewart, “this day was never imagined to transpire. Mike has been the eternal constant to Scholars, the one source of the program’s history, successes and challenges. His administrative skill, institutional wisdom, collegiality – and wit -- will be deeply missed.”
Mike sits on the Advisory Board for the Anne Arundel County Public Schools International Baccalaureate program and is currently pursuing an additional Masters degree in Library and Information Services in Maryland's College of Information Studies. Together with his wife Beth and two sons Alex and Sean, Mike resides in Silver Spring, Md.
For more information on this press release, contact Kevin Baxter at (301) 314-1522, or bax@umd.edu.
