Category Archives: Employee Spotlight

Community Partnerships, Employee Spotlight, Publicity, STEM Awards

NOVA SySTEMic Coordinator Nominated for Gov Award

Tiffanie Rosier, our Woodbridge STEM Coordinator, has been nominated for a 2020 Governor’s Honor Award for Personal and Professional Excellence. Tiffanie specializes in STEM Career Exploration, and has been particularly adept at transitioning STEM Career events into a virtual platform, connecting with both students and the corporate world. Tiffanie has also taken on the role of Remote Student Support (RS3) for NOVA IET.

Summary of Nomination
Ms. Rosier is admired by her NOVA SySTEMic team for her positive outlook, willingness to help, and her commitment to the students at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA). Ms. Rosier is currently associated with the Perkins Grant Committee and in collaboration with team members to further CTE efforts. Ms. Rosier constantly seeks out and shares opportunities to encourage career development or participate in events to anyone she encounters within the NOVA community.

Significance
The recent restrictions to in-person events due to the COVID-19 pandemic meant there was a need to quickly adapt to a “new normal”. Ms. Rosier put her resilience and resourcefulness to good use to make sure this would be accomplished.

Initiative and Creativity
Without the ability to host in-person events, the career focused, Ms. Rosier, focused her energy into seamlessly transitioning into a virtual platform; allowing accessibility to a broader, diverse
audience. Ms. Rosier’s numerous connections in the corporate world has allowed her to provide greater exposure to all NOVA students. Most recently, she partnered with NOVA’s Career Connection team and organizations like Leidos and LinkedIn to make engaging and educational virtual events accessible during a critical time when employment was a concern for many students.

Ms. Rosier also recently stepped in to fill the need within the Information and Engineering Technologies Division as a Remote Student Support (RS3) advisor. Within four months, Ms. Rosier has taken ownership of this new role and is actively involved in guiding new and current students.

Benefit
She continues to coordinate with NOVA faculty and staff to offer professional and personal growth opportunities and has reached over 800 students in the past year. As an RS3 Advisor, Ms.
Rosier, successfully connected with upwards of 300 students and 25 military veterans to provide them advising, guidance in course sections, and completing financial aid requirements. Every individual Ms. Rosier reaches will be more prepared for their educational and career path because of her efforts.

Mission
In line with the mission of Northern Virginia Community College, Ms. Rosier delivers exceptional service to the college as well as the community. Her dedication to career development has proven to inspire students to set goals, challenge themselves, and explore opportunities in Northern Virginia’s competitive workforce.

Quote from Nominee
“I am honored to receive the nomination for the Personal & Professional Excellence Award! I consider myself a lifelong learner and people have always shared information with me about the importance of personal and professional development as early as my college years.  I try to seize any opportunity that I can to learn something new or enhance myself by strengthening myself in other areas.  I am a firm believer in giving and giving back and leave no one behind.  I try to share all that I can with others, in order to support them in thinking about their own personal or professional development needs.”

 

Employee Spotlight, Fab Lab

IET Employee Spotlights – Nov 2019

The IET employee spotlight this month falls on Margaret Leary, Ph.D., Director of the CAE National Resource Center, and Richard Sewell, our new Fab Lab Manager.

Margaret Leary, Ph.D.
CISSP, CIPP/G, CRISC, CICP, CEH
Program/Campus POC

Dr. Leary has more than 30 years of experience in IT (the most recent 12 in cybersecurity) and is a Senior Security Policy Advisor to government agencies in the Washington, D.C., area. She is the Cybersecurity Program Head for NOVA and teaches a variety of cybersecurity courses at the Alexandria Campus. Dr. Leary is a member of the National Cyberwatch Center Leadership team, where she serves as the Director of Curriculum, advocating for community college cybersecurity programs. She is also a member of Infragard, ISSA-NOVA and the Women’s Society of Cyberjutsu.

Dr. Leary can be reached at mleary@nvcc.edu

Richard Sewell
Fab Lab Manager

If Martha Stewart and MacGyver had a baby, that baby would be Richard. Born with DIY DNA, Richard’s childhood hobbies included sewing, knitting, model making, Lego building, and balsa wood constructing. After earning a Master’s degree in Fine Art with experience in traditional and experimental media, Richard began his career teaching full-time at Clemson University before moving to Mississippi State University.
 
In 2003 Richard left academia and opened The Proper Carpenter, a custom furniture and product design company in Fairfax, VA. After 15 successful years of working with clients such as The White House Historical Association, OMDigital, and National Geographic, Richard closed the shop and moved to Raleigh, NC to become the Creative Director of Kalisher, an agency of more than 100 artists, eccentrics, and engineers who create, commission and manufacture comprehensive art collections for properties worldwide.
Richard is thrilled to be back in VA and back teaching! When he isn’t building robots or model making in the lab, he’s building robots and model making for his 4yo daughter, playing drums, cooking with his wife, and cycling on all the local trails.

Richard can be reached at rsewell@nvcc.edu