Outstanding Graduate Student ( Masters or Doctoral level )
The Alumni Award for Outstanding Graduate Student is awarded to a student who has demonstrated a commitment to Gwynedd Mercy University and its Mercy Mission as well as a commitment to academics and personal or professional goals .
Recipient : Amie Engel Germain Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership
Amie Engel Germain will graduate with her EdD in Educational Leadership with a concentration in Higher Ed Administration , exemplifying excellence in academics and her profession . She is an Assistant Professor in Occupational Therapy at Ithaca College . She has been honored to expand her institutional role into faculty development as a Center for Faculty Excellence Dana Teaching Fellow for 2018-2022 . She is a committed advocate of Universal Design for Learning to meet the needs of all students . Her dissertation research on crowdsourcing of class notes within the Learning Management System will contribute not only to the literature applying Universal Design for Learning to practice , but also in offering an outstanding solution to supporting students during the pandemic .
Amie has taken a leadership role in her doctoral classes at GMercyU in advocating for designing teaching experiences that meet the needs of all students . She has shared resources and provided feedback to her peers that has allowed them to develop skills in this area .
She is committed to both her profession of Occupational Therapy , and teaching , as evidenced by her expanding role into faculty development . At Ithaca College , she has hosted numerous teaching conversations on Universal Design for Learning with faculty and co-facilitates the Early Career Excellence Institute . She will soon step into the role of chair Occupational Therapy Graduate Program at Ithaca College .
Amie contributes to social justice through her work with a local Feed My Starving Children program . She embraces the Critical Concerns of the Sisters of Mercy in addressing racism , choosing to create a curriculum on ethnic and racial identity development for her instructional design course . She is committed to health through her work in Occupational Therapy and as an advisory panel member for the Letchwork State Park Autism Nature Trail .