Dialog, UA Faculty and Staff News

Cramer Receives Minnie Miles Award

Dr. Kathleen Cramer

Dr. Kathleen Cramer, interim vice president for student affairs, has been awarded the 2003 Dr. Minnie C. Miles Endowed Excellence Award. Miles, who died in 2001, was professor emerita in UA's Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration. She established the award in 1995 to promote and recognize administrative excellence. The award is given annually to a non-faculty, administrative staff member who has performed in an exemplary manner to further the mission of the University.

Cramer has served the University since 1975 in the area of student affairs. She has held numerous positions including director of the Office of Student Life and associate vice president for student affairs. She received her doctorate in administration and higher education from the University in 1985.

Cramer has also served as director of Women in Student Affairs Network for Region 3 of the National Association for Student Personnel Administrators. In this capacity, she has worked to create opportunities for women to advance in the profession.

Cramer is also the recipient of the John L. Blackburn Award for her work as adviser to Freshman Forum. She was also named Province Adviser of the Year for Omicron Delta Kappa senior honor society.

Her numerous nominators for the Miles Award pointed to her efforts to create the best possible experience for UA students, to provide venues for students to learn and practice leadership and to advocate for students in every way. She recently served as cochair of the inaugural Capstone Convocation. She has been praised for believing in students as change agents for the campus and in student governance.

Cramer recently undertook the creation of a pilot program to further the mission of the University. She gathered a diverse group of individuals from the University and the community to form the Neighborhood Partnership Group, which has opened lines of communication and efforts to work together for the benefit of both communities.