Cardinal Points

Issue date: 4/13/07 Section: News

Kristen Buck

Jenny Hutchinson

Ilona Sitnitsky

Chrissa Wright

Carrianne Pershyn

Five Plattsburgh State seniors will be recognized with the Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence on Wednesday at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany.

According to SUNY Chancellor John Ryan, the award "recognizes model students who have integrated academic excellence with other aspects of their lives, which may include the arts, athletics, career achievement, community service or leadership."

Vice President of Student Affairs Bill Laundry said every spring the campus receives a letter from the chancellor instructing them to nominate students graduating between June of that year and May of the next year.

Faculty and staff then make recommendations, and students can even nominate themselves.

"Each campus gets one candidate for each 1,000 students, so we get five," Laundry said. "We reviewed 25 this year and selected our five nominees."

Laundry said it's typical for all five of the PSUC students nominated to receive the award.

"They usually respect the campus nominees," he said, "but you can't assume it."

Laundry also said there is no GPA requirement to be considered for the award.

A plaque in the entrance of Feinberg Library lists all the PSUC students who have been honored with the award since it first began in 1999.

Added to the list this year are Chrissa Wright, Ilona Sitnitsky, Carrianne Pershyn, Jenny Hutchinson and Kristen Buck.

Wright will graduate in May with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and biochemistry and plans to attend SUNY Upstate Medical University to pursue a Ph.D. in neuroscience.

She has conducted undergraduate research in genetics the past three semesters and has presented at several national conferences.

"I was very excited and very honored to receive the award," Wright said. "It recognizes all the hard work I've done here at Plattsburgh and the strong support system I've had throughout my college career - my professors, my family, my mentors and advisors."

Sitnitsky will graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and mathematics in May and plans to attend graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. in physics. She is head tutor at the Learning Center and worked with the Brookhaven National Laboratory to analyze comet particles collected by the NASA Stardust Mission.

The results of her research was published in Science magazine.

"I was flattered," Sitnitsky said of receiving the award. "I was honored to be recognized for all my hard work."

Pershyn will receive her Bachelor of Science degree in ecology in May. She has done research with the Lake Champlain Research Institute and Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. She was also a delegate to the Washington Model Organization of American States.

Hutchinson will graduate in May with a Bachelor of Arts degree in painting and drawing. She is a three-year captain of the women's track and field team and has four school records in indoor pole vaulting. She has also exhibited at several juried art exhibitions and studied abroad in Florence, Italy.

"I didn't really expect to get the award because I know it's a very prestigious award and it's very selective," Hutchinson said. "I was just really happy to get it."

Hutchinson said she is now applying to graduate schools, but getting into one out of what is often only 10 spots available for graduate students completing their master's of fine arts is "like winning the lottery."

She said she will continue to work and display her pieces in galleries.

Buck will receive a Bachelor of Science degree in communication disorders and sciences in May.

She is a student clinician at the Plattsburgh Speech and Hearing Center and a senior researcher at Plattsburgh Neurobehavioral Science Lab. She also has presented at various conferences.

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