November 22, 2024
Mariya Vaughan recognized as Professional Staff of the Week
Mariya Vaughan, assistant director of K-State First, was recognized as Professional Staff of the Week at the Nov. 20 women's home basketball game.
Vaughan is a 2019 recipient of the Commerce Bank and W.T. Kemper Foundation Presidential Award for Distinguished Services to Historically Under-Represented Minority Students. Through the K-State First program, Vaughan has a direct impact on a large fraction of our incoming students. Vaughan helps supervise, coordinate and ensure the success of first-year seminar courses led by approximately 50 First-Year Seminar faculty, 45 CAT Community instructors and more than 50 learning assistants.
Vaughan also works closely with committees focused on communication, research and assessment, the K-State First Book, faculty development, diversity and inclusion, and overall strategic planning. Vaughan strives to integrate intercultural learning into her curriculum and course materials through K-State First and her CAT Community, while also working on and helping organize several campuswide diversity events such as the Wildcat Dialogues and KSUnite. She serves on K-State's Trans* Task Force and the executive boards of the LGTBQ* Faculty and Staff Alliance and the Flint Hills Human Rights Project. Through all her activities, she makes a substantial contribution to the educational mission of the university, while also helping inspire our efforts to become a more diverse, welcoming community.
The Professional Staff of the Week recognition is coordinated by Faculty Senate, the president's office, K-State Athletics and the Division of Communications and Marketing. Recipients are staff members selected by Faculty Senate caucuses. Those selected are provided tickets to a men's or women's home basketball game of their choosing and are recognized during halftime. This is just a small token of appreciation for those who work at K-State.