Ohio State Dance Academic Program Coordinator Amy Schmidt was one of six staff members in the College of Arts and Sciences to win the 2017 ASC Outstanding Staff Award. Divisional Dean, Arts and Humanities Peter Hahn presented Schmidt with a plaque at the award luncheon at the Faculty Club on April 12, 2017. Each award recipient received a $1,000 one-time cash award and an increase of $500 to his or her base salary. Schmidt was joined at the luncheon by her nominators Professor Susan Van Pelt Petry and Department Chair Susan Hadley.
Schmidt has served as the academic program coordinator for the Department of Dance since 2013. She manages operations for its elective program, serving 1,500 students annually, the dance minor, the BFA, MFA and PhD programs. Over the past four years, she has significantly improved how the dance department does business, creating systems that are more comprehensive, streamlined, and user-friendly for students, staff and faculty. She possesses the rare combination of an eye for detail as well as the broad picture of how a department functions within the college and university. These two perspectives have made her critical to the exemplary functioning of our programs.
One of her nominators wrote: “Amy Schmidt is a stellar example of a team player who meaningfully contributes to the mutual success of our department and college. She is conversant in our department’s discipline, wholeheartedly committed to the success of all our students, and proactively and creatively brings action and leadership to her role to benefit our department, college and institution.”
Another of her nominators wrote: “She is a truly outstanding example of that rare individual who not only is exemplary in the responsibilities specific to her job, but who is also integral to nurturing a culture of support and understanding in a challenging culture of artistic and academic inquiry.”
Schmidt works tirelessly to provide both graduate and undergraduate students connect to coursework and opportunities that advance their creative and scholarly work. She is an advocate for arts in education, arts in the community and arts in life. She contributes daily to making dance an outstanding department in the College of Arts and Sciences.
