From the 2023 Faculty and Staff Excellence Awards:
Lynell Spencer is the Advising Director for the Urban, Public, and Global Affairs Pathway. She is an alumna of Portland State, having earned both a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policy and a Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies as a first-generation transfer student.
Lynell works directly with students, faculty, advisors, and other campus leaders to coordinate and implement initiatives promoting student success. As part of this work, she has conducted research on the impact of direct funding to populations at risk of not persisting. Additionally, she was instrumental in establishing and instituting the EAB Early Alerts program, which allows faculty to identify at-risk students and gives staff across the university an opportunity to intervene and support those students. In her decade of service at PSU, she has transitioned through many roles, but through it all, student success and completion has remained a constant focus.
In her nomination letter, Lynell’s nominators state that “she is able to hold space for students with concerns or who are struggling while also maintaining the integrity of the programs and education that they are taking part in. Lynell strives every day to use her influence to better the student experience, and through Early Alerts, as well as her daily interactions with students and staff, she has found ways to have a powerful and meaningful impact on the lives of students.”
The Mary H. Cumpston Award for Service to Students is given annually to an academic professional or university administrator, without academic rank, who has demonstrated excellence in the area of service to students. Mary H. Cumpston was a beloved colleague who truly embodied the meaning of excellence in service to students at Portland State University.