From the 2020 Faculty and Staff Excellence Awards:
Mary Vance is a career counselor in the University Career Center and manages the Sustainability Internship Program for the Institute for Sustainable Solutions. She specializes in helping students find careers and internships in sustainability-related fields. She has devoted her life's work to education: first as a high school teacher in Grenada through the Peace Corps, then as an ESL instructor for recent refugees and immigrants in New York City, and now in her role in Advising and Career Services where she has been helping students navigate their current and future career aspirations since she was hired by Mary Cumpston 20 plus years ago.
Mary holds Master's degrees in Counseling from the University of Maryland, College Park and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from University of Colorado, Boulder. In her time at Portland State, Mary has developed experiential learning opportunities for students, including the creation of the Sustainability Internship Program. Other contributions to PSU include co-founding the Sustainability Mentor Program and the STAR grant program and serving on Faculty Senate and Academic Advising Council. She is a recipient of the Esther Mathews Award for lifetime achievement in career development and the Enrollment Management & Student Affairs Service Award.
"Like Mary Cumpston, Mary Vance has the ability to take an idea and bring it to fruition for the benefit of students" says colleague Louise Paradis, PSU Career Counselor. "Mary is a passionate advocate for PSU students and alums. She is gifted at seeking out collaborations and partnerships internal and external to the university. Mary dreams big and uses her creativity and sheer force of will to make things happen. And, like Mary Cumpston, Mary is beloved by students, alumni, faculty, staff, and community members."
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.