Meet Rhode Island’s "outstanding graduate student"

By RUDI HEMPE
CELS News Editor & Reporter

Hard work and lots of involvement have paid off for Kristina Perrelli who recently was named the Richard F. Stevens Outstanding Graduate Student in Rhode Island, an award presented by the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA).

Perrelli, who is the CELS Graduate Assistant Student Affairs Advisor, was given the award at the NASPA regional conference in Burlington, VT

Perrelli is scheduled to get her master’s in Human Development and Family studies in May. Her degree involves a concentration in College Student Personnel.

Perrelli was nominated for the honor by Dr. Katie Branch and Dr. Gene Knott of the College Student Program and also Kim Anderson, coordinator of the CELS Office of Student Affairs.

To qualify for the award, students have to make a significant contribution to the home campus, must have demonstrated academic achievement, must exceed the expectations of their respective leadership positions, must assume a leadership role

at their institution and/or at the state and regional levels and must demonstrate an interest in the field of student affairs.

Besides her studies and her graduate assistantship, Perrelli is also interning at Salve Regina University in the office of Undergraduate Admissions.

Perrelli said the award carries no monetary benefit (other than her registration fee at the conference) but does represent quite an honor. As for her nomination, "I am just honored to have been nominated and receiving the award gave me the same feeling of accomplishment that I experience when I know that I have positively impacted a student," said Perrelli.

Perrelli, who hails from East Haven, CT., and now lives in Newport, received her bachelor’s degree in Marine Affairs from URI in 2004. She then worked for the College of Arts and Sciences and also for the RI EPSCoR program until taking the graduate assistant post in CELS.

With all her professional activities at URI and Salve, she still finds time for a few hobbies such as art, hiking, snowboarding, kayaking and running. She is also a volunteer for Save the Bay.

After she receives her masters, Perrelli says she will be looking for a job at an college or university in student affairs in the fields of academic advising, career services or admissions.

“I want to work with college students, especially those who are interested in environmental issues,” she says. “I’m sure I can find a niche in higher education.”

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