A Parting Thank You From the Coordinator

At the end of spring semester I announced my retirement as the Coordinator for the APA Studies Program after six memorable years with the program and 30 years at MSU. It has been an honor to have served as the Coordinator, as adviser to our specialization students, as the facilitator for our Introduction to APA Studies course, and supporting activities such as the Speaker Series, conferences, and workshops, etc. I have been blessed to have worked with many wonderful faculty members, departmental staff, student assistants, and all the students associated with APA Studies program.

The new Coordinator (Meaghan Kozar) will be in place by the start of fall semester to begin the promotion and recruitment efforts.I am confident of a smooth transition since our directors and our student assistant are returning for the new academic year.

During my tenure I take particular pride in increasing the student enrollment in the Introduction to APA Studies course. However there is still work ahead.

We always need to keep increasing the number of specialization students, and we always need to keep improving the curriculum by offering more courses and increasing the faculty to teach these courses.

A very special thanks to Andrea and Anna who have been been supportive to me and in their leadership role as directors of this program. I am confident that the new Coordinator will build upon what we have accomplished, with the able guidance of our directors and our advisory board.

However this can only be accomplished by having a “shared vision” and having everyone working in harmony. Finally, I begin the next chapter of my life this fall by continuing to work (my consultive year) in the Institute for International Agriculture, to serve on the APAS Advisory Board, and to continue as the faculty advisor to (HASA) Hmong American Students Association.