The following is the text of a news release from the State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College:
(THROGGS NECK, N.Y.) — The State University of New York Maritime College is pleased to announce that student cadets Marissa Castellano ’15 of Mohegan Lake, N.Y., and Charles Scott Kuhn Jr. ’15 of Babylon, N.Y., were awarded the Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence by SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher at a ceremony earlier this month at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany recognizing 256 students from across the university system.
The Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence was created in 1997 to recognize students who have best demonstrated, and have been recognized for, the integration of academic excellence with accomplishments in the areas of leadership, athletics, community service, creative and performing arts, campus involvement, or career achievement.
Each year, SUNY campus presidents establish a selection committee, which reviews the accomplishments of exemplary students. Nominees are then forwarded to the Chancellor’s Office for a second round of review. Finalists are then recommended to the chancellor to become recipients of the award. Each recipient receives a framed certificate and medallion, which is traditionally worn at commencement.
Castellano, a January 2015 graduate who majored in marine transportation, completed her four-year degree and U.S. Coast Guard deck license program in three and a half years. She served as a company officer in the Regiment of Cadets during fall 2014. She was a dean’s list student for three semesters and she was an admiral’s list student (overall GPA of 3.5 or higher) on three separate occasions. Additionally, she served as the chief navigator for the 2014 summer sea term aboard the Empire State VI training vessel, where she managed a team of 18 navigators in voyage planning to various ports in the North Atlantic. She was solely responsible for all voyage planning and bridge maintenance and repair. She also found time to work in the campus’s Learning Center, where she tutored various license classes, including all navigation classes and various cargo classes.
Kuhn will graduate from SUNY Maritime in early May with a degree in marine business and commerce, along with a minor in Law. He currently serves as the regimental commander of the Regiment of Cadets, where his responsibilities include managing and advising all cadet officers and leadership. He serves as the liaison between the regimental officers and the college administration. Academically, he has attained admiral’s list (overall GPA of 3.5 or higher) for each of his seven semesters at the college.
During the 2014 summer sea term, Kuhn served as the cadet chief boatswain aboard the Empire State VI training vessel, where he supervised all deck crew responsible for the components of the ship's hull. He was lead tutor and assistant coordinator in Maritime College’s Learning Center, where he was responsible for organizing tutoring schedules, filing payroll, performing data log entry, and tutoring seven classes.
Each year, SUNY campus presidents establish a selection committee to review the accomplishments of exemplary students. Nominees are forwarded to the Chancellor’s Office for a second round of review. Finalists are then recommended to the chancellor to become recipients of the Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence. Recipients receive a framed certificate and medallion.
