2023 Gerard Babo Award Winner Announced  

Nicole Giglia, Ph.D., 2023 Gerard Babo Award Recipient

Nicole Giglia, Ph.D. (Higher Education), has been selected as the 2022-23 Gerard Babo Award winner.

Gerard (Gerry) Babo, Ph.D. was an Associate Professor in the Department of Education Leadership, Management & Policy in the College of Education and Human Services. After his passing, the Babo family and the College of Education and Human Services established a fund in Babo's memory in order to perpetuate his work with students and to pay honor to his incredible dedication to his students, his community, and Seton Hall.

Babo was the epitome of a servant leader, and an outstanding educator and researcher. Giglia embodies each of these characteristics. She is a higher education professional and scholar with 10+ years of experience working in Catholic higher education. From 2022-2023, Giglia served as a Programming Committee Chair and board member for the New Jersey American Council of Education (NJACE) Women's Network, coordinating events for local professionals in higher education, including the group's Spring 2023 conference at Seton Hall. Giglia is also involved with the One Love Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed at helping young people learn about healthy relationships.

Throughout her Ph.D. program, Giglia has worked full-time at Seton Hall, currently as the Associate Dean of Students (promoted into this position in May 2022). In this role, Giglia oversees residential life and student conduct and leads campus-wide efforts to prevent sexual violence, alcohol and drug use, and issues related to student mental health. Giglia's work advising a SHU student organization focused on the prevention of sexual violence has been recognized by the university, and by the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA). Still, Giglia goes above and beyond the formal responsibilities of her role, volunteering to chair the Student Experience working group for the institution's Middle States Accreditation process, teaching University Life courses for new undergraduate students, and providing leadership training for students and staff across campus.

Academically, Giglia has been a leader among her peers, earning top grades in all of her courses. She was invited to share her research at the University's Conference on Women and Gender, and at SHU's 2023 Petersheim Exposition. She currently has a paper from her dissertation under review with the Journal of Women and Gender in Higher Education, in collaboration with Katie Smith, Ph.D.

Giglia will be formally recognized during the College of Education and Human Services graduation ceremony on Saturday May 20th. Past winners of this award include Xanthy Karamanos (Ed.D., K-12), 2020-21, and Jorge Ventura (Ed.D., K-12), 2021-22.

The faculty of ELMP congratulate Giglia on her tremendous accomplishments and dedicated leadership. The faculty would also like to recognize the three other nominees:

• Kimberly Hayes, Ed.S., K-12 Program: Hayes graduated from the K-12 Ed.S. program in the spring of 2023. She has worked in education for over 30 years – for 14 years as an educational textbook editor working to develop career, health, and technology training materials and for the next 15 years as a middle school and secondary English teacher in a variety of settings: an urban middle school in East Harlem, NYC; an all-girls Catholic high school; and in two public high schools in Bergen County, NJ. Hayes currently oversees a new program in her district called Career & Academic Pathways, where she runs a senior internship program for students whose needs cannot be met in a traditional academic setting. She also serves as a member of her district's administrative team and has been involved with redefining the District's Vision and Mission Statement. Hayes is very passionate about school-to-work initiatives and has been in contact with various individuals at the NJDOE to receive guidance while building new programs. Hayes has also founded several clubs on a volunteer basis including the Leo Club (part of Lions International); Students Against Violence Everywhere; and Girl Up. Through her work with the Leo Club, she has coordinated volunteer activities with Habitat for Humanity, Center for Food Action, Valley Hospital, Oasis, and Shelter Our Sisters. Hayes has an excellent academic record at Seton Hall, including her 3.97 overall GPA.
   
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  Albert Maresca, MA, Nominee

  Albert Maresca, MA, Police Graduate Studies Program: Albert (Al) Maresca is a forthcoming graduate of the Police Graduate Studies Program (GPA: 4.0) and is the Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal of the U.S. Marshal's Office of Baltimore, Maryland. Maresca embodies what it means to be a scholar-practitioner. He is actively engaged in class, and regularly seeks ways to bridge what he learns in class with his work in the U.S. Marshal's Office. Exemplifying this, as well as his service to his profession and his community, Maresca spearheads the Silver Shield Public Safety Partnership which (a) builds positive relationships between agencies and between law enforcement and communities in Maryland, (b) facilitates community-oriented policing to track down local sex offenders, and (c) includes the Rising Star program that provides mentorship to at-risk community youths. Notably, the proposal for the Silver Shield initiative was in part based on a project that Maresca completed as part of his graduate coursework. He continues to be involved in both the law enforcement and local communities, playing a prominent role in Operation Bless Baltimore (a large-scale interagency food and charity drive to aid families in the Baltimore area), and volunteering his time and expertise with both the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association and the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police.
   
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  Tiffany Wicks, Ed.D., Nominee

  Tiffany Wicks, Ed.D., K-12 Executive Doctoral Program: Wicks graduated from the Executive Ed.D. program in the spring of 2023. She is currently a Principal in Newark Public Schools. Her dissertation, titled "A study on teacher perceptions on Amistad integrated units its influence on black girls academic experiences," was exceptionally well done and a great contribution to the field. In addition to her academic accomplishments, including an overall GPA of 3.7, Wicks is a co-writer of culturally relevant curriculum for Newark Public Schools, co-facilitated Amistad Integrated curriculum in Newark Community Meetings, and led a presentation on Linguistic Justice based on April Baker Bell's (Ph.D.) research. Wicks created "I Plan to Teach" – a process aimed at enabling teachers to lesson plan effectively using the Gradual Release Model by Doug Lemov. Wicks presented at Mayor of Newark Ras Baraka's 2022 Roadmap to Educational Equity Conference and facilitated workshops for Newark Parent University, a district program aimed at providing resources, learning opportunities, and linkages for ongoing parent and family involvement and community engagement that supports student learning.

Categories: Education, Faith and Service