RADFORD – Sarah Ross, a Radford University graduate student from Roanoke, recently received the New Professional Award from the Virginia Association of Student Personnel Administrators. Ross, who earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from RU in 2003, is an admissions counselor at the Jefferson College of Health Sciences. She will receive her master’s degree from RU’s Department of Counselor Education in May 2008.

Through the New Professional Award, VASPA recognizes outstanding professionals who have five or fewer years of experience in the field of student personnel.

Nadine Hartig, an RU counselor education faculty member and Ross’s adviser, said that “Sarah is an incredibly diligent student who puts her whole self into her work. Her greatest strengths include her work ethic, her ability to organize and focus on many details at once, and her approachable personality.”

 Ross said that her job at the Jefferson College of Health Sciences gives her the opportunity “to relate with students and parents, earning their respect and empowering them as they begin a new chapter in their life: their college career.” Her graduate program, she said, “has helped me become a better professional in student affairs. I have learned how to step outside the box and use creativity when addressing current issues and problems.”