The Colorado State University College of Health and Human Sciences will confer undergraduate degrees at a commencement ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 15, at 7 p.m., in Moby Arena.
To watch the webcast of the live ceremony, see CSU’s commencement website. Student and guest information is available online at the College of Health and Human Sciences commencement webpage. Visit the College’s Flickr, Facebook, and Instagram pages for ceremony photos and follow us to keep in touch! The webcast will also be archived and posted for viewing a few days after the ceremony on CSU’s commencement website.
Please note that tickets are required for all guests for this year’s ceremony.
A Clear Bag Policy will be in effect for all ceremonies at Moby Arena. For more information, view the policy here.
Metal detectors will be used at all entrances to the ceremony. Please see the CSU commencement website for maps to the student and guest entrances.
CHHS graduate students will be recognized in a separate ceremony – more information is on the Graduate School website.
To congratulate your graduates on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, use hashtag #RamGrad.
Health and Human Sciences Ceremony
Melissa Pappas, the founder and chief executive officer of ATHENA Consulting a member of the College’s Executive Leadership Council will give the Charge to the Class. Jeff McCubbin, dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences, will welcome guests and present the degree candidates. D. Rico Munn, member of the Board of Governors of the CSU System, will confer the degrees. Don Mykles, director of the University Honors Program, will recognize the Honors Program graduates. LTC Troy Thomas, Army ROTC and professor of Military Science, will announce the newly commissioned officers. Jessica Teal (’16) will welcome the new graduates to the Alumni Association. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Audrey Shillington will emcee the ceremony.
Melissa Pappas (’85) – Charge to the Class
Melissa Pappas is the founder and chief executive officer of ATHENA Consulting, an award winning, certified Woman Business Enterprise, located in the State of Maryland. She started ATHENA in 2002 in her basement, and today employs more than 350 people in the mid-Atlantic. Pappas had a distinguished career working with state welfare programs to help improve service delivery, enhance customer service, and increase accuracy. Today, ATHENA Consulting provides long term professionals to state government agencies to work with the community’s most vulnerable citizens. Prior to starting ATHENA, she spent nine years as a senior executive for government operations at MAXIMUS, a consulting company that worked with state and local government human service programs. She worked in nearly every state, owing her professional success to knowing all the state capitols in a third-grade school competition. Previously, Pappas worked with state cabinet secretaries of human services, advocating on national welfare policy for the American Public Welfare Association in Washington D.C.
Pappas is a 1985 graduate of CSU with a degree in social work and currently serves as a member of the College’s Executive Leadership Council. In 1988, she earned a master’s degree in social service administration from the University of Chicago. Pappas is the proud mother of three sons, two of them current CSU students.
Jessica Teal (’16) – Welcome to the Alumni Association
Jessica Teal graduated Cum Laude from the College of Health and Human Sciences in the Spring of 2016. While attending CSU, Teal served at the CHHS Dean’s Leadership Council President, senator for the College of Health and Human Sciences with ASCSU for three consecutive years, President of Gamma Beta Phi Honor Society/National Society of Collegiate Scholars, a two-time Ram Welcome Leader, initiated as a member into Kappa Delta Sorority, and engaged in the President’s Leadership Program, Key Academic, and Key Plus programs.
Currently, Teal serves on the Emerging Leaders Council through the college. She is a third year Family and Consumer Science Teacher at Windsor High School. Teal has taught a plethora of elective courses supporting students’ preparation toward their future careers such as Fashion Design, Interior Design, Child and Adolescent Development, Relationships, and Life Management. Outside of school, she enjoys attending conferences geared towards innovation and technology, sewing, spending time with friends and family, attending concerts, traveling, and crafting new projects.
Congratulations to all of the Spring 2018 graduates of the College of Health and Human Sciences!
