Award recipients discuss their careers of 30 years or more

March 12, 2024 (Volume 47, Number 14)
Article by Michele Coffill

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What keeps someone working at Grand Valley for three decades or more? For three people who will be among those recognized at today's Service Award Ceremony, the answer came easy: the students.

Cassonya Carter, senior academic advisor for the Kirkhof College of Nursing, celebrates 30 years of service. Rob Franciosi, professor of English, and Wendy Johnston, Financial Aid assistant, both celebrate 35 years of service. A lot has changed their hire dates in 1994 and 1989. They discuss these changes below.

Cassonya Carter
Carter started her GVSU tenure as a student, transferring to Grand Valley after earning an associate degree from Grand Rapids Community College. She planned to attend an HBCU school until Dean Emeritus Don Williams, former dean of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, convinced her to be a Laker.

"It was the support that Don and others at that time provided," Carter said. "I had support and a sense of belonging."

Carter founded and established Voices of GVSU, the student gospel choir, and she continues to lead the group today. She said the choir provides a home away from home for students and support for surviving and thriving on campus. Carter, who is known as Mama CeeCee, opens Voices to experienced and not-so-experienced singers.

Carter said she believes that students come to GVSU with greatness inside of them, regardless of their academic background. She feels it is her job to bring that greatness out. "Everyone has a gift. It's my mission to make sure all feel special and feel that their gift is special," she said.

Carter is a founding member of Positive Black Women, Grand Valley's oldest affinity group. Members began collecting dues when they started meeting more than 25 years ago. That money has since endowed many scholarships.

Carter initially worked as an admissions counselor then in a TRIO office before moving to KCON in 2005. As a founding member of the college's Office of Student Services, she said advising and serving students is her way of giving back as so many did for her.

“It has been an honor to be an intricate part of building an advising center from its inception, providing resources that aid in advising students to reach their full potential," she said. "I am a passionate educator who is dedicated to guiding and mentoring students to succeed in every area of their life. Someone did it for me and I strive to utilize my time, talent, and skills to empower them to mix their passion to find their purpose."

Rob Franciosi
Franciosi said one reason he was attracted to Grand Valley was the faculty members he met during his interviews. 

"I enjoyed talking and collaborating with the first generation of faculty members," he said.

In fact, Franciosi brought one of those people back to his class recently. He said Gilbert Davis, professor emeritus of English, spoke to students about the Verdi opera based on Shakespeare's "Macbeth." Davis is now 92.

Franciosi came to Grand Valley with an expertise in American poetry and literature. He taught a course at St. Olaf College, in Minnesota, about America's response to the Holocaust and said that piqued his interest to begin more research on that topic at Grand Valley.

"I met Bill Baum (professor emeritus of political science) here and that evolved to my primary research," he said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Franciosi joined a local group that supported West Michigan's first Holocaust public memorial, "Ways to Say Goodbye," at Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. Franciosi led a team of students in creation of a website devoted to Holocaust survivors who settled in the area.

"We needed something more than a sculpture. We decided to document and tell the stories of local survivors,  their lives before, during the Holocaust, and then in Grand Rapids. They had become neighbors, they and their families, and we wanted to commemorate their journeys," he said.

Franciosi served as vice chair and chair of University Academic Senate in the early 2000s. That busy period included searches for a university president and the founding dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, reorganization of the academic colleges and the establishment of the Center for Scholarly and Creative Excellence. 

However, Franciosi laughed when he recalled one hot-button topic. "There was once talk about charging faculty and staff for parking. We talked for a long time about that."

Grand Valley has changed over the past three decades and so have its students, Franciosi said.

"In my early years, there were more part-time and adult students," he said. "Students now are stronger academically. It's been great to witness them growing beyond their Michigan roots."

Wendy Johnston
Johnston has served in the Financial Aid Office since she was hired 35 years ago. Now as a financial aid assistant, Johnston said there have been a lot of changes within the department but one thing remains constant.

"It's our goal to do what we can to facilitate and advocate for students," she said. "I learned that 35 years ago and have taken that to heart since."

The delay in this year's FAFSA form has caused a delay in notifying and rewarding financial aid packages to students across the country. Johnston said when information is released, her office is ready to respond.

"We are trying to be proactive. When we get the FAFSA awards, we will get them out as quickly as possible," she said. "I remind myself, I might get 100 of the same email questions a day from students, but it's the first time a student is asking that question."

Johnston started working in Financial Aid as a student. She left school after having a baby. At home as a new mother, she was asked to apply for a position in the office and returned to Grand Valley as an employee.

"When I first started working, I was hiring some students who were older than me. They're great, though, I'm still friends with some of them," she said, adding she has enjoyed hiring international students lately.

There has been a host of other changes, of course. Johnston recalled working with a dot matrix printer and evolving through various software programs: SIS to Banner to Workday.

Both of Johnston's children have degrees from Grand Valley. She said it was a blessing to be able to bring them to campus when they were younger and "having them feel comfortable here."

Johnston said she's known for wearing Grand Valley apparel when traveling and stopping to chat with fellow Lakers.

"It gives me such pride knowing that we work so hard to graduate amazing students," she said. "The leadership has been amazing and supportive. I love working with young people, it keeps me young."

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