Three Reich College of Education (RCOE) staff members, Octavia Little, Theresa Makdad, and Sujata Paudel, completed the Crest Leadership Development Program.
The Crest program, presented by the Office of Human Resources, is designed to develop participants’ capacity to lead and influence others. Crest provides an opportunity for introspection and growth. Participants develop a greater understanding of their core values and awareness of their personal strengths. Participants also learn strategies for becoming more effective in interpersonal relationships, influential with groups, and engaged with the community. Crest provides an opportunity to explore practical leadership competencies such as leading change, managing conflict, public speaking, giving and receiving feedback, and visioning/goal-setting.
Participants engage in peer to peer learning about a variety of leadership styles and theories. Each leader creates a personalized leadership development plan for setting professional, personal, and career progression goals, as well as their personal vision and mission statement.
Octavia Little, Associate Director of Admissions for Teacher Education
Little joined Appalachian in Fall 2017, after five years as an elementary teacher in the Forsyth/Winston-Salem School District. She is passionate about student access, diversity and inclusion within the P12 and higher education systems, and the overall success of students.
Little earned her B.S. degree in elementary education from Winston-Salem State University and her master’s degree in adult and higher education from North Carolina A&T State University.
As the associate director of admissions for teacher education, Little recruits students who are interested in studying teacher education. Her duties include: RCOE recruitment event planning, prospective student visits, traveling to high school and community colleges for recruitment events, supervising the Education Peer Ambassadors, chairing the teacher education recruitment committee, and application review, maintaining communications with prospective students, and more.
Theresa Makdad, Program Associate
After moving from Goldsboro, North Carolina, in July 2017, Makdad began working at Appalachian State University in October 2017 in the Career Development Center as an interim administrative assistant. In February 2018, she accepted a position in the RCOE as the program associate/administrative assistant. Her duties include assisting the Associate Dean Student Affairs and Program Services, supervising graduate assistants, coordinating App State Online and Summer Session course schedules, planning commencement, assisting faculty licensure renewal, and providing student services.
Makdad received a B.S. in marketing from Pennsylvania State University, and she is looking forward to a long career with Appalachian State University.
Sujata Paudel, University Program Specialist
Paudel joined Appalachian in February 2017. Her responsibilities include providing departmental administrative support for both the Department of Reading Education and Special Education as well as for the Appalachian State University Academy at Middle Fork.
Originally from Nepal, Paudel worked in an international non-governmental organization, funded by the government of Switzerland, as an office administrator and database administrator for six years. She earned a B.S. in dental hygiene from the University of Minnesota and a MBA from Appalachian State University.
