Bernadette Fitzpatrick, Administrative Assistant, College of Nursing and Public Health: "An Indispendable Asset to Adelphi and the College of Nursing and Public Health"

Every year, Adelphi honors four exceptional employees with a President’s Award for Excellence. According to President Christine M. Riordan, these recipients “have won the admiration of their peers and colleagues by providing a truly extraordinary level of service to the University.”

Candidates are nominated by their colleagues, and these nominations are reviewed by the advisory committee for the President’s Award for Excellence. After reviewing the nominations, the committee submits final nominees to the president.

Each year, a maximum of four people (two union, two nonunion) are chosen to receive this honor. One of the 2020 President’s Awards for Excellence was given to:

Bernadette Fitzpatrick, Administrative Assistant, College of Nursing and Public Health

Bernadette Fitzpatrick is known by most in the College of Nursing and Public Health. It’s evidenced in how her nominators describe her: “…the heart and soul of the College…[whose] dedication and commitment to the needs of the University, College, faculty and students is evident to all who know her”; as someone whose “demeanor and teaching methods are that of a person with patience, kindness and giving, who only has the best interest of the whole in mind”; and as one whose “willingness to always share her expertise makes her an indispensable asset to Adelphi and the College of Nursing and Public Health.”

Fitzpatrick is responsible for interfacing with students, faculty and staff regarding a multitude of issues that arise throughout the undergraduate nursing program, from handling student registration and assisting with petitions, to responding to any number of requests for help from faculty and students.

But more than that, Fitzpatrick is key to keeping things running smoothly in the College and often credited with finding innovative solutions to problems as quickly as they arise. She has been instrumental in streamlining processes to improve efficiency and productivity, and is consistently offering suggestions and ideas of ways to achieve results in the most expedient way, including overseeing the implementation of an entire new software system for course development last year.

“We moved from using the outdated SAAS process to eSAAS,” she explained. “This has reduced course development time in half. Since we had so many new administrative professionals, I was able to train them and implement this new system.”

According to one of her nominators, “Bernadette’s cultural awareness and sensitivity to diverse populations is unmistakably evident in her work with the orthodox seminary cohort, other observant practicing nursing students, and any student with religious observance. She creates a specific registration for class/clinical schedule that can accommodate the student’s observance.”

Such sensitivity, no doubt, comes from how closely Fitzgerald holds the University to her heart.

“The Adelphi community is my second family,” she said. “The knowledge and assistance I have received from my leadership team, my peers and all the different departments I collaborate with has helped me feel very comfortable providing assistance to the CNPH faculty and nursing students.”