Authors of guide to relationship-rich education to give Wooster’s Mortensen lecture
Peter Felton, Leo Lambert, and Oscar Miranda Tapia, three of the co-authors of Connections of Everything: A College Student’s Guide to Relationship-Rich Education, will be a part of The College of Wooster’s Peter Mortensen Lecture at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 24 in McGaw Chapel (340 E. University Street). The authors will take part in a panel discussion with recent alumni of the College, Vedica Jha ’18, Amy Melena ’16, and Giorgio Tramonto ’19 on the book and the importance of creating meaningful relationships during and after college.
Chosen as Wooster’s Summer Reading book for new students in the Class of 2028, Connections are Everything is a practical guide for college students to make the connections they need to be successful after graduation, written by Felton, Lambert, Miranda Tapia, and Isis Artze-Vega. Drawing on over 400 interviews of students, faculty, and staff at 29 higher education institutions across the nation, the book shows students the simple steps they can take to make their own college experience meaningful and transformational by developing and sustaining relationship-based learning. In short, practical chapters, this guide helps readers learn how to build relationships through various strategies, including using “relationship accelerators” like internships and mentorships, undergraduate research, and campus employment.
Felten is executive director of the Center for Engaged Learning, professor of history, and assistant provost for teaching and learning at Elon University. He has published seven books about undergraduate education, focusing his research on student experiences in higher education, including how student relationships with peers, faculty, and staff influence student learning, belonging, and success.
Lambert is the President Emeritus of Elon University, having served as president from 1999 to 2018, where he promoted a student-centered culture that values strong relationships between students and their faculty and staff mentors. During his tenure, Elon University experienced significant growth including nearly two-thirds increase in enrollment and a doubling of the faculty. The academic climate of the campus was strengthened through investments in faculty development, library resources, honors and fellows’ programs for outstanding students, study abroad programs, undergraduate research, volunteer service, and leadership education.
Miranda Tapia is a doctoral student and Provost Fellow at North Carolina State University pursuing his degree in educational leadership, policy, and human development with a concentration in higher education opportunity, equity, and justice. His research interests include college access and success, and students with DACA, undocumented, first-generation, and Latinx identities. Oscar holds a B.A. in Psychology from Elon University and an M.Ed. with a concentration in Higher Education from Harvard University.
Jha obtained her bachelor’s degree in mathematics and biology from Wooster, the first woman and second person to complete that double major. She then graduated from Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management in 2021 with a master’s in accountancy on the data analytics track. Jha is currently an advisory senior consultant at Deloitte & Touche. She is also the founder of ProMytheUs, a human resource technology platform that works to level the playing field by spotlighting individual talents, which she co-founded with Gio Tramonto ’18. Her work at Deloitte focuses on enterprise resource planning implementations for technology, media, and telecommunications clients.
Tramonto graduated from Wooster in 2018 with a degree in mathematics and business economics and currently is an associate in portfolio analytics at IDR Investment Management. There, he is responsible for client servings, data analytics, research, and performance measurement. Prior to joining IDR, he interned at Charles Schwab’s equity ratings department, Merrill Lynch’s high net worth wealth management department, and a Chicago family office focused on private equity real estate. He also tutors underprivileged high school students in mathematics and is working towards a certification as a chartered financial analyst.
Melena is an urban farm manager at Solidarity Urban Farms. She graduated from Wooster in 2016 with a degree in sociology and religious studies. Melena uses regenerative farming principles to manage an urban flower farm, specializing in farmers markets, community events, and dried floral offerings in winter months. Additionally, she is involved in growing the financial sustainability of the organization, managing Americorps Interns, and leveraging community partnerships as a part of a network of urban plots using food and farming as a vehicle for positive social change.
In addition to the panel lecture, which is open to the public, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to meet with the authors on Sept. 25 for a workshop on developing students’ relationship-rich education. The Peter Mortensen Endowed Lecture Fund was established in 2006 with a gift from Peter Mortensen ’56, with gratitude for the contribution of The College of Wooster to the success and happiness of four generations of the Mortensen family. Income from the fund is used to support one or more public lectures or performances related to the First-Year Seminar or for similar purposes directly related to the academic programs.
Posted in News on September 13, 2024.
