Campus celebrates Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence winners among faculty and staff

Four well-known members of SUNY Fredonia whose considerable contributions and service benefit students, faculty and staff throughout the campus have earned the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence. This statewide honor formally recognizes superior professional achievement and encourages the continuing pursuit of excellence throughout the SUNY system.

From left, Reed Library Assistant Director Kathleen Sacco, Professor of Psychology Jack Croxton, Director of Athletics Greg Prechtl, and Secretary II Tracy Horth have each been honored with the 2010 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence.

Dr. Jack Croxton, whose more than 30 years at SUNY Fredonia have been devoted to students and staff at many different levels, has received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service.

Since joining SUNY Fredonia in 1979, Croxton, whose field of study is Social Psychology, has held numerous leadership positions, including interim dean of the College of Natural and Social Sciences, chair of the Psychology Department for several terms, director of the Office of Campus Assessment, chair of the Convocation Committee, and co-chair of the Middle States Steering committee in 1998-99. He founded and continues to direct the Office of Student Creativity and Research, and began the Social Science Colloquium and continues to run its speaker series.

In addition to Social Psychology, Psychology and the Law, and Organizational Psychology — courses he has taught during much of his career — Croxton has developed many new courses as well. He has also served as a summer orientation adviser for 20 years.

Croxton, who earned his bachelor’s degree in Business and his master’s and doctorate in Social Psychology at Miami University, Ohio, received the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1991 and Fulbright scholar awards in 2000 and 2007.

Greg Prechtl, who has compiled almost four decades of service at SUNY Fredonia — including the last 12 years as Director of Athletics, along with 22 seasons as head men’s basketball coach — has earned the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service.

Celebrated for the substantial achievements of his players nearly two decades later, Prechtl has worked tirelessly to raise the bar of Blue Devil athletics. Major bricks and mortar projects, such the $6 million natatorium, a state-of-the-art soccer stadium, expanded tennis and basketball courts and renovated baseball and softball fields, have been completed during his tenure.

As athletic director, Prechtl directs a competitive program that encompasses 19 varsity sports and some 350 athletes. He has assembled a talented group of coaches who have been named SUNYAC “Coach of the Year” an impressive nine times in the last five years. SUNY Fredonia has celebrated three national champions in the last three years alone (two in track and field, one in diving), in addition to dozens of All-Americans and other high-profile student-athlete honors.

Prechtl developed a student-athlete handbook, created an academic honor roll, expanded outreach to Blue Devil alumni and developed a widely followed website devoted to athletics. He currently chairs the Fredonia State Athletic Hall of Fame committee and directs the Blue Devil Booster Club.

A SUNY Fredonia alumnus with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English, Prechtl has served on the FSA Board of Directors, University Senate, campus Athletics Master Plan Committee, Student Affairs Committee and Intercollegiate Athletic Board.

He holds the school record for most career victories by a coach, 262, and directed Fredonia to its only SUNYAC championship in basketball. His accolades include: SUNYAC Coach of the Year; Eastern Region Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches; and College Coach of the Year by the New York State Coaches Association. He has chaired or served on numerous SUNYAC committees.

Kathleen Sacco, coordinator of systems and technology and assistant to the director of Reed Library, has been granted the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Librarianship.

Her wide range of duties include: providing marketing, budget and policy assistance to the library director; designing and maintaining the library website; instructing students and staff on the use of library databases; and maintaining the library’s computers, among others. Sacco also served as a course instructor for the Freshman First-year Experience course.

Since joining SUNY Fredonia in 1998, Sacco has served on numerous standing and search committees and held membership and leadership positions in regional and statewide organizations related to libraries, resources and instructional technologies.

Sacco holds a bachelor’s degree in History from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and a master’s in Library Science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania.

Tracy Horth, Secretary II in the Office of the Dean of Natural and Social Sciences, has earned the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Classified Service. Horth oversees the administration of more than 10 departments and works closely with the faculty and staff of each department. She attends to scheduling, travel planning, processing appropriate forms, taking minutes at meetings and supervising work study students, among others.

Horth provides assistance to the Office of Student Creativity and Research and serves on several committees, including the Faculty Research Exposition; Secretarial and Clerical Professional Development Committee, as chair; and the SEFA (State Employees Federated Appeal) campaign. She has been a member of search committees for the deans of the College of Arts and Humanities and the School of Business, as well as the director of the SUNY Fredonia Technology Incubator.

Prior to joining the Office of the Dean of Natural and Social Science in 2003, Horth was a Secretary I in the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs. She formerly worked as a keyboard specialist, Clerk II and Secretary with the Western New York Developmental Disabilities Services Office in West Seneca.

Horth, who earned the Barbara Saletta Meritorious Service Award in 2006, has an associate’s degree in Administrative Assistance from Jamestown Business College.