Gary Bice, Residence Life Director, receives award from national group

Gary Bice

The Northeastern Association of College and University Housing Officers (NEACUHO) honored Gary Bice, director of Residence Life at SUNY Fredonia with the Lifetime Service Award.

Since 1992, this award has been given to a NEACUHO member who has built a career in a college/university setting and has made a positive contribution to students, colleagues, and the NEACUHO organization.

Bice accepted the award at the closing banquet of NEACUHO’s annual conference.

“I would like to extend sincere congratulations to Gary Bice Jr. on his award for Lifetime Service to NEACUHO,” said Matthew Foster, complex coordinator of Residential Service at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. “His dedication, contributions, and experience are an invaluable resource to not only the NEACUHO Executive Board or his fellow past presidents, but to all new and mid-level professionals. He truly cares about the future of the housing field and all of the incoming, current, and past professionals that he has had the honor of working with.”

Bice was overwhelmed and shocked at the award.

“Sharing my experiences with young professionals and mentoring them on their career journey energizes me, challenges me, and compels me to stay current with developing trends, issues, and ideas,” Bice said. “Receiving this recognition permits me to acknowledge for myself, if only for a minute, that the energy expended has been worth every moment. It will also stand as a reminder of all that has come before and all that stands ahead.”

Bice has been working professionally in residence life and housing for 25 years, 17 of which he has been a Director at three institutions. He has been at SUNY Fredonia for six years.

Bice attended his first NEACUHO conference in 1996. Since then he has served as the Chair of Risk Management and Legal Issues Committee, Eastern NY District Coordinator, President-elect, President, Past President (twice), Chair of the Constitution Review Task Force, and most recently as Chair of the Strategic Plan Task Force.

His contributions include presiding over the writing and ratification of the NEACUHO Constitution & Bylaws during his presidency, as well as helping the strategic plan move NEACUHO to the next level in its evolution as an association.

“Gary is an incredible professional and a huge asset to the Northeast ACUHO organization,” said Kathi Bradford, director of Westfield State University’s Alumni Relations and nominator of Bice. “His calm demeanor, diplomatic nature and strong leadership style have led us through constitutional revisions and most recently, the strategic priorities review of our organization. I cannot think of a worthier recipient.”

About the Northeastern Association of College and University Housing Officers:

NEACUHO is an organization of housing, residential life, and student services professionals and paraprofessionals within the Northeast region dedicated to providing opportunities for colleague support, professional development, sharing of information, collaboration, communication research, and recognition of outstanding contributions to the field.