Making the most out of Binghamton: CCPA student wins national award

During his first year pursuing a dual master’s degree in student affairs administration and public administration in the College of Community and Public Affairs at Binghamton University, Nii Tetteh quickly learned how to gain from the experience as much as the effort he sank into it.

Recognizing the value of any opportunity to deepen his knowledge of the field and build connections with other students has helped him earn national recognition.

In December, Tetteh received the Outstanding Master’s Student award from the American College Personnel Association Graduate Students and New Professionals Community of Practice, a national organization for the field of student affairs administration. It’s the second year in a row a student affairs administration master’s student from Binghamton has earned the award.

“What I love about this program is that you’re really allowed to take up space in it,” said Tetteh, a 23-year-old native of Brewster, N.Y. “My motto is to always do something that interests you, so whenever I have the chance to meet new people or get some different experience, I’m going to take it. While I’m here, why not make the most of it?”

Department of Student Affairs Administration (SAA) faculty who nominated Tetteh for the ACPA award described him as an asset to the program. They praised his ability to foster engagement between current and new students by leading a Student Affairs Graduate Association (SAGA) panel during a summer orientation, as well as to connect new students with SAA alums during another panel.

Tetteh was also credited with bringing a valuable student perspective to planning SAA’s fall 2022 orientation, since faculty wanted to improve engagement with incoming students and build better connections between new and second-year students.

In the classroom, Tetteh was described as a standout.

“As a student in my class, Nii was a consistent contributor to class discussions and consistently exemplified creativity and thoughtfulness in his academic work,” said Assistant Professor Melvin Whitehead in a nomination letter. “As my advisee, Nii has been proactive in reaching out to me concerning his progress in the program and his evolving career goals, which illustrates the level of care and intentionality he takes with his work.”

Among Tetteh’s most enjoyable experiences while at Binghamton has been his work in Residential Life.

“I like being someone students can come to depend on and be able to answer their questions,” he said. “I’m a big baker, too, so I like to bring things that I make to share with students to help build those good relationships.”

Tetteh has served as an assistant residential coordinator in Residential Life, and during the summer of 2022, he was hired as a summer conference and operations resident director, which led to a graduate assistant position. In January, he began a new position as a conference and operations coordinator.

“This field I’m exploring is a lot more than just working on a college campus,” Tetteh said. “You’re learning how to support people through student affairs and just like with public administration, the skills you draw from it are extremely valuable.”