DAWN Leadership Award Recipient

Dr. Sallie Reissman

Dr. Reissman started the distance learning program at Wilmington University in 2007. Since then, Wilmington University has been ranked in the top 10 of the Best Online Colleges, with over 120 online programs that currently educate thousands of students from around the globe. She continues her vision for anytime, anywhere higher education opportunities by building the next generation of courses complete with high tech tools, open educational resources and virtual internships. Dr. Reissman has had a lifelong passion for education, starting her career working with teenagers in juvenile detention while researching Delaware’s juvenile recidivism rate at the Department of Crime and Justice. She then became an elementary school educator, teaching in the Red Clay and Brandywine school districts. During her tenure as a third grade teacher, she earned National Board Certification and received the First Class Teacher of the Year award for the state of Delaware. Dr. Reissman earned an associate’s degree in Human Service from Delaware Technical and Community College, a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a master’s degree in Educational Technology from Wilmington University, and a Doctor of Higher Education Leadership degree from the University of Delaware. Dr. Reissman is a passionate advocate for women’s rights and political progress in the state of Delaware. She is the chairperson for an Indivisible group in New Castle County and has organized numerous trainings and rallies for her local community — collaborating with leaders from the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, League of Women Voters, Sierra Club, Moms Demand Action and the Racial Justice Coalition. Dr. Reissman continues to educate – teaching an online course on international cuisine and culture. She has been married to her supportive husband Luke for 32 years and is the proud mom of two independent daughters, Hailey and Sabrina. Fun fact – she is the owner of the oldest Geocache in Delaware.

DAWN Rising Star Award Recipients

Amanda Birch

Amanda Birch joined Goldey-Beacom College in May 2014 as an Enrollment Management Assistant in the Financial Aid/Advisement Office. In this role, she worked daily to serve the College community by completing registrar office functions and assisting students with their general inquires. In October 2015, she was promoted to an Advisor where she presently works with a high volume of both domestic and international students. She works closely with her student population to assist them with course registration and financial aid and enjoys meeting with her students one-on-one to offer guidance to their educational goals. She sits on the College’s Graduation Committee as well as the Honor’s Day Scholarship Committee. She serves as a Student Exchange and Visitor Program Designated School Official (DSO) for Goldey-Beacom and as a School Certifying Official (SCO) for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Amanda attended the University of Delaware where she graduated in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History, and a concentration in American history. Following graduation, she went on to work at Longwood Gardens, one of the most visited botanical gardens in the United States. Working at Longwood, Amanda was afforded the opportunity to interact with thousands of patrons from diverse backgrounds. Her enthusiasm and adept ability for learning from and meeting new individuals daily, developed into her current career in higher education.

Amanda presently resides in Pike Creek, DE with her husband Greg and their maltese poodle mix Beary White. She enjoys travelling, reading, cooking, and most importantly spending time with her dear family. She is a deep thinker who will dive into meaningful and engaging conversation with any kind of person. As a communicator, Amanda is an exceptional listener. In a noisy world, she makes others’ concerns her top priority and will let students and coworkers alike feel heard.

Jaimee Campbell

Jaimee Campbell is a friendly and driven HR professional who constantly strives to streamline daily Human Resources processes to assist the WilmU community in any way possible. Jaimee has a natural willingness and passion for helping people, which has helped to push her forward both personally and professionally.

In 2014, during her pursuit of her bachelor’s degree that Jaimee applied and was selected for a college work-study position in the Human Resources department at Wilmington University. During her time as a college work-study, she developed her passion for Human Resources and she finally felt like she had found her purpose. Jaimee received her Bachelor of Science in Human Resources Management from Wilmington University 2017.

After studying HR first hand through her coursework and the work-study program, Jaimee put her name in the hat for an available full-time Human Resources Assistant position. Her undeniable drive and work ethic coupled with her strong interpersonal skills made her a perfect fit for the position. She spent 2 years in this role soaking up all of the basics of Human Resources, handling department communications, events, and many other responsibilities. In 2017, Jaimee was promoted to Human Resources Coordinator where she now focuses her time on payroll and reporting. She is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Management, with a concentration in Human Resources at Wilmington University.

Her interests outside of work include, spending time with family, actively serving as a member of many organizations, and volunteering in areas that lead to positive change in the community. Throughout her professional journey, Jaimee has become an active member of professional organizations to include the Delaware Society for Human Resources Management and the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. Personally, Jaimee enjoys volunteering her time within the community, including work with Habitat for Humanity and more recently, she was selected by Wilmington University to be a representative for the Pete DuPont Freedom Foundations for young professionals.

Amber Gordon

Amber C. Gordon is the Coordinator of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Delaware State University, where she oversees faculty development for university faculty, adjuncts and teaching assistants.

Amber has unquestionably walked through every open door throughout her 13 years at Delaware State University. Her success as a Peer Assistant for 3 years in the Office of Student Accounts led her to the position of a Student Accounts Analyst II. For over 9 years, she was devoted to the students, parents, and staff of Delaware State University.

In 2015, Amber transitioned to the Center for Teaching and Learning as an Administrative Secretary and was promoted to Coordinator in 2018.  Not only is Amber committed to the faculty of the university, she also has a bleeding heart for the students. So much, that she serves as the Campus Advisor of two student organizations, The Fairy God Sisters of Delaware (7 years) and The God Brothers of Delaware (6 years), both of which are community service based organizations dedicated to making an impact within the lives of the young women and men of their communities.

Amber is a two-time alumnus of Delaware State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Community Health and a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from DSU. She is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. and currently resides in Magnolia, Delaware with her 15-year-old son, Amari.

She is a TRUE representation of a DSU Hornet!

Amber King

Amber King is an Academic Counselor and the Student Affairs Instructional Coordinator at Delaware Technical Community College – Owens Campus. She has been at Delaware Tech since January 2015. Amber enjoys advising students and helping them navigate the transition to college. She is passionate about students finding their passion and exploring ways Delaware Tech can help them find a career related to their passion. Prior to Delaware Tech, Amber was a High School Counselor in Arlington, VA and then in Delaware. As a High School Counselor, Amber helped students create a four year plan which included applying to college. Amber has a Master’s in School Counseling from the George Washington University and a Bachelor’s of Science from Ursinus College.

Amber currently serves as the Delaware Liaison for NACADA, the Global Community for Academic Advising. In this role, Amber gets to work with Advisors and Academic Counselors from around the region to learn new advising strategies and best practices. Amber was recently accepted into NACADA’s Emerging Leaders Program. Each year, NACADA selects ten leaders internationally to be paired with a mentor for a two-year program in which the leaders will learn more about the association and how to become more involved and grow within NACADA.

One of Amber’s biggest passions is her family. She has been married to her husband, Justin, for five years. Amber and Justin, share three-year-old identical twin girls, Alexis and Victoria, and a one-year-old little girl named Sawyer. Amber hopes that she can be a strong role model for her daughters and teach them to value education.

Latoya Watson

Latoya Watson has over 15 years of experience in higher education and education policy. Over the course of her career, Latoya has served as a Coordinator of Multicultural Recruitment, an Academic Advisor, and most recently Assistant Dean– focused on equitable student outcomes. She has presented at national and regional conferences on topics related to academic advising and equity in higher education. In her current role, she oversees advising for over 800 students in the Associate in Arts Program. During her tenure, she has successfully implemented an early warning system, increased the quantity and quality of advising interventions, and improved student progress toward graduation. She serves on numerous strategic leadership committees. In 2018, she launched a Staff Mentoring Committee for the African Heritage Committee. Latoya received her B.S.B.A. in Marketing and Management, and Master of Public Administration degree with a concentration in Education Policy from the University of Delaware. Her research as a Master’s student was used to garner Race to the Top
funding for the state of Delaware. She recently earned her Doctorate in Educational Leadership at the University of Delaware. Her ELP is entitled, “Equity Mindedness in Academic Advising”.