Special Project office worker named Student Employee of the Year

Dame Rose Catalan, a senior political science major from Cheshire, Conn., has been named Bates’ Student Employee of the Year by the Northeast Association of Student Employment Administrators.

Catalan, who has worked as a registration assistant and resident coordinator for the Bates College Office of Special Projects and Summer Programs, has been responsible for data entry of summer program registrations, financial recordkeeping, office management and supervising summer residents in Bates residence halls.

“We relied on Dame as we would a professional colleague,” said David DeBlois, assistant director of special projects and summer programs and Catalan’s work-study supervisor. “There’s an old saying that goes, ‘If you want something done right, do it yourself.’ But for the past two summers, if we wanted something done right, we simply had to ask Dame. We did, and she always came through.”

Catalan has been a member of Sangai Asia and the International Club at Bates, and she has been a resident coordinator in Roger Williams residence hall. A 1994 graduate of Cheshire High School, she is the daughter of Daisy and Melgar Catalan of Cheshire, Conn.

Located midway between the coast and mountains in south-central Maine, Bates is a 143-year old undergraduate college of the liberal arts and sciences and is rated among the top 20 national liberal arts colleges by U.S. News & World Report. Bates offers majors in 23 academic departments and six interdisciplinary programs and encourages independent study, research with faculty members and participation in off-campus programs. Bates does not require standardized-test results for admission.