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CSM President Dr. Maureen Murphy will Provide Keynote Address for 63rd Spring Commencement May 13, 2022
CSM President Dr. Maureen Murphy will Provide Keynote Address for 63rd Spring Commencement May 13, 2022
The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) will recognize 432 candidates for 438 degrees and 136 certificates during its 63rd Spring Commencement May 13 at the college’s La Plata Campus. CSM President Dr. Maureen Murphy will provide the keynote address.
Murphy was appointed the fifth president of the College of Southern Maryland on July 1, 2017, and she recently announced her intent to enter retirement Dec. 31, 2022. During her five years with CSM, Murphy proved herself as a dynamic problem-solver and forward-thinker with a deep commitment to students, equity in education, and to executing the mission of community colleges.
Murphy’s career in public higher education spans more than 35 years, including 15 years as a community college president. Since her arrival, CSM has twice been recognized as among the top 150 community colleges in the country by the Aspen Institute in its Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence Program. More recently, CSM joined the Achieving the Dream Network supporting the college’s commitment to equity in educational opportunities and outcomes. CSM also received top ratings in 2020 for providing students with affordable and accessible programming while maintaining good teacher-student ratio, transfer rates and outcomes – landing CSM in the number 15 position of “best community colleges” out of 698 community colleges across the nation.
Under Murphy’s leadership, CSM’s successes have been many. CSM launched the Velocity Center, a collaboration between CSM, U.S. Navy and local governments to increasing STEM attainment in the region. She oversaw the development and current construction of CSM’s Center for Health Sciences and was instrumental in establishing the Senator Thomas V. ‘Mike’ Miller Jr. Center for Leadership at the Prince Frederick Campus.
Murphy was recognized in 2021 by Diverse Issues in Higher Education as one of 25 influential women in higher education. Her national presence as community college advocate has been demonstrated on the Board of Directors for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) where she served as a commissioner on the AACC Commission for Institutional Infrastructure and Transformation (chaired), the Commission on College Readiness (chaired), and the Commission on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (three terms). She has served on the board of the American Association for Women in Community College’s (AAWCC) and is a past president of AAWCC.
She is involved with the Board for the Higher Education Research and Development Institute (current chair), and was appointed to the Presidents’ Advisory Council for the National Junior College Athletic Association. Her career has garnered her numerous honors including the Shirley B. Gordon Award of Distinction by Phi Theta Kappa, the Distinguished Corporate Leadership Award by the Greater Red Bank NAACP and the Carolyn DesJardins CEO of the Year Award by AAWCC, and The Innovator of the Year Award, League for Innovation in the Community College for General Education.
Locally, Murphy serves on the Southern Maryland Workforce Development Board, Charles County Economic Development Advisory board and she currently sits on the Board of Advisors for the University System of Maryland at Southern Maryland.
Calendar: 2022 Spring Commencement. May 13. 10 a.m. La Plata Campus. CSM resumes in person commencement ceremonies this spring. This ticketed event will celebrate our newest candidates for graduation during CSM’s 63rd Spring Commencement on the Administration (AD) Building Lawn. https://www.csmd.edu/calendar/2022/05/spring-commencement.html.