- Newcomb Student Programs Staff
- Posted September 9, 2008
Department: Staff
Director
Cordelia Heaney is the Director of Newcomb Student Programs. She co-advises two Newcomb student groups, including Intensive Newcomb and Mortar Board, and advises both Women in Science and Alpha Lambda Delta honor society. In addition, she oversees several endowed accounts for student programming including the Wirtz-Costello program addressing risky behavior, Werlein Carter fund for Public policy and the Dapsit lecture on Women in Science. Cordelia assists with the Director's Student Advisory Council for NCI, manages the NSP budget, advises the student internship for NSP each semester, and coordinates women students involvement with the PLEN program.
Her favorite part of the job is assisting the student groups she works with in planning their events. “It's great to see the whole process first-hand, hear the great idea a student has that is the seed of a successful event and see them learn the process of seeing the event to fruition,” she says. “Even though people might think coming up with a different events for women students must connect in some way to women and women's issues is confining, I actually find that using women's issues as the jumping-off point for my events leads to an infinite amount of interesting topics to be explored,” she says.
Newcomb is important to Cordelia because she is a strong believer in the importance of women-focused education. “I believe that Newcomb is more than just an education, but is also an identity and the idea of Newcomb is embodied in the intelligent, independent, community-minded female students here at Tulane,” she says.
Her favorite movie is Lost in Translation and she enjoys a variety of music, especially hip-hop. She mentions D'Angelo, the Roots, Scream Club, Gwen Stefani, Amy Winehouse, and Björk as some of her favorite. She also enjoys the art of Chuck Close and Man Ray. In her free time, she enjoys exploring New Orleans, hearing music, and writing poetry.
Rachel Spencer Assistant Director
Rachel L. Spencer is the Assistant Director for Newcomb Student Programs. She advises Newcomb Senate, the African American Women’s Society (AAWS), Newcomb Assets and the Tulane International Women's Society (a new NSP group); as well as advising the Alpha Epsilon Phi Chapter at Tulane. In addition, she organizes the Fridays at Newcomb series, maintains the calendar and website for NSP, coordinates the Newcomb and the City: NOLA Pre-Orientation program track and Newcomb Big/Little Sister program. Additionally, Rachel has created the Newcomb Leaders program designed to cultivate leaders within the Newcomb student groups and beyond. She will be planning the Newcomb Leadership Conference agenda with help from four students: Tina Hua, Reese Zarreii, Caroline Allen, and Pearl Kuo.
Rachel believes in "the college experience" and the student development process. She describes the most rewarding aspect of her job to be "watching students grow to become the people that they most believe in and seeing how much of an impact university faculty and staff can have." Rachel considers herself a lifetime student and feels that she learns more about herself each day. "Working with students and teaching them about their leadership potential translates into personal learning and growth. I leave each day with a greater sense of self and understanding of the person that I strive to be."
Rachel’s favorite movies include The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, When Harry Met Sally, Flatliners, and the Indiana Jones Trilogy. She enjoys a wide variety of music, especially live music in any venue. While she appreciates many forms of art, her father is still her favorite paint and sketch artist. Rachel is still getting to know the city and enjoys taking long walks through the neighborhoods both the Garden District and in the Quarter. She also enjoys white water rafting, reading, biking, and volunteering with her sorority (Phi Mu Fraternity) when she can tear herself away from work.
Rachel earned her BA in Psychology & Exercise Science from Western Maryland College in 2000 and her MS in Exercise Science (Higher Education Administration) from McDaniel College in 2003; and she is currently pursuing a PhD in Educational Administration (Higher Education) from the University of New Orleans. She has worked in Intramural Sports & Recreation, Greek Life and Housing & Residence Life. Rachel is a native of Maryland.
