Announcing the Broad College’s 2024 Distinguished Staff Award winner

At Michigan State University, students, alumni, faculty and staff share a passion for cultivating a strong community and uplifting others. Broad College staff are a shining example of this dedication.

Ian Semivan

Across the college, our staff work tirelessly to aid students in reaching their fullest potential. Their work varies from day to day and might include giving timely and helpful advice, coaching students both academically and professionally or leading new initiatives to enhance the Broad student experience.

Since 2018, the Broad College’s Staff Leadership Committee has given the Distinguished Staff Award to recognize staff members whose work and contributions have made a significant impact on the college community. The recipient must have actively added to the college’s growth, influenced the community and earned recognition from colleagues. This year, Ian Semivan, Marketing Analyst in the Marketing and Communications Office, received this prestigious honor.

Semivan has worked at MSU for just under two years and joined the Broad College in fall 2022. He said, “It is truly an honor to be recognized by my peers. The Broad College is a very special place, and I want to continue to do everything that I can to make sure that continues to ring true for our students, faculty and staff.”

Semivan’s impact was recognized across the Broad community. Nominators praised his selfless attitude when taking on new projects, his willingness to lend a hand wherever it is needed and his creative problem-solving skills.

A nominator said, “With the departure of the marketing director, Ian has gone above and beyond the call of duty to make sure all things related to marketing and communication at the college stayed afloat. This is not an easy task as there are multiple moving parts with the website, Google Analytics and all the department needs at both the undergraduate and graduate level. He has helped multiple master’s and MBA programs with their lead integration into Slate with drip campaigns and custom RFIs. He also launched geotargeted ads, something that was a first for the college. He is a total rockstar, and the Broad College is beyond lucky to have his insight.”

Another wrote, “Ian has done amazing work collaborating across Broad units and across campus to elevate the Broad College and our programs. He’s collaborative, smart and effective. He’s gone above and beyond to support program directors in virtually all of the academic departments to build and execute marketing and email campaigns. He’s also worked collaboratively with reps from the Colleges of Ed, CommArts and online.msu.edu to launch a cross-unit pilot. He’s done all of this while also stepping up to troubleshoot any issues with the college website, significantly improving our SEO and maintaining his core responsibilities.”

Semivan becomes the sixth staff member to receive the award, joining these past winners:

• 2022–2023: Allyson Griffith, office assistant
• 2021–2022: Rachel Duncan, college operations manager
• 2020–2021: Jessica Richards, director of the M.S. in Marketing Research program
• 2019–2020: Jeremy Van Hof, director of Learning Technology and Development
• 2018–2019: Jeff Seguin, director of Marketing and Communications