National Park College (NPC) presented the 2020 Outstanding Staff Member award to intervention
specialist and counselor Susan Millerd during the June regular board meeting. Millerd
has a Bachelor of Science in Social Work from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville
and a Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock
(UALR). She is a licensed clinical social worker and certified alcohol and drug counselor.
Millerd started her career at NPC eight years ago after a conversation with then
College president Dr. Sally Carder. “Eight years ago there wasn’t as much social awareness
or someone at the College as focused on mental health,” Millerd explained. “Dr. Carder
was looking for a way to retain students by providing mental health services.” At
the time, some two-year colleges were contracting mental health agencies for these
services, but Dr. Carder was concerned for students who may not have insurance.
“Susan is a compassionate and conscientious person,” said Vice President for Academic
Affairs Wade Derden. “She is respected across the campus because she truly cares for
the well-being of every individual at NPC in her role as an intervention specialist
and counselor. Additionally, she is a respected Social Work instructor, and it is
because of her efforts that we have a Social Work program on our campus with a close
tie to the UA-Little Rock program. That transfer relationship has become one of our
strongest.”
In addition to her numerous roles, Millerd is also the Title IX coordinator for the
College. “That’s become a big piece of my job,” she said. “Professionally, that is
in my gut and in my heart so Title IX fits well with who I am and with my other hats
that I wear.”
Millerd participates in the campus Cultural Diversity Awareness Club, the crisis
team, the behavioral intervention team, and the risk management committee. She is
the advisor for both the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) On Campus student
organization and the Anime Club, which Millerd began not long after joining NPC. “I
looked at these students that were searching for places to belong, and I found that
a lot of my students shared this common interest,” she said. “It was a fun way to
bring those students together.”
Off-campus, Millerd is on the board of Suicide Prevention Allies and is the domestic
violence task force co-chair for 2020.
“I’m honored – absolutely tickled,” Millerd said of winning the award. “It feels
good to be noticed. I think I spend most of my time at work. I have always worked
and to be recognized by my friends and my peers at the College is really validating
for me and for all of the things that I’m passionate about.”
“I’m excited to grow with the College,” she said. “I work with lots of fun people
and I like hanging out with my NPC friends and my students.”
