Sheridan professor steps up to support students in need

By Alex Demedeiros

As a longtime professor at Sheridan in the Pilon School of Business, Alison Feierabend has been supporting students by giving to Academic Awards for 13 years. She created an award for those in Managerial Accounting courses, partly because of her own interest in the subject.

“I just thought you need to acknowledge those students who may be more interested in managerial accounting than financial accounting, and everyone has financial challenges, so I thought it’d be nice to support them,” she says.

Feierabend has also supported awards set up by other donors, such as the Davis Campus International Student Award or the Accounting Faculty Award. Recently, she also began donating to the Sheridan Student Union Food First program, which helps students in need cover the costs of groceries.

“I really enjoy my job. A way to show that is by helping students out with the awards.”

Helping those in need is a big part of why Feierabend continues to give towards students, especially given the challenges presented during the Covid-19 pandemic in recent years, which limited students’ ability to work. “I felt that it was even more important to support the awards during this time,” she says.

While providing financial support is a key aim for her awards, it’s not the only goal. Feierabend also wants the awards to serve as acknowledgement for the students who have worked hard, and to encourage them in pursuing accounting as a career, whether it’s managerial accounting or otherwise. Whether the students use the award money for tuition or paying rent, it’s important to her that they receive something tangible that can help them out while also recognizing their efforts.

Plus, Feierabend says that one of the nicest things about supporting these awards is when the recipients reach out to her to say thank you. She recalls running into an award recipient who thanked her personally at an awards ceremony, an experience she calls “really satisfying.”

Overall, Feierabend is a proud supporter of Sheridan and its students and sees her awards as a way to give back for all the positive experiences she’s had while teaching.