Kellogg Community College Social Science professor Glenda Morling is the 2014 recipient of the Michigan Campus Compact (MiCC) Lifetime Achievement Award.
The honor – presented to Morling during a special Awards Ceremony held at Grand Valley State University on Monday, Feb. 3 – is awarded in recognition of a faculty member’s “significant contributions to the institutionalization of community engagement and for advancing a vision of service on the campus by supporting faculty, students, and/or campus-community partnerships,” according to MiCC.
The prestigious recognition is given to just one outstanding faculty member in the state every other year.
KCC President Dr. Dennis Bona said the honor comes as no surprise to those at the College who have witnessed firsthand Morling’s work to bring service learning to its current level at KCC.
“It’s always been clear to us that Glenda’s passion for this work is infectious and there was no doubt that her resolve to make service learning a part of who we are at KCC would inevitably become a reality,” Bona said. “The College, our students and the community have all benefitted from Glenda’s work and she is well deserving of this award.”
Dr. Kevin Rabineau, dean of Arts, Sciences and Regional Education at KCC, said Morling’s role as a leader and champion of service learning at the College has enhanced not only the environment at KCC but the environment in the community outside the College, as well.
“Her love of teaching and learning and her desire to get our entire campus engaged in service and reflection has made the college and our local community better places to live,” Rabineau said.
Morling has been an instructor at KCC since 2003 and has been a tenured professor at the College since 2009. A service learning initiative she started at KCC in 2006 has expanded into a program that offers dozens of classes through which KCC students can earn a service learning endorsement on their diplomas; as of fall 2012, the endorsement is required for every student pursuing an associate degree outside of the applied sciences.
Morling stated that she was honored to learn of the award and that she was proud of KCC’s commitment to service learning.
“I believe that the success of service learning is due to the dedication of staff, faculty and local organizations, as well as the hours of hard work students have devoted to serving local not for profits, sharing their knowledge, skills and passions for the betterment of our society,” Morling said.
Pictured in the above courtesy photo, from left to right, are KCC President Dr. Dennis Bona; Abby Lumbard, Service Learning and Youth Program manager for HandsOn Battle Creek, now a program of the United Way of Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region; KCC Social Science professor Glenda Morling; KCC Service Learning Manager Kate DeGraaf; and Dr. Kevin Rabineau, dean of Arts, Sciences and Regional Education at KCC.
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