Ferris State University’s Academic Service Learning Program honored a student, faculty
member and a non-profit organization at its annual awards ceremony, hosted on April
16 in Big Rapids.
Honored by the ASL were: Mel Trotter Ministries, of Grand Rapids, with the Community Partner Excellence Award; Dr. Andrea Shank, recipient of the Student Excellence Award and Hira Herrington, who received the Faculty Excellence Award.
Academic Service Learning is a method of teaching that allows students to connect, and thus learn more deeply, the concepts, skills and other course content with needs and goals of community organizations and agencies. Students, through this deeper connection, learn from and provide meaningful service to the agency or community.
Listed below are the award winners, criteria for their awards and a synopsis of their work:
Shank, from Tekonsha, Michigan, received the Student Excellence Award for her leadership in the Students in Need of Eyecare Program at the Michigan College of Optometry. Her nominator, Dr. Sarah Hinkley, described her contributions as “unselfish” and “above and beyond.”
Mel Trotter Ministries, of Grand Rapids, was named winner of the Community Partner Excellence Award. Its many years of partnership with the Dental Hygiene program provides students with impactful service learning opportunities. Nancy Bonin represented Mel Trotter in receiving the award.
Herrington, a Computer Information Systems assistant professor in the College of Business, received the Faculty Excellence Award. Herrington was honored for his continued work with the creation and updating of a human trafficking website in collaboration with other programs on campus and community partners.
The mission of ASL is to promote and support faculty and student engagement in academic service learning to achieve course learning outcomes, respond to the needs of the community partners and foster a lifelong commitment to service. We envision a university where students practice the knowledge and skills gained in the classroom in ways that are responsive to community needs and cultivate a life-long commitment to service.
Click Academic Service Learning to learn more.
PHOTO CAPTION: Recipients of the Academic Service Learning Awards are shown, above,
with co-coordinator Sarah Hinkley, right. Beginning from the left are: Andrea Shank,
recipient of the Student Excellence Award; Nancy Bonin, accepting the Community Service
Award on behalf of Mel Trotter Ministries; and Dr. Hira Herrington, recipient of the
Faculty Excellence Award.