Dr. Camille George, finance major Stephanie Rose win service-learning awards

Dr. Camille George, finance major Stephanie Rose win service-learning awards

From the Office of Service-Learning

The Service-Learning Advisory Board and the Office of Service-Learning, on behalf of Office of Academic Affairs, are pleased to announce the recipients of two annual service-learning awards.

Outstanding Faculty in Service-Learning Award
Dr. Camille George, assistant professor of engineering, received the University of St. Thomas’ 2007 Outstanding Faculty in Service-Learning Award. George received the award at the All Faculty Meeting last week. In addition, she will receive a $1,000 cash award.

Since arriving at St. Thomas 2002, George has creatively incorporated international service-learning activities into her upper-level courses. She has traveled to Mali, West Africa, and the island of St. Vincent in the Caribbean with students to work with people in these areas and to create useful manually operated machines that will improve their lives.

Last Spring, George published an article about one of these international service-learning projects in the inaugural issue of the International Journal of Service Learning in Engineering. She has worked diligently to engage her students in meaningful course-related projects that extend far beyond the classroom. She inspires her students and exemplifies what it means to be a morally responsible leader who thinks critically, acts wisely and works to advance the common good. To learn more about George’s international service-learning activities, visit her Web site.

Past recipients of the award include Paul Lorah (Geography, 1999), Carol Bruess (Communication Studies, 2000), Mike Klein (Justice and Peace Studies, 2001), Randy Herman (Social Work, 2002), Tim Scully (Communication Studies, 2003), Bernard Brady (Theology, 2004), Shirley Polejewski (Accounting, 2005), and Kimberly Vrudny (Theology, 2006).

Outstanding Student in Service-Learning Award
Stephanie Rose (senior, finance major) is the recipient of the University of St. Thomas’ 2007 Outstanding Student in Service-Learning Award. Rose will receive a $250 cash award.

Rose was a student in a fall 2006 course co-taught by Dr. Kimberly Vrudny of the Theology Department, and Dr. Craig Eliason of the Art History Department, titled, "Theology and Art." The course included a service-learning component with Open Arms of Minnesota, a nonprofit organization that prepares meals for and delivers meals to people living with HIV/AIDS and other serious illnesses.

Rose’s deep engagement, both in her service-learning project, and the content of the course, was made apparent through the reflective journal entries she wrote as part of her coursework. After her outstanding engagement and work with Open Arms in the fall, Rose was asked to take on the role of Service-Learning Assistant for the Open Arms program.

This spring, Rose has been involved in multiple aspects of the partnership, including working on-site at Open Arms to help with service-learning student coordination, assisting with Open Arms-related special events on campus, and working with Business 200 students to raise money for a food parcel distribution to people living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa.