Katelin Gannon received Iowa Campus Compact’s scholar award at the Engaged Campus Awards May 29. Gannon, lecturer of exercise science at Central College, was recognized for leadership and innovation in service learning, with other forms of engaged scholarship. At the same event, 2015 Central graduate Emily Grant was named member of the year for Iowa College AmeriCorps Programs (ICAP).
Katelin Gannon, lecturer of exercise science, received the scholar award from Iowa Campus Compact May 29.
The Engaged Campus Awards honor individuals or groups in Iowa higher education for their work to deepen campus and community engagement. Emily Shields, executive director for Iowa Campus Compact, said Gannon impressed her while serving as an Engaged Scholar Faculty Fellow this year. “She strives to improve her scholarship and is generous in sharing her time and expertise with others,” Shields said.
Gannon, also assistant women’s soccer coach and co-adviser for the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, has included service learning in courses at Central every year since she began teaching in 2010. Gannon holds a master’s degree in exercise physiology and teaches courses in health promotion.
Cheri Doane, director of community-based learning at Central, nominated Gannon for the award. “Professor Gannon has invested energy, skills, expertise and wisdom in endeavors that further scholarship of engagement here at Central College and beyond,” Doane said.
Emily Grant, a 2015 graduate, was recognized May 29 as member of the year for Iowa AmeriCorps Programs.
Grant, who graduated from Central in May, was recognized for her service with the Tai Studies Center. While studying cultural anthropology and East Asian studies, Grant helped the Tai Dam people work toward official recognition from the United Nations.
More than 40 Central College courses include community-based learning components, and students serve around the world through Central’s study abroad programs. Central was recognized in January for proven community engagement, receiving the Community Engagement Classification from Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The college was also named a finalist for the 2014 President’s Award for Community Service, the highest national honor a higher education institution can receive for commitment to community service.