Ohio University Professor Nominated for
Service-Learning Award
Contact: Assistant Professor of Management Mary Tucker, (740) 593-2044
Editors: A photo of Mary Tucker suitable for newspaper reproduction may be downloaded from
the Web at www.ohiou.edu/news/pix/TUCKER_MARY.JPG
ATHENS, Ohio (June 12, 2000) -- Ohio University Assistant Professor of Management Mary Tucker recently was among 11 finalists for the national Thomas Elrlich Faculty Award for Service Learning.
Considered the nation's most prestigious service-learning honor, the award is named for Thomas Elrlich, president emeritus of Indiana University. It recognizes one faculty member nationwide each year whose teaching, scholarship and leadership exemplify exceptional service-learning practices.
Nominees for the award are selected by Campus Contact, a coalition of 664 college and university presidents who believe higher education should foster students' sense of civic responsibility. Tucker was among 80 nominees for the award, which went to philosophy Professor John Wallace of the University of Minnesota.
"It is a great honor to be chosen to represent the university and to see the university being recognized at a national level," Tucker said. "When I learned that I was being nominated for this award, I went into class and thanked my students for doing such a great job in their service-learning program. They clapped for me and I clapped for them."
Tucker, who joined the university in 1998, created a service-learning course titled "Transforming Leadership With Emotional Intelligence." A prime focus is a reading tutorial program, "Reading Buddies," in which students meet once or more a week with students at West Elementary School in Athens. The program, created by Tucker and Principal Joan Linscott, was a primary reason for Tucker's nomination for the Elrlich Award.
"This program has been great," Linscott said. "It has provided lots of one-on-one tutoring for our students and it keeps expanding with each quarter. It was all initiated by Professor Tucker. She has been a wonderful asset."
In the leadership course, students employ theories they discuss in class -- on topics such as emotional intelligence, conflict and negotiation -- as they mentor their reading buddies. At the end of the quarter, participating Ohio University students are asked to write an exit essay on the value of the exercise.
"I thought the community service learning project was a great experience," student Michael O'Brien wrote in his exit essay. "It had many positive impacts on my life as well as the lives of many others."
