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NMCC Grants Awarded Faculty Members' Work Outside Classroom Cited

Posted on: Monday, 13 March 2006, 15:00 CST

By RACHEL RICE; OF THE NEWS STAFF

PRESQUE ISLE - Two local educators recently were rewarded for their efforts outside the classroom through a new faculty incentive grant program implemented by the Northern Maine Community College Foundation.

Foundation officials recently developed the NMCC Foundation Incentive Grant for Faculty Scholarship program to encourage faculty members "to go above and beyond what is expected of them academically," Ray Gauvin, NMCC Foundation chairman, said on Saturday.

Officials named David Raymond, humanities instructor, and Chuck Kelley, instructor in the electrical construction and maintenance program, as the first two recipients of $1,000 grants under the new program. Gauvin said the two officially will receive the awards this week.

Foundation officials announced that they will set aside $4,000 annually for faculty scholarship as a way to "give back" to the college community and individuals who dedicate their lives to teaching NMCC students.

The grants can be used for a variety of purposes, including to do academic research, write papers or create interdepartmental or interdisciplinary collaborative projects.

"This will help faculty deliver an excellent, premier education to students and create a ripple effect that will have an impact on Aroostook County as a whole," Gauvin said.

The foundation, which was established about 20 years ago, has raised more than $500,000 in the past 10 years for endowments and student scholarships. Gauvin said officials felt it was time to reward faculty as well.

"This is a significant investment," he said. "We've never made such an investment before in our faculty as a foundation.

"This is a way to show faculty our appreciation for their dedication to their students and not only that but of providing excellence in their work. ... In education, teachers are just not applauded or patted on the back for the job they do with their students," he said. "I'm not sure why that is, but I think it's important for educators to be thanked for the job that they do."

Raymond is using his grant to fund research and preparation of a paper and presentation on a defining moment in the history of the Congregational and Baptist churches.

The paper explores the role of Adoniram Judson, who left the Congregational church and joined forces with rival Baptists in the early 19th century during the birth of the American Foreign Mission movement.

Kelley is using his grant to fund research on a broad view of energy sources used in everyday life, energy efficiency and cost effective conservation practices. He also is exploring the facts and myths of alternative energy sources.

Source: Bangor Daily News

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