Weber State University assistant communication professor Colleen Garside has been named the 2009 recipient of the John A. Lindquist Award.
Since 2003, approximately 650 students have enrolled in Garside's interpersonal and small group communication courses. One of the assignments in the course asks students to provide service to local agencies, such as the YMCA and Youth Impact. In the past five years, Garside's students have provided more than 5,500 service hours to community organizations and schools.
According to Garside, there are practical reasons for incorporating community-based learning into her courses. "First, I want my students to have real-world experience where they can put into practice the concepts they are learning in class," she said. "Second, I want to instill a sense of civic responsibility within my students so that upon graduation, they will recognize their responsibility to give back to their communities."
Garside has taught communication courses at Weber State since 1986 and has been an active supporter of community service through her involvement with Communicating Common Ground, a national service learning initiative, and Utah Campus Compact. She also researches the benefits of community-based learning and recently had an article published in the International Journal of the Humanities focusing on student perceptions of affective, behavioral and cognitive learning through civic engagement.
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