A Huntley resident and instructor and department chair of International Studies at McHenry County College was selected as a nominee for the Illinois Community College Trustees Association (ICCTA) 2013 Outstanding Full-Time Faculty Member award.
Lindsay Carson of Huntley was honored for her exceptional accomplishments, along with other instructors throughout the state, at the ICCTA annual awards banquet in Chicago on June 7.
Carson has been teaching Spanish language classes at MCC for five years. She was appointed Chair of International Studies in 2009 and has since expanded the program.
She also established MCC’s first International Studies Scholarship fund for $3,000 per year to help students finance their study abroad experiences. As a result of her initiative, the study abroad program grew from three MCC students in 2010 to 11 students in both 2011 and 2012.
This summer, five students will study abroad in Costa Rica.
“You can’t know a language without learning its culture, and you can’t know a culture without learning its language,” said Carson, quoting her graduate school mentor, Dr. Michael Morris.
“I want my students, regardless of their ability to speak the language, to come away from my classes with cultural awareness and respect for other people,” she said. “When I show them that I care about their success—not just with a letter grade, but also with their ability to communicate in Spanish—then they in turn begin to care. That’s really rewarding to me.”
In addition to teaching classes and overseeing the Modern Languages Department, Carson served on many college committees, including the Steering committee of the Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) from 2009-12, which is MCC’s method of accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission.
She also served on multiple search committees and represents faculty on the Diversity Committee. She has been secretary of the MCC Faculty Association since 2011.
As Department chair of Modern Languages, Carson has made transformations to the assessment plan, the curriculum, and to class scheduling to best meet the needs of language students.
She also oversees the department’s dual-credit program, a program for high school students to earn both high school and college credit upon successful completion of the Intermediate Spanish courses.
“Lindsay has done an exemplary job of expanding our students’ view of the world through her teaching of Spanish and through her commitment to our Study Abroad program,” said Tony Miksa, vice president of Academic and Student Affairs. “Her dedication to student learning and to the College as a whole makes her deserving of MCC’s Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year award.”
Outside of the classroom, Carson is an active member of the Illinois Consortium for International Studies and Programs (ICISP). For the summers of 2010 and 2012, Carson served as a visiting professor at the College of DuPage to serve as assistant director of the Costa Rica Study Abroad program.
She travelled to Costa Rica with more than 30 students from various Illinois community colleges. Because of Carson’s enthusiasm for and dedication to study abroad programming, ICISP has selected her to serve as coordinator of their Seville, Spain program.
Serving as coordinator for an ICISP program is a significant achievement, as currently only seven community colleges in the state of Illinois have the privilege of coordinating an ICISP program.
As program coordinator, she will assist in statewide recruitment efforts for student participant and faculty advisors, review student and faculty applications, and serve as liaison for the students while they participate in the program.
“It is obvious that Lindsay Carson's top priority in her role as an educator is the success of her students,” said MCC student Barb Stephenitch of Crystal Lake. “She goes out of her way to provide [us] with the opportunity to learn. And not only does she do an excellent job of teaching the content of her course, she also reinforces the importance of respect, accountability, and hard work. She teaches these qualities by word and by example, and this makes her an excellent role model. She is a teacher in every sense of the word.”
In 2011 and 2012, Carson received nominations for the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) Award. Carson earned a master’s degree from Northern Illinois University and a bachelor’s degree from DePaul University.
Source: McHenry County College press release
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