Adrian College Professor Receives Prestigious Award posted 2/8/10
Dr. Joanna Schultz is honored for service-learning contributions

ADRIAN, Mich. – Adrian College is pleased to announce Dr. Joanna Schultz, professor of communication, will be honored with a Michigan Campus Compact (MCC) Faculty/Staff Community Service-Learning Award at the 14th Annual Institute: Service-Learning and Civic Engagement, on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010. This prestigious annual award is the highest MCC bestows on faculty and staff in the state of Michigan.

Dr. Schultz was designated by peers as the faculty/staff person on campus who has made the most outstanding contributions in service-learning and community service. This award recognizes her influence on the engagement of students to be involved in community service or service-learning through modeling, influencing or instruction. She was nominated by Dr. Agnes Caldwell, dean of academic affairs at Adrian College.

In her current position, Dr. Schultz has used service learning in her communication courses. She has been a member of the faculty at Adrian College since 1989. She teaches a number of courses in communication with a specialization in public relations.

One of Dr. Schultz’s most important accomplishments is winning an award from the National School Public Relations Association for marketing vocational education. She was then elected as president of the Michigan School Public Relations Association in the early 1990s. 

Dr. Schultz is one of roughly one hundred people in the United States to earn an accreditation in school public relations. This accreditation was recognized by the Public Relations Society of America in 1995. Besides her scholarly accomplishments, Dr. Schultz has also served 20 clients through her Public Relations 2 course over the past 20 years. It is for this work that she is nominated.

Dr. Schultz initially contacted the United Way of Lenawee County and asked them which of their member agencies could use free PR services. Since then, however, agencies have been contacting her directly and asking for our help. 

Projects Dr. Schultz and her students have worked on over the years have included surveys, special events planning, brochures, web site design and evaluation, and communication plan development. Clients included an art gallery, a cafe, Hope Recreation Center, The Adrian Public Library, The Lenawee Intermediate School District, the Lenawee Chamber of Commerce, the Adrian Downtown Development Authority and more.  As a result of her work, Dr. Schultz was a featured speaker during the baccalaureate speaker in 2007 by that year's graduating class.

Dr. Schultz is an active scholar who has recently taken a sabbatical during which she researched the stories that former East Germans vs. former West Germans, tell about the day the Berlin wall came down, and the impact of reunification on their personal lives. She has also just finished a book on my many trips to Berlin. It is a travel diary with a focus on self-discovery through exposing yourself to new cultures and all the challenges that come from being an outsider in a new environment.

She will be formally honored during the 2010 Institute: Service-Learning and Community Service Awards Ceremony and Dinner, held at the Grand Traverse Resort in Acme (Traverse City). Dinner will begin at approximately 5:30 P.M. with the ceremony to follow.

Michigan Campus Compact is a coalition of college and university presidents who are committed to fulfilling the public purpose of higher education. MCC promotes the education and commitment of Michigan college students to be civically engaged citizens, through creating and expanding academic, co-curricular and campus-wide opportunities for community service, service-learning and civic engagement.

To learn more about Dr. Schultz’s outstanding contributions on campus and in the community, please contact her directly at 517-264-3921 or via e-mail at jschultz@adrian.edu

More information about the award and ceremony may be obtained by contacting the Michigan Campus Compact at 517-492-2424 or visit their web site at www.micampuscompact.org.