Center faculty and staff receive honors

CATEGORIES: May 2016, Voices
Amber Manning-Ouellette

Amber Manning-Ouellette

Amber Manning-Ouellette and Cameron Beatty, both lecturers in leadership studies, and Dianne Bystrom, director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, were recently honored for their scholarship, leadership and efforts on behalf of the students of Iowa State University.

Manning-Ouellette was one of five faculty members from throughout Iowa selected for the 2016-2017 cohort of the Iowa Campus Compact’s Engaged Scholar Faculty Fellows Program. Beatty was honored with the 2016 Faculty/Staff Change Agent Award by Iowa State’s Office of Multicultural Student Affairs. And, Bystrom was selected as the first recipient of the Iowa Network for Women in Higher Education’s Distinguished Higher Education Leadership Award.

Faculty selected for the Engaged Scholar Faculty Fellows Program participate in ongoing training and professional development in scholarship and teaching over the course of the year and receive a stipend of $1,000 to implement a service-learning or other engagement project on their campus.

“Dr. Manning-Ouellette’s experience with engaged scholarship makes her a perfect fit for this cohort of faculty fellows,” said Emily Shields, executive director of the Iowa Campus Compact. “Her project provides a unique perspective on the intersection of scholarship, leadership and service. We look forward to supporting her work and learning from her expertise.”

The Iowa Campus Compact is a statewide association of college and university presidents providing leadership for the civic mission of higher education. This is the fourth year of the Engaged Scholar Faculty Fellows Program.

Manning-Ouellette also was accepted into the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Scholars Program offered through the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching at Iowa State University. SoTL involves inquiry into teaching, engagement, feedback and reflection on teaching and learning as well as the sharing of results so others can review, critique and build on the work.

“I am honored to be selected to participate in two programs focused on the scholarship of teaching and student learning,” Manning-Ouellette said. “These opportunities contribute funding to help strengthen service learning projects for students in the Leadership Studies Program and provide research support to examine how we can improve our courses and how the application of leadership frameworks enhances our students’ experiences.”

The SoTL program leads Iowa State faculty members through a year-long program focused on developing projects with the goal of a peer-reviewed presentation or publication. Manning-Ouellette will use the SoTL award of $1,850 for LD ST 270, “Campus Leadership Development,” in the 2016-2017 academic year.

Cameron Beatty
Cameron Beatty

Beatty was awarded the 2016 Faculty/Staff Change Agent Award by Iowa State’s Office of Multicultural Student Affairs at their graduation celebration and recognition ceremony on May 1 at the Memorial Union. The award is presented to one member of the Iowa State faculty or staff whose professional endeavors to foster an inclusive community for and among multicultural students has significantly impacted the university. Beatty was nominated for the award by Manning-Ouellette.

“Dr. Beatty serves as a key advocate for the Leadership Studies Program and as a social change agent for teaching power, privilege and difference to the students of ISU,” Manning-Ouellette said. “He dedicates his time to student development, activism and addressing the social inequities in our society. He is well known as someone who works tirelessly to provide a safe and open space to the students in his classes and beyond. He is not only a pillar to the advancement of students of color, but also in the entire university community.”

The Faculty/Staff Change Agent Award is supported by the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs. MSA advocates for and supports Iowa State’s domestic students who self-identify as African American, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian American, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Latina/o, and/or multiracial in their personal, community and academic development.

“This is truly an honor to be recognized with the Faculty/Staff Change Agent Award from an office that I have had the privilege of partnering with during my time at Iowa State,” Beatty said. “I feel it is important to have critical conversations about diversity and social change and it has been a great privilege to engage with students about these topics through the Leadership Studies Program courses I teach.”

Dianne Bystrom

Dianne Bystrom

Bystrom was presented with the Iowa Network for Women in Higher Education’s Distinguished Higher Education Leadership Award on April 8 during the IOWAWHE annual leadership conference in Ames, Iowa. Maria Bohorquez, the 2015-16 president of IOWAWHE and chair of the Department of Chemistry at Drake University, presented Bystrom with the award.

The award was created to recognize and honor individuals who have distinguished themselves by providing outstanding leadership to women in their institutions, in their profession and in society at-large. The award is designed to recognize work on behalf of women in higher education that is beyond the scope of the nominees’ formal staff or faculty job responsibilities.

Bystrom was nominated by Iowa State’s Dawn Bratsch-Prince, associate provost, and Beate Schmittmann, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

“Through Dianne’s commitment to education and mentoring and her focus on building leadership skills, she has made a tremendous impact on students in my college and all across ISU,” Schmittmann said. “Dianne is an outstanding educator and a passionate advocate for an inclusive environment in which both women and men can reach their full potential.”

The Distinguished Higher Education Leadership Award is sponsored by the IOWAWHE, the American Council in Education and the State Network for Women in Higher Education.

“I was very humbled and honored to receive this award,” Bystrom said. “Throughout my 37-year career in higher education, including my 20 years at Iowa State, I’ve been involved in the leadership development of faculty, staff and students. Leadership development is not just a ‘job’ to me; it’s a passion. And I thank all my colleagues at Iowa State who share a similar passion to develop and advance women in leadership at the university.”