ECC's Dawn Munson receives Dale P. Parnell Distinguished Faculty award

Elgin Community College education professor Dawn Munson, Ed.D., received the American Association of Community Colleges' Dale P. Parnell Distinguished Faculty award, a national recognition for faculty members making a difference in the community college classroom.

Munson attended the AACC's annual convention in Dallas in late April to accept the award in person.

"Dr. Dawn Munson is an exemplary faculty member who is deeply committed to ensuring her students are successful in the workplace," said Peggy Heinrich, Ed.D., vice president of teaching, learning and student development. "In addition to preparing our future early childhood educators, Dawn is heavily involved in work outside of the classroom; including a recent project with Elgin Area School District U-46 to develop an early college program. It is faculty members like Dawn who make ECC a center of excellence, and we are fortunate to have her as a part of the ECC community."

Munson was chosen to serve as ECC's nominee for the AACC's Distinguished Faculty award after being the top-scoring faculty nominee to receive the 2017 National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development Award in December.

The other four ECC faculty members who were selected by a committee of faculty and administrators to receive the NISOD award for 2017 include: Divya Ajinth, M.S., Adult Basic Education and Secondary Education adjunct faculty; Soma Chattopadhyay, Ph.D., M.S., applied physical science adjunct faculty; Mary Peterhans, M.S.Ed., digital technologies adjunct faculty; and Greg Wheaton, M.S., instructor of mathematics.