IU East’s Foos honored for service learning initiatives in the teaching of ethics

Foos work has greatly influenced how service learning has been integrated into various classrooms on all IU campuses.

The award, named in honor of the former president of IU who also served as chair of the board of directors of Campus Compact in its early years,

recognizes and honors faculty contributions to the integration of community and public service into the curriculum and for efforts to institutionalize service learning.

The winner of this year’s award was Ira Harkavy, associate vice president and director of the Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania.Finalists are chosen based on extensive experience in service learning, evidence of engaged scholarship and of institutional impact.

Foos, who introduced service learning in her classroom 10 years ago, was in search of a better way to teach applied ethics. Her work has greatly influenced how service learning has been integrated into various classrooms on all IU campuses.

"Cathy Ludlum Foos has provided strong and persistent leadership not only to this campus but to the wider academic community in encouraging faculty to adopt service learning," said IU East Chancellor David Fulton. "I am thrilled for her that she has received this recognition for her work. I am also pleased because I am convinced that service learning is a particularly important educational practice on a campus like ours and Cathy has been working effectively for several years to making it a reality here."

One of Foos's more recent classroom projects included a joint project between the students in the course, Women in Philosophical Thought, and Girls Inc. of Wayne County. Toward teaching the youngsters about the importance of women in public safety careers, the students and the Girls Inc. members joined forces and sent boxes of cards, handmade bracelets and trinkets to women in the military.

Campus Compact Web site