Established 26 years ago, the League's Innovation of the Year Award was devised as a way to recognize significant innovations reflecting capstone achievements and the continuing renewal of the spirit of innovation and experimentation upon which the League was founded. The award recognizes staff at member colleges who have designed and implemented a significant innovation. The award also provides a venue for showcasing these innovations and the dedicated community college educators who are working to create new programs, improve processes, and enhance the opportunities available in their communities.

Criteria. Selection of award recipients is based on the following criteria established by the League:

• Quality. Students and staff agree that the innovation increases quality in the course, program, office, or institution.
• Efficiency. The innovation contributes to more efficient processes.
• Cost Effectiveness. The innovation adds value to the institution while containing or reducing costs.
• Replication. The innovation can be replicated at other institutions.
• Creativity. The innovation is original and creative.
• Timeliness. The innovation is not more than five years old in the institution, allowing plenty of time for it to be tested.

Nomination. To begin the nomination process, each college announces the Innovation of the Year award competition at its institution. The individual college forms a local committee to establish college-specific criteria and select the college?s award winner. The League encourages participating colleges to seek nominations from all areas of the college, including full- and part-time instructors, student services staff, administrators, and support personnel. The award celebrates the innovation as well as those who designed and implemented it; therefore, a single nomination will include both the innovation and the people who developed it.

Selection. Each participating college determines the selection process it will use and follows that process to select its Innovation of the Year award recipient. The college shares information about the winning innovation with the League, including a brief description of the innovation and the names, job titles, and a photograph of the personnel who developed the innovation. The League presents an Innovation of the Year award to each participating college?s winning innovation.

Honoring Local Award Recipients. Participating colleges celebrate their local winners and further emphasize the value of innovation in community college education. Some colleges plan special award ceremonies, recognition programs, receptions, or dinners to honor and celebrate their award recipients. A number of colleges provide each member of the winning team with funding to attend a League conference. Participating colleges often issue news releases announcing the award, and some publish pamphlets or booklets featuring the winning innovation.

2008 Innovation of the Year Award Winners

In 2008, 54 awards were granted in seven categories: (1) workforce preparation and development; (2) learning and teaching; (3) student services and activities; (4) research, assessment, and accountability; (5) resource development; (6) basic skills and developmental education; and (7) leadership and organization.

Anne Arundel Community College
Parenting the Middle School Child
Lou Aymard, Colleen Eisenbeiser, and Cari Endicott

Lake-Sumter Community College
Teacher Certification Program Expansion
Tom Kubala, Diane Edwards, and Glenn Ricci

Barstow Community College District
Student Success and Readiness in Basic Skills
Robert Pacheco and Penny Shreve

Lane Community College
Back on Course (BOC)
Melinda Dunnick, Debby Ganser, Anthony Hampton, Beth Landy, Shirley Lukacs, Geneva Martin, Mary Parthemer, Casandra Rhay, Devin Robel, Christina Salter, and Doug Smyth

Baton Rouge Community College
Integrated Online Planning and Budgeting System
Administration and Finance, Institutional Advancement and Information Technology

Lethbridge College
Portable Call Centre Project
Faron Ellis and James Manis

Burlington County College
Student Opinion of Instruction Surveys in Online Courses
Martin A. Hoffman Sr.

Luzerne County Community College
Custom-Designed and Programmed Staff Intranet Site
Robert Dushok

Central Ohio Technical College
The Gateway
Bonnie L. Coe and Ann Donahue

Miami Dade College
Covenant of Student and Faculty Commitment to Miami Dade College?s Learning Outcomes
MDC Faculty and Students

Central Piedmont Community College
Career Services Video Series
Pat Nash

Monroe Community College
Women on the Move
Ivan Matthew, Jesica Miller, Corinne Mulhall, Julie White, and Patricia Williams

Century College
GPS (Goals + Plans = Success) LifePlan
Larry Litecky

Montgomery County Community College
POWER Program
Diane Haar, Lori Schreiber, Pam Kennedy, and Dianne Johnson

College of Menominee Nation
Podcasting in Education
Nathan Fregien, John Ochsner, William Van Lopik,
and Maria Escalante

Moraine Valley Community College
International Sports Exchange Program
Bill Flinn, Charles Bales, and Gloria Coughlin

Community College of Baltimore County
PORTAL: Your Door to World Languages and Cultures
Seham El Gendi, Don Elliott, Patricia Harrigan, Rachele Lawton, Soumaya Long, Thu Schaeffer

Mt. San Antonio College
Interactive Website for Students in the French Program
Barbara Vigano

Community College of Philadelphia
The Center for Law and Society
Kathleen M. Smith, David Freeman, Thomas J. Doyle

Northern Albert Institute of Technology
eLearning Strategy
Eleanor Frandsen, Bill Dushenko, Helga Kinnaird, John Kent, Margaret Rhodes, Bill McMullen, Garry Bridge, Sandi Barber, and Missing: Alison Wynne

Cuyahoga Community College
Improving Operational Efficiency of the Curriculum Development/Approval Process and the Curriculum Office
Kathy Telban, Cheryl Kovach, and Tani Ali

Northeast Iowa Community College
Career Connections
Wendy Mihm-Herold, Kathy Weber, and Gena Gesing

De Anza College
Sustainability Management Plan (SMP)
College Advisory Environmental Group

NorthWest Arkansas Community College
East Empacts
Marvin Galloway and Regina Ryel

Delta College
Delta Prism Alliance
Stuart Barbier

Nova Scotia Community College
Reach Out to Nova Scotia
Sara Napier and Craig Collins

Eastfield College
Tutor Blast POD/VOD Casts
Anastasia Lankford and Michael Forshee

Pitt Community College
Effective Distance Education in Nuclear Medicine and Positron Emission Tomography
Scott Clinefelter

El Paso Community College
The Developmental Education Initiative (DEI)
Dennis Brown and Eduardo Servin

Polk Community College
Education Preparation Institute
Beverly Woolery and Sherri Davis

Florida Community College at Jacksonville
Outcomes Based Learning Cycle
Marian Beaman, Jack Chambers, Amani Francis,
Bill Ganza, Patti Levine-Brown, and Faye Wisner

Rio Salado College
Textbook Savings Program
Todd Simmons, Carol Scarafiotti, Dr. Patricia Case, Elizabeth Cole-Fay, Jennifer Freed, E.J. Anderson, Kevin Bilder, Mary Rhodes, Yousin Smith, Kevin Obolsky, Harpreet Maan, Linda Bird, Carol Maffuccio, Denise Morrison, and Tanya Swanson

Harrisburg Area Community College
A Successful Collaboration Benefits Nursing Students
Julia Sensenig

Rock Valley College
Math Lab
Kathy Almy

Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning
Teaching Excellence Program
Deborah Dunbar and Pat Hedley

SAIT Polytechnic
Hospitality Management Program Redesign
Pat Ryan, Ken Upton, Matt Karns, Margaret Walsh, Mike Tidswell, Alita Brown, Cynthia Johnston, Darwin Ens, Ross Robinson

Haywood Community College
Teaching Biology Labs and Lecture Online
Susan Roberts

Santa Fe Community College
Rotary Reading Safari
Jack Brown, Buz Bireline, Tarah Jacobs, Grace Lambert, Mary Chance, Kelly Kostamo, and Frank Burns

Henry Ford Community College
Henry Ford Community College and Henry Ford Hospital System Accelerated Nursing Program Partnership
Bill Barber, Kathy Bradley, Connie Cronin, Jeraldine Jackson, Veronica Hall, and the HFCC Nursing Faculty

Seattle Central Community College
Global Impact International Service Learning
Andrea Insley

Hillsborough Community College
Roadtrip, DRIVE and Crossroads
Brandon Student Services Team

Sheridan College
Wiki Technology for College Programs
Derek Stockley

Indian River Community College
Give Kids a Smile
Kay Idlette, Karen Allen, Alexander Van Ovost, Carol Dombrowski, Mary Pelletier, Marta Ferguson, A. Bundy, A. Schey, M. Hunt, L. Maxwell, D. Justus, A. Rigler, B. Johnson, J. Moss, K. Mendes, and A. Nunez

Sinclair Community College
The Miami Valley Tech Prep Consortium: Program/Pathway Course of Study Templates
David W. McDaniel and Brandon Evans

Jamestown Community College
CareerPath
Nelson J. Garifi, Jr. and Colette Haight

Snead State Community College
Wholetheme Approach
Jason Watts

Johnson County Community College
Online Curriculum Proposals Application
Clarissa Craig, Debby Hassur, Judy Ogden, Rhonda Barlow, Stuart Shafer, and Vince Miller

Southwest Wisconsin Technical College
Engaging Learners Using Fun, Interactive, Educational Games
Sondra Ostheimer

Keyano College
Learner Assistance Program
Debbie O?Hollaron and Cathy Davis Herbert

St. Clair County Community College
Alternative Energy Technology Collaboration
John Borris, Gus J. Demas, Steven Fosgard, Robert
Hunckler, Don Reuba, and H.C. Snyder

Kirkwood Community College
Viticulture Program
Jerry Bolton

St. Louis Community College ? Florissant Valley
CONNECT
Teresa Huether, Karen Wade, and Marcia Pfeiffer

Lakeland College
Custom Designed Software Manuals
Al Motley

Wake Technical Community College
1st LEED Certified Campus in the Nation
Stephen Scott, Wendell Goodwin, and Jim Opdenbrouw