Criteria

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

• Quality. Students and/or 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 is easy to replicate 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 faculty, 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 have a variety of ways to 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 selection, and some publish pamphlets or booklets featuring the winning innovation.

The Nature of Innovation 

Throughout 2009, the League for Innovation, with support from MetLife Foundation, sponsored a study of the nature of innovation in the community college, using Innovation of the Year Award data from 19 community colleges over the 10-year period from 1999 through 2008. The report of findings offers insights into community college innovation, from the genesis and impact of innovation to characteristics of a culture of innovation. The report also includes guidelines for would-be innovators. The full report is available here.

2010 Innovation of the Year Award Winners

In 2010, 50 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.

Albany Technical College
STARS
Regina Watts, Calvin Lee, Pamela Heglar, Drenda Davis-Jackson, Maranda Lee

Anne Arundel Community College
Transition Advisors?A Successful Staffing Strategy
Kathleen M. Beauman, Mary Lynn Allen, Diane Bennett, Robert Latham, Judy Sinkovitz

Bridgemont Community and Technical College
Highway Engineering Technician
Melissa Thompson

Bucks County Community College
MinDSpace?Media and Instructional Design Lab
Karl Carter, Marilyn Puchalski, Mary Ellen Bornak, Jacqueline Fritz, Matthew Seibert, Maureen McCreadie

Cambrian College
A New Twist on Accessibility
Christine Tworo, Yvan Roy, Robert Pelletier

Central Community College

Central Nebraska Transports for the Future!
Bill Hitesman, Alan Hartley, Marilyn McGahan, Bruce Dowse, Kelly Christensen, Melissa Garcia, Dave Engel, Susan Kuta, Michelle Setlik, Marni Nelson-Snider, Nancy Bjorklund

Central Piedmont Community College
CPCC Care Team
Mel Gay

Community College of Allegheny County
Online SOSO (Survey of Student Opinion)
Online SOSO Team

Community College of Philadelphia
CCPTV
Sharon Thompson, Allan Kobernick, Robert Dauval, Joseph McFadden

Cuyahoga Community College
Simplicity: A New Course Template for eLearning Classes
Danielle Budzick, Sasha Thackaberry

Darton College
Darton College Energy Conservation Project
Peter Sireno, Lee Howell

Delta College
Environmental Sustainability Within Delta and Abroad
Jay Vanhouten

El Centro College
Nurses International Partnership
Joan Becker, Sondra Fleming, LaCheeta McPherson, Elizabeth Guerra

Gateway Community & Technical College
Gateway Guy - Facebook
Tess Burns, Patrick Lamping, Laura Cook Kroeger, Margaret Thomson, Tyler Underhill

HACC Gettysburg Campus
HACC Gettysburg Campus Learning Commons
Beth Evitts, Scott Decker, Leslie Boon

Henderson Community College
Online Information Literacy Project
Mike Knecht, Kevin Reid, Saundra Voegel

Henry Ford Community College
Arab Cultural Studies Program
Mike Daher, Imad Nouri, Adnan Salhi, Talaat Pasha, Mary Assel, Nabeel Abraham, William Secrest, Sam Bazzi, Hashim Al-Tawil, Mike Garms, Doug Langs, Furat Al-Shemeri, Dan Kearney

Hillsborough Community College
Opticianry Program New Student Online Orientation
James P. Reese, Jr.

Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning
Using a Virtual Learning Community for IPE
Sandra Devlin-Cop, Mary van Soeren

Indian River State College
Digital Media Institute
Dean Zirwas, Gary R. Koser, Walter Hines, James Mason, Jose Farinos

Institute of Technical Education, Singapore
Aircraft Fuel System Simulator
Angelia Ng, Chan Sze Wee

Inver Hills Community College
On Course Learning Communities
Laura Funke, Brenda Landes, Jennifer Olson, Milissa Troen

Johnson County Community College
Dementia Care Certificate Program
Penny Shaffer

Kapi'olani Community College
Improved Geography Laboratory
Keith Bettinger

Kirkwood Community College
The Jones Regional Education Center (JREC)
Kristy Black

La Cité collégiale
Biotechnology Applied Research Initiative
Michel Caron, Nathalie MĂ©thot, RĂ©my Aubin, Rabah Hammachin, Cyr LĂ©zin Doumbou, Jean-Louis Michaud

Lane Community College
Health Professions Online Advising
Tammy Simpson, Jessica Alvarado, Jess Reynolds, Lori Kramer, Lisbeth Anderson, Patsy Escobar, Bree McKenzie, Michael Levick, Jill Sigried, Dean Middleton

Lethbridge College
Educational Enhancement Team
The Educational Enhancement Team

Luzerne County Community College
Computer Swap Procedure
Brian Mihneski

MCC-Penn Valley
MCC-Penn Valley Health Science Institute
Sandy McIlnay, Bernard Franklin, Jacqueline Snyder

Miami Dade College
Center for Service Excellence
Maira Rey-Seara, John Lopategui, Isabel Medina

Midlands Technical College
Reinventing the College's Online Learning System
Diane Yeoman, Tony Hough, Cindy Rogers, Jonathan Sorrenti, Elaine McLeod, Jim Epley, Carl Carraway, Michael Zanfardino, C. Kirkpatrick, L. Baker, R. Boan, T. Gordon, R. Holland, R. Jenkins, E. Martinez-Vidal, O. Robinson-Heyward, J. Stoudemire

Monroe Community College
Scholars' Day
Jodi Oriel, Matthew Hachee, Matthew Fox, Jeffrey Kiggins, Michael Ofsowitz, Scott Rudd, Christine Schwartzott

Montgomery County Community College
Developmental Math Alternative Teaching Approach
Barbara Lontz

NAIT
Column Prototype for Gas Chromatography
Ian Moss, Frances Sutherland, Jackson Wu, Ron Currie, Chelsea Schlaak, Simon Lambert, David Christiansen

NMSU-Alamogordo
BRAVE (Bringing Resource Awareness to Veterans in Education)
Charles Turpin

NorthTec
The Development of 3D Learning Objects and Resources
Gareth Morgan

Oakton Community College
Developing Nontraditional Materials to Serve Diverse Student Needs
William Strond

Phoenix College
Schedule eZine?Digital Interactive Class Schedule and Supplemental Information
Eileen Archibald, Phil Munroe, Michelle Klinger, Joe Gonzales, Micaela Rios, Guadalupe Candanedo

Pitt Community College
S.T.A.R.
Elizabeth de JesĂşs Toderick

Prince George's Community College
Community Financial Center
Betty Habershon and the Office of Service-Learning

Red River College
Paths to Success Program
Ashley Blackman, Mike Krywy

SAIT Polytechnic
The Journeyman
Richard Burgess

Salt Lake Community College
Teacher Recruitment Scholarship Program for Diverse Students
Ana Archuleta, Michelle Bachman, Mary Burbank, Cindy Clark, Richard Diaz, Janet Felker, Ruth Henneman, Pablo Martinez, Dale Smith

San Diego City College
Seeds at City Urban Farm
Karon Klipple, Terry Wilson, Terri Hughes-Oelrich, Julia Dashe, Paul Maschka

Sinclair Community College
Increasing High School OGT Success Rates Using a Predictive Model
Kates Brommeland

South Carolina Technical College System
SCTCS Energy Efficiency Training Centers
Tom Yeoman, Bill Bradberry, Betty Dixon, Vanessa Gill

St. Clair County Community College
Living Lab for Alternative Energy and Facility Management
Kirk Kramer, Tom Donovan, Don Reuba, Matt Morabito, Rubert Hunckler, Steven Fosgard

St. Louis Community College
Accelerated Job Training Programs: Just-in-Time Training for In-Demand Jobs
Accelerated Job Training Partnership

The Community College of Baltimore County
War Stories Staged
Julie Lewis, Michael Walsh