Kimberly Hamilton Bobrow, Associate Professor of English at MCC, Receives Award

Manchester, CT – (August 15, 2012) . . . Kimberly Hamilton Bobrow, associate professor of English at Manchester Community College, recently received the Educational Excellence and Distinguished Service Award from the Congress of Connecticut Community Colleges. The award will provide Hamilton Bobrow with monetary support to continue her work on implementing the Association of American Colleges and Universities’ VALUE rubrics at MCC. All full-time congress members with at least ten years of service are eligible to apply for the award.

MCC has adopted the Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education (VALUE) rubrics to assess student learning outcomes in the new MCC general education curriculum and to foster collaboration among the college faculty. The VALUE rubrics project is focused on facilitating ongoing conversations and asking questions about teaching and learning such as: What knowledge, abilities and skills do students need in order to be successful life-long learners? Do students understand what they have learned? Can they act on it?

Hamilton Bobrow joined the MCC faculty in 2003. As a member of the MCC faculty, she was a Community College Faculty Fellow at Yale University, currently serves on the Center for Teaching and the General Education Committees, and co-facilitates a session in the Great Book Series. In applying for the award, she wrote, “Teaching and learning are at the heart of the enterprise in the culture of the community college. From the very first afternoon I spent on campus, MCC felt like home. Mentoring and collegiality are well-springs on the MCC campus, and student learning, rather than research or disciplinary scholarship, was at the heart of MCC faculty conversations. The generosity of mentoring and the focus on teaching and learning was inspiringly evident to me that first late August afternoon on campus.” It was this environment that motivated her to become involved in the college’s work on general education redesign and the assessment of student learning. Hamilton Bobrow was educated at Skidmore College, Ohio University and Brandeis University. She lives in Putney, Vermont, with her husband and children.

Students of any age who possess the desire to pursue higher education are welcome at Manchester Community College. MCC is proud of its academic excellence, new facilities, flexible schedules, small classes, low tuition and faculty with both academic and “real world” credentials. The college offers over 60 programs, transfer options, financial aid and scholarships, as well as access to baccalaureate degrees through guaranteed admissions programs with several universities. MCC is situated on a park-like campus and is easily accessible from I-84.

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