Campus Compact is pleased to announce that Michelle Billies, associate professor of mental health and human services at Kingsborough Community College, has been awarded Campus Compact’s Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award. The award, presented in partnership with Brown University’s Swearer Center, recognizes senior faculty who practice exemplary engaged scholarship through teaching and research. Recipients are selected on the basis of their collaboration with communities, institutional impact, and high-quality academic work.
Billies is recognized for her transformational research and teaching on racial justice. Her teaching and scholarship focus on critical multicultural counseling with an intersectional, transnational feminist approach. Her commitment to justice is exemplified by her stewardship of a large, multiyear participatory action research project with over 20 co-researchers that investigates racially and ethnically diverse, low-income, LGBTGNC issues. Billies’ work on timely issues that impact historically marginalized communities, especially in light of the often under-resourced conditions of a community college, demonstrates the value and impact of community-engaged teaching and scholarship.
“I have been engaged with civic learning and democratic engagement work for over 20 years. Over time, one learns that people who commit to this work do so with a range of skill sets and motivations. Dr. Billies stands out as someone who relentlessly and tirelessly attends to the needs of the community while also engaging in rigorous self-reflection,” said Jason M. Leggett, director of the Center for Civic Engagement and associate professor of behavioral sciences at Kingsbourough Community College, in a letter nominating Billies for the award. “In this era of political incivility, this reflexive ability, paired with analytical insight, is desperately needed.”
In addition, Devra Dang, clinical professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Connecticut, also received this year’s Ehrlich Award.
“I am glowing in reflected glory having just read the remarkable achievements of Devra Dang and Michelle Billies,” said Thomas Ehrlich, former chair of the Campus Compact Board of Directors and president emeritus of Indiana University. “Both are true stars in the realm of civic engagement.”
The Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award is presented as part of Campus Compact's Impact Awards, which recognize the outstanding work of individuals and institutions in pursuit of the public purposes of higher education. Read more about the other awards and this year's recipients here.
The recipients of these awards will be recognized at Compact24, Campus Compact’s annual conference, which will be held in Denver, Colorado from April 8-10, 2024.