ASU professor awarded prestigious grant

by Danielle Harris | May 31, 2010 1:11 am

Paulette Harris, Cree-Walker Professor of Education, is one of only 12 recipients nationwide of a literacy grant from the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

The grant will fund a General Education Diploma (GED) Lending Library at Augusta State’s Literacy Center that will provide test preparatory books to enhance adult students’ reading abilities. Adult students will have the opportunity to work with students from ASU and will also be encouraged to check out the GED materials from the lending library for at-home use. Phi Kappa Phi’s Literacy Grant will help purchase bookcases to prominently display the GED Test Prep Books.

ASU’s Literacy Center,  founded by Dr. Harris, has provided literacy services to thousands of adults and children at its original location as well as at satellite locations she helped establish in three counties. Several other collaborative projects have reached thousands more, such as an annual Family Fun Fair and a Literacy in Motion program with the Patchwork Players.

She has been recognized by the American Newspaper Publishers Association with its Outstanding College Educator Award; by the Georgia Council, International Reading Association, with the University Reading Leader of the Year Award;  the CSRA Reading Council’s  College Professor of the Year Award; and the Savannah River Soil and Power Squadron with its Marline Spike Award for Excellence in Education. She also was named a National Fellow by the American Association of Colleges and Universities.

Dr. Harris also has received the university’s Richard S. Wallace Distinguished Service Award and the alumni association’s Town & Gown Award. Dr. Harris is a member of the university’s chapter of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

The Phi Kappa Phi Literacy Grants program was initiated in 2003 to provide an opportunity for campus chapters and individual members to reach out to local communities to share with them the love of learning. Applicants are encouraged to consider literacy projects that have creative relevance to their disciplines and to the needs of their communities. Phi Kappa Phi has awarded more than $150,000 in literacy grants.

Source URL: http://www.asupr.com/asureport/2010/05/asu-professor-awarded-prestigious-grant/

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