In August, 2009 two faculty members in the Ball State Department of Sociology – Kim Hennessee and Melinda Messineo – added to the string of teaching accolades that have been received by faculty in recent years.  Professor Hennessee won the SAGE Pine Forge Teaching Innovations & Professional Development Award, which recognizes pre-tenure faculty members for their contributions to teaching. She received a travel stipend to attend the annual ASA Preconference on Preparing Future Faculty and a cash award. 

Professor Messineo received two teaching awards:  the Ball State Excellence in Teaching Award which rewards her creativity in the classroom with a stipend and release time to teach her "dream course" and the Outstanding Teaching Award which recognizes her as one of Ball State's most accomplished teachers.  Professor Messineo has previously been recognized for her teaching as well, including the Excellence in Teaching Award in 2002, the Lawhead Teaching Award in the Core Curriculum in 2003, the Virginia Ball Center for Creative Inquiry Fellowship in 2008, and the North Central Sociological Association's John H. Schnabel Teaching Award in 2009.

In recent years others in Sociology have been recognized for teaching excellence as well.  Mellisa Holtzman won the Excellence in Teaching Award in 2005 and the Lawhead Teaching Award in the Core Curriculum in 2007.  Carolyn Kapinus was a nominee for the Excellence in Teaching Award in 2008 and was selected as a faculty fellow for the Office of Teaching and Learning Advancement in 2008.  As these awards illustrate, excellence in instruction is a hallmark of the Department of Sociology.   We congratulate each of these faculty members for their outstanding achievements.