Three Morningside College faculty members and one academic  department have received the Dr. William C. Yockey Assessment Awards, which  annually recognize outstanding efforts to improve student learning at  Morningside.

Faculty members who received awards for general education  courses they teach include Dr. Kimberly Christopherson, assistant professor of  psychology, for her Experimental Psychology Lab; Dr. Brenda Mammenga, assistant  professor of mathematical sciences, for her course Mathematical Understanding  and Reasoning; and Dr. Patrick McKinlay, professor of political science, for  his course Introduction to International Relations.

The Morningside College English Department received a  department/program award in recognition of department-wide efforts to assess  and improve student learning. English department faculty members include Dr.  Stephen Coyne, Dr. Marty Knepper and Dr. Jennifer Peterson.

A $2,500 cash prize is included with each award, which  covered courses taught at Morningside during the 2011-2012 academic year.  Dr. Joel Frederickson, associate dean of  institutional assessment and accreditation at Bethel University in St. Paul,  Minn., served as outside evaluator for the awards.

The family of the late Dr. William C. Yockey, a  1949 Morningside graduate and a chemistry professor at the college for more  than 30 years, established the awards in his name.